Day 4,330—the Early Bird or Could You Live Like a Bird?—

 

      Sometimes sayings are a mystery until you do some digging on where they come from. Something like “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” originally meant the opposite of what it means today, but “the early bird gets the worm” is one that not only makes sense to me but is something that I am sure many different cultures and groups of people noticed independently when they got up early in the morning and were out before sunrise.

        I took a mental picture of a bird with a worm wriggling in its beak this morning. If you’re not used to being out before sunrise, you might get startled when you see a bird just hanging out on the ground, and then it flies away fast when you get too close, but it is something that happens most mornings, especially if it has rained at all in the night. Animals aren’t used to people being out before sunrise, so they behave differently when the sun is still down. I find plenty of deer just hanging out, sleeping on the ground, and plenty of birds spread-out all over looking for worms and other things to eat.

        I don’t want to scare them, but I like feeling part of their community. Sure, we cannot talk in words or communicate in any traditional way, but they own this world just as much as we do, and they’re trying to make the best of things, and I find their presence comforting. Could I live like a bird or a deer? I am not sure. Could I spend all day in the sun and at night trying to sleep away from danger, so I could get up early to find something to eat for my children? It would take a lot of patience and dedication. It would also make me accept that a lot of things are just outside my control. My greatest moment of joy yesterday was when I was in bed with both of my children snuggling close to me as I read a Dog Man book to them. I have decided that Dog Man is the Calvin and Hobbes of this generation.