Swallows. They can be overlooked. But they are the acrobats of the air. Have you ever crossed a bridge tunnel and seen millions of birds flitting about like mad acrobats on speed or cocaine or some drug that gets you all fired up??? That’s swallows. That’s what they do. They seem like they are mad with Monster Energy Drink. They seem like they’ve got an eternal well of gusto they’ve tapped into and are driven with flight beyond what’s reasonable. That’s swallows.
I was on a walk just last night with the pups and we were coming back from about 3 miles or so… on a typical road around here, divided into mile blocks, a leftover from a farming agrarian lifestyle. There are millions of irrigation canals around here. I imagine it’s similar to Southern California…bring water to the City of Trees where it hides the fact that people have settled on a high desert valley previously only inhabited by sage brush and dried grass. So the canal channels water under a low opening underneath the road we were walking on. And a swallow, dives quickly into that dark gap, flying smoothly with confidence to arrive on the other side. To me, it seemed magic. To the Swallow…hey man, just another day.
So whatever is going on with swallows, they are small birds, but they are the most agile in the sky. They are communal. You see them and their frenzied activity and it just doesn’t seem to make sense on the surface. How can one bird seem to be everywhere all at once and still going about something that is productive. But they build nests with mud, against all reason. They live and thrive among human development. They have adapted, they have overcame. And are agile in doing so.
Swallows. They are beautiful birds, indeed. If you’ve been in their presence, you’ll know it. Their cousin the Martin, also a beautiful elusive bird. They’ve been doing crack cocaine so long, they hardly ever sit still to admire or take a picture of. Love these birds and their aerial gymnastics. If we get a chance to reincarnate… you must have lived a decent life, if you come back a swallow. Because wouldn’t that be fun? Wouldn’t it?
ZandMe's 999 Good Things 