for the birds

My new passion is bird watching. I’m no ornithologist, but I’m suddenly in love with birds. Seeing a hawk soaring or perched in the top of the enormous dead pine in front of my apartment, without fail, makes my day. So, when I saw that one of the books listed in my groups section of chapter 11 was The Race to Save the Lord God Bird I knew I had to read it. It’s quite a dense read. It hardly seems geared toward children at times. School Library Journal says it’s intended for 6th grade and up. The book is well-detailed and incredibly informative, but also depressing as all get out. It seems we humans are bound and determined to destroy anything that crosses our paths even (or especially) the things we find most beautiful. The Ivory-billed Woodpecker’s population was flourishing in the US in the early 1800’s. Then along came logging, plumed hats, collecting…When the book gets too depressing I look out of my window. The tufted titmouse is still here. I see a male and female cardinal, a tow-headed cowbird, a few robins, some chickadees…and I say “everything is going to be okay,” and repeat…