Homeslice

 I don't know if I will ever see a Scarlet Tanager, or be on an oceangoing research vessel.

But I loved this magazine article about a migrating songbird that may have been blown off track, and found a temporary home on a research vessel.  She rested and regained her strength on a diet of fruit and (sorry, birds) scrambled eggs.  The crew named her "Homeslice".

The Scarlet Tanager summers in my part of the United States, although I have never knowingly seen one.  My introduction to birding was the pandemic and I have a long, long way to go in increasing my knowledge.

Twice a year, the Scarlet Tanager migrates to and from winter grounds in South America.  The more I learn about the migration of birds, the more I am amazed by these little flying miracles of Nature.

Last year, it was time for the birds to rescue us.

During the lockdown, the researcher who wrote this article found herself alone in a New York City apartment.  The sounds of traffic and busyness were replaced by birdsong and the wind.

Now, it was us, the humans, adrift in a sea of pain and uncertainly.  Some of us were lured to mental safety by the sounds of nature.  We turned to watching birds and other creatures we may not have paid much attention to before.  We watched the trees and flowers go through their annual cycles.

Even now, I treasure the crocus blooming in my front yard as spring unfolds.  I walk in my neighborhood, and hear cardinals, blue jays, and many birds whose songs and calls I don't know yet.

I may be happy it is spring, but I know too many of us must feel like Homeslice, lost at sea, wondering if we will ever reach a safe haven.  I don't know the answer, either, but I do know we must keep trying.