I’ve been lost. Sometimes it feels free. Like you’re relieved of duties.
I thought about this because of a Western Tanager. More about him in a moment.
You can be lost in nature, a city, at work. Once, I was lost in a million-acre forest near Lake Superior. That’s where the two-fisted idea popped up.
And I was lost in the Eiffel tower. Didn’t want to ride down in a crowded elevator. Took the stairs, and wound up in an engine room with no legal exit.
I was lost at work when a boss gave orders I couldn’t follow. Had to quit to find out where I was.
A Western Tanager belongs in the west during warm weather. This winter, one has been showing up in New England. How it got there is a drama only it knows.
When you’re lost, you feel two things. Uncomfortable. And free.
Uncomfortable, because you face danger, maybe death. Free, because you’re off your own grid. That can be a nice break in the action.
Nothing is purely one thing or another. There’s always the Yin and Yang of it.
"I'm goin' east..."
This Western Tanager would look at you like you’re nuts if you said “Yin and Yang.” But what does he know? He’s at a snowy feeder in Connecticut. Two thousand miles from home.
He might simply have a screw loose. But, maybe not. Birds have free will, and free whim.
Maybe he said, “What the hell. I’ll go east instead of south.” He found food. He didn’t freeze his butt. Could be, he just wanted a break in the action.
It was cold and scary. Yet, for a while, it might’ve been fun to live off his own grid.
Now, if we could just get those damn Canadian Geese to leave…..
Hey Mike, If you know how to get a message to that fine looking specimen tell him to come south to Jawjah….it’s nice and warm down here! p.s. my wife accuses me of having my head up my butt all the time so I guess Im lost too.
Thanks for the links. More to read. more that’s cool. Have no idea what the ying and yang thing is about, but i like it and will read up about it. I’ve been lost, too, and understand your idea about feeling free from other things. You are really not on call, not responsible, right? You’re not home. You’re not here. Not there. You’re in limbo. Off the map and off the hook. Unless you get eaten by a bear or by ants. Keep the good times rollin’. P. Richardson – Penn State
The Tao of Bird Watching. As Lao Tze had often said: The Tao is in all things, and Yin Yang is the Tao.