Last week, I celebrated the everyday birds––the ones that show up every day at feeders and birdbaths and do what they do. As wonderful as those everyday birds are, I still miss the birds that took my breath away.
I remember the first Scarlet Tanager I saw. He was in a tree nearby and his color was so vivid that I couldn’t miss him. I wish I could experience that feeling of awe again.
I remember the first Indigo Bunting I saw. We were walking on the Greenway in Clarkesville and we saw him from a long distance away, his bright blue color blazing in the sunshine. I wish I could feel the unexpected joy of that moment.
I wish . . .
Just thinking about those two words have me thinking about what else I wish for in this time.
I wish life could go back to before COVID-19 and I could see my family in person, without worry that my presence could impact their health.
I wish I could go back to a time when I was proud to be an American. On September 11, 2001, I was standing in line to board a flight from Orlando to Atlanta when the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I spent the day in a rental car driving back to Atlanta, listening to the news and crying for the loss of life and because of the national fear of having our sense of safety taken away. But I was proud of how we came together as a country during that time. It wasn’t a time of politics. It was a time of pulling together. America was at her best during that time.
I wish we could pull together as a country now. It feels like politics is pulling at us, pulling us apart rather than bringing us together. I want to be proud of how we face the issues of COVID-19 in our country today.
So, I wish people would do what’s needed to be done because it’s the right thing to do, because it looks after the vulnerable who can’t protect themselves, because we care as a people for every life.
I wish . . .
