Friday, November 2, 2007

Birthday Bird




On the morning of the 3rd October 1986, I announced to GB that maybe he had better take a day off from work. This was rather unusual. Unusual, in as much as, for the previous 24 hours we had been on Vision Only due to some hormonal glitch on my part. His words not mine. So, a severe lack of verbal communication was the order of the day. I duly fed the ravenous offspring, prepared lunch boxes and scraped a rake in the general vicinity of my head. Ready for the day, we - the children and I - headed off.

He never asked "Why?"

I walked daughter no.1 to "big" school and son no. 1 to "playschool". Happy as pigs in the proverbial, they were completely oblivious to the momentous change about to wreak havoc on their innocent lives.

GB was still sipping tea at the kitchen table when I got back an hour later. Well, at least, I had been heard. It was, by now, 10.30am. Time was marching on. "I think it will be soon", I announced to no one in particular, thereby giving him an opportunity to maintain the vision only status, or not. To my surprise, he enquired "Would you like to go for a walk?"

And walk, we did. And talk. And pause. And breathe. And walk again. And pause again. And breathe again.

By 11.45 I figured I'd had enough walking, talking and pausing. It was time for the "real" games to begin. On our way back to the house, during one of the more significant pauses, we noticed, not 10 metres from us, a hawk swooping down from the cover of some tall pine trees and tackling an unsuspecting, obscenely overweight pigeon to the ground in a flurry of feathers and pitiful squawking. We watched, completely fascinated, while Nature did what Nature does best. The hawk was merciful. The pigeon didn't suffer. Much. We had no time to waste so, thankfully, we missed the decloaking and ultimate annihilation of the feathered victim.

"Hawk Who Brings Down Pigeon" made her prematurely, grand entrance at 1.15pm.

She was a serene child. Other children, especially younger ones, gravitated towards her like nails to a magnet. They still do. She was quiet. Worryingly so, at times. And then she hit 16 and the, hitherto dormant, hawklike qualities emerged in all their glory. She hovered and swooped, demolished and destroyed, decloaked and annihilated all that were unfortunate enough to cross her path. Nature in resplendent glory. Not unlike most teenagers.

She's a Libra, she's a Hawk, she's a fine, loving, sensitive human being. And she's spreading her wings.

Fly and soar, bird of my heart.

16 comments:

Birdydownunder said...

Beautiful..I too believe.. if you love something let it go etc. etc. etc.
Gosh you are young arn't you.

Lily said...

It can't be that that baby is in her twenties now????? Since I of course, her much elder cousin,haven't aged at all since I last saw her.

molly said...

"She is lovely and fair,as the rose of the summer....."

whimsical brainpan said...

Happy belated Birthday to Hawk Who Brings Down Pigeon!

We Libra's are a complicated lot.

Pauline said...

she's lovely! and I like that you think of her as bird of your heart -

Barbara said...

I'm still trying to sort out your family. Is the beautiful girl in the picture the mother of the two children? I loved the story about the hawk and pigeon and the way you tied it into your family.

Diana said...

They come and steal our hearts and grow and thrive and fly away.

Wishing her many, many more.

Molly said...

She is indeed beautiful.

Lee said...

Beautiful writing. Beautiful daughter. Look out pigeons!

riseoutofme said...

birdy ...the photo is of my daughter NOT me!!! But of course, I AM young.

liz ... how LONG has it been? I think maybe she was of the stroller variety?

molly ... singing along with you!

whim ... tell me about it! But such beautiful spirits ...

pauline ... the fluttering is unbearable sometimes!

barbara ... the photo is of my younger daughter who turned 21 recently ...I was the mother of the 2 children in the story ...and the native American Indian tradition of calling their newborns after some significant sightings on or around the time of birth prompted "Hawk who brings down Pigeon".

diana ... Thieves, the lot of them!

mjd ... I think so too, funnily enough!

lee ... thank you ...but should you not be VERY busy multiplying?

meggie said...

What a lovely post for your beautiful daughter!
Soar happy & Free!

J Cosmo Newbery said...

Oh that's lovely that is. Your bird is sensitive, serene and lovely. Mine is just green and tiresome. I am hurt, grievously hurt.

Voyager said...

I loved this! My little chick will turn 21 in three weeks. Watching him learn to fly and soar is thrilling and heartbreaking at the same time.
V.

Voyager said...

I loved this! My little chick will turn 21 in three weeks. Watching him learn to fly and soar is thrilling and heartbreaking at the same time.
V.

Stomper Girl said...

What a lovely post and what a lovely daughter. Happy 21st to your hawk.

molly said...

What exactly is your hawk's wingspan?