The First Bluebirds
When I was little I heard about bluebirds. My elders spoke of the birds’ beauty with the same reverence they reserved for their descriptions of the elm-lined streets of yore.
But bluebirds were rare, with widespread use of DDT damaging their eggs and threatening their survival. Learning of both their rare beauty and their vulnerability set off within me a fierce desire for a sighting. Many long years passed before that dream came true.
One day when my son was small, he and I were both feeling crabby. No matter what one or the other of us did or said, we just irritated each other, the way family members do sometimes. We were in the kitchen grousing at each other. For some reason, I turned to the sink. I glanced out the window. A male bluebird sat calmly in the branch of the maple tree just outside. And in that instant the whole world changed for me.
“Look!” I exclaimed. “A bluebird!”
My son was too little to understand the yearning I had harbored for so long. But my excitement communicated how special the moment was. He ran to the sink. I pulled a chair up to the counter, then picked up my son and stood him in it so that he could get a good view.
Mr. Bluebird perched, chest puffed out, birdsong issuing forth. Moments later Mrs. Bluebird joined him on a nearby branch. My son and I watched, transfixed. Such amazingly beautiful colors. Such a privilege to witness splendor of that order.
Throughout the afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Bluebird flitted from one maple tree to another in our yard. Whenever we saw one of the birds, my son and I stopped whatever we were doing simply to watch. When my spouse came home from work that day, my son and I eagerly pointed out our new feathered friends. Our joy was palpable.
Every year spring since then – until last spring, when I found myself living in a quite different habitat – I have looked forward to the bluebirds returning from their winter migrations. Each time I have seen one has felt like a special gift.
I have long since forgotten whatever petty irritation was setting my son and me off that day. Such things come and go in the life of a family.
But I have never forgotten those first two bluebirds.