A Flock of Blackbirds

Yesterday provided me with one of the most amazing experiences....

I was sitting outside...  Well, dang..I must digress to more fully bring you to my moment of "sitting"....  I've had this weird sinus/allergy thing that comes and goes.  One moment, I feel relatively fine...the next moment, I give a resounding sneeze reminiscent of "the shot heard round the world" and then proceed into such a frenzied succession that it sounds like it's the full onslaught of Lexington and Concord.  Add in my itchy eyes, nose, and throat.... and my, now, achy ear, and yesterday, I was feeling quite under the weather.  (Although, as a side note, it was remarkably cooler yesterday than it has been)  *You really must refrain from distracting me....Now, where was I?  Oh yes, I was feeling slightly less-than-gungho-farmgirlish, so I was merely sitting.  Okay, so I was sitting till I noticed that one of the chicken water containers was empty...so, I got up.  And then I figured since I was up, I'd fill the other three chicken water containers.  Well, and if I've watered them, I might as well feed them, right?  And dang it...now that the chickens are done for the day, why not feed and water the goats, too?  So, technically, I wasn't "just" sitting.  But, once I fed and watered, I decided to sit back down.  As I sat there, I began to notice that it sounded as though I had been thrown deep into the noisy depths of an aviary.  Most peculiar, I said to myself.  As I began to focus on the woods down below the garden, I noted the presence of many birds.  Not one to sit around for long periods of time when there is something to be investigated, I quickly took off for the woods.  It was amazing.  There was this huge flock of blackbirds...  I stood still and eventually they must have forgotten I was there.  They were flying waist high about 15 ft in front of me... flying and landing in the topmost branches high above my head.... coming to perch on the limbs around the creek...  it felt as though I got to experience a part of nature for just a moment that is usually closed to mankind.  I can't tell you the exact feeling I had on the inside, but it was something akin to perfect awe and wonder...  and peace.  There I was, rooted in "my" spot, the sun filtering down through the leaves, the breeze light on my face, gently rustling the leaves of the forest... the birds flying around me... above me, to the side of me, in front of me...  I could hear their chirping and tweeting, the flapping and swishing of their wings....  and it was as though I was in this magical place.  I wanted to drink it in...  to store the sights and sounds in my mind and heart to be pulled forth over and over again, as in Wordsworth's Daffodils (which you can read on my previous post here:   http://homeschoolinghomesteadinginthepresent.blogspot.com/2009/09/favorite-poem-of-all-time.html .

I thoroughly enjoyed it until I looked over at the tree I was leaning against and saw the MOST amazing caterpillar.  I had to take it and share it with Malachi...by the time I had located Malachi, showed him the caterpillar, and walked back outside, the magic was gone.  I did feel a momentary pang of wistful regret, but knowing I had the moment and had committed it to memory overshadowed any adverse feelings.  It was a step into a magical moment and I had been lucky enough to add it to my journey.