A SITUATION FOR THE BIRDS

I spread a layer of crunchy peanut butter (the mocking bird’s favorite) on a slice of stale bread, slip a string through the center, and tie it to the birdfeeder pole. I add new seed and a fresh piece of orange on a string beside the woodpecker suet. Suet, fruit, peanut butter and seed… everything in place Now, I can enjoy my own breakfast, while watching, through the dining room window, as my feathered friends do the same. Once at the table, with my toast and tea, I look out and see, not the mocking birds or woodpeckers, but a wing -flapping gang of starlings, busily tearing at the peanut butter bread and flinging seeds hither and yon. The other birds, who have had their breakfast hour interrupted, perch in nearby bushes watching with a look of disgust that matches my own. I have a distinct prejudice against starlings. They are piggish, uncouth birds that always bring their equally piggish, uncouth relatives and friends to polish off the feeder fare. If they behaved with anything akin to manners, I might feel differently, but its hard to find anything likeable about these “Joe Six-packs “of the bird world. I decide to create another feeding area where the starlings can eat without disrupting the smaller, more passive birds at the feeders. This time, I slap peanut butter onto several slices of stale bread and hurl them out into the middle of the yard… where they promptly sink into the snow. Two starlings fly down and peck at the peanut butter, but the snow is cold, and the pole feeders, much more tempting than the snow covered bread. In no time, they, and their relatives, are once again monopolizing the feeders. Indignant and out of patience, I rap loudly on the window pane to frighten them away. My finger prints dot the window. My tea and toast are cold. My breakfast hour has been spent. Suddenly, I realize that more has been lost here than my battle with starlings. My peace of mind has been overshadowed by my desire to control a situation quite beyond my control. If I cannot love starlings in the same way I love the more appealing, less troublesome birds, can I find a way to accept the fact that, like all living things, they have a God given place in this world? Nature, after all, does not judge its creatures good or bad. Only man does that. Surely, I would find more peace if I suspended judgment of these birds. Surely, I would I be happier if I tried to see their good points, like their comical little yellow, clown smiles and their cheerful speckled feathers. This week, I think I’ll try to be more accepting…of birds…of people, of all the things that aren‘t exactly the way I would like them to be. This week, I will value my peace of mind over my desire to change. Peace to you. Sandra