Living in the North Country, Boundary Effects is a blog by Austin Jantzi. Though a physicist, I write mostly about books, sometimes about music, but generally about whatever I find interesting.

Common Birds 72 - Song Sparrow

Common Birds 72 - Song Sparrow

Austin Jantzi
Common Birds

Monday, April 15

I wish I knew a myth that birds taught us to sing. 

Light fog hovers over the surface of the pond. Dew shines on each emerging leaf. The wood ducks are still scared of me, but all the other birds gather to sing. 

Good morning cardinals. Good morning goldfinches. Good morning chickadees, phoebes, and flickers. Good morning robins, titmice, and wrens. 

I look up, and I see a song sparrow, a brown and dark-brown bird, standing on a branch and singing with its entire porcelain body, head thrown back, beak gaping, music bursting forth. 

This sparrow makes me wish I believed in a myth where birds teach humans to sing. I want to feel the existence of a  primordial singer who sees a song sparrow just like this one and wonders, how can I lift up my soul like that? The singer watches and practices and learns to lift up their soul at the birth of the day, and the singer learns to lift up their soul as the day dies and cold darkness reaches for their heart, and when the day, at last, comes again, the singer still lifts up their soul.

Common Birds 73 - Nuthatch

Common Birds 73 - Nuthatch
Common Birds 71 - Eastern Phoebe

Common Birds 71 - Eastern Phoebe