I attended a class this week in Chicago
that brought coaches and other professionals together
from across the country.
Randomly,
I was paired with a soft-spoken man from outside Indianapolis.
We shared stories and his, in part, included
a mention of a love of birds
and a discovery made just the morning before
of two rose-breasted grosbeaks
on the birdfeeder in his yard.
An extremely gratifying first in his 20 plus years of watching & waiting.
The rose-breasted grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus) is a large seed-eating songbird in the cardinal family (Cardinalidae). It is primarily a foliage gleaner. It breeds in cool-temperate North America, migrating to tropical America in winter.[2]
To be honest, I remembered nothing of his story,
except for the memory of his delight
at the mention of the birds
and their brilliantly colored breasts.
The very next morning,
before I left for class,
I walked my dog around the neighborhood
as I do
and happened upon
what I immediately recognized
as a rose-breasted grosbeak,
my first as well,
resting comfortably on the sidewalk
outside the Dunkin’ Donuts.
No meaning to be made here
other than the joy of random connections &
the delight of not so coincidental coincidences.
