Hope in a Bird Sighting

Western Tanager
Pixabay.com

On Twitter the other day, I saw a tweet about a bird (haha) in New York City.  The person who posted (Warren Lieght) saw a crowd gathering on a sidewalk and was worried that something awful was happening.  As he approached, he noticed everyone was looking up into a tree.  In the tree was a Western Tanager.  As the name suggests, it is rare to see this bird in New York City- one hadn't been seen for 4 years in the city.  Leight wrote, "I felt great relief that all these folks had gathered - not to witness another 2020 loss - but rather to see a rare bird.  How lucky I was that a street full of New Yorkers reminded me that if you keep looking up, you might see something rare and wonderful."  It was so unusual, that a Manhattan Bird Alert had gone out on Twitter, which explained the crowd. 

What struck me though, as I read through the tweets, was how much joy and hope this bird had provided to those who saw it.  Other people replied with their rare bird stories, too. 

We should not forget that joy, delight, and hope can arrive when they are least expected (even in a pandemic year).  We have to be watching - we have to be willing to see and notice.  What small thing will bring you joy today?  What seemingly small act can you do to bring joy to someone else?

"Hope is a thing with feathers that perches on the soul."  (Emily Dickinson)  Read the whole, delightful poem, here.