From the Bench
THE BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS
"Be like I, hold your head up high, somewhere there’s a bluebird
of happiness"
(Bluebird of Happiness -Words by Edward Heyman and Harry
Parr Davies)
(Click arrow here to listen)
It has been three weeks today since my brother, Bill, went to be with
the Lord. Normally I would have called to give him my good news. All of
it.
First, my oncologist gave me an excellent six-month report yesterday.
Bill always rejoiced with me over the years when the good news came.
Second, the bluebirds are building in the house I put up six weeks back.
It won’t seem important to you, but it is to me, and it would have been
to my brother.
Bill was an avid bird watcher, especially bluebirds. He knew all about
them. He told me just what to do with the birdhouse. Put it in an open
area facing east by southeast, he told me. Put it about eye level.
And beware of the chickadees, he warned. You can know it’s chickadees
if the nest is built of moss. Bill was right. The chickadees are literal
early birds, and tried to take over before the bluebirds had a chance.
I must have cleaned moss out the house six or seven times, often to scolding
from the chickadees in a Bradford pear tree nearby.
The last time, just before we left for Chattanooga and Bill’s funeral,
I propped the front of the house open. I’m sure the resourceful chickadees
found other quarters. The house was empty for three weeks, and I had given
up on the bluebirds. Almost forgot about them.
I fell back into the normal routine of life……except for the weekly calls
that had become a part of life for Bill and me. That I miss the most.
There is no one left to help me solve the world’s problems, as old men
are wont to do. And the latest report on the rare peregrine falcons that
nest every spring in the railroad tower above the Tennessee River, just
below Chickamauga Dam. I’ll miss that, too.
Then, this morning, three weeks after Bill left us, there they were…..the
bluebirds…..busily building in the house in the backyard. It was an omen,
from God and from Bill. I believe it, and that’s all that matters.
I called Connie, Bill’s widow, to give her all my good news, especially
about the bluebirds. She outdid me. Bill’s bluebird house has five eggs.
So there is always hope. Bill has found his bluebird of happiness……...and
I’m working on mine.