Today, I’m watching the sun rise over a pond. It creeps up behind a dense tree-line, which is coming alive with birdsong. Crickets are still awake in the grass but they’re getting quieter, falling asleep. I’m in southern Indiana to visit my partner’s family and “vacation,” although, I’m not sure I’m doing it right. How do you relax and fight to survive at the same time?
In the wee hours of a summer morning, the weather is hot and humid already. I sit in my favorite blue shorts with my feet up on the patio table. If I had a god, I’d thank them now.
This is the scene you dream of when you picture yourself frolicking in the countryside.
A red-winged blackbird guards the iridescent pond. He perches himself atop the lone tree and calls fiercely into the glade. His intention is to protect the cattails lining the water where his clutch is hidden. If a sparrow or a finch flies into his territory he chases it away with a protective aggression most human parents could relate to.