more than meets the eye

collection of darren hanlon

some days seem charmed.  today is a lazy rainy day, and just perfectly suited for my mood.  i took my liberties and slept in until eleven, woke up, went outside to find a bird party: a cloud, no, a swarm of a hundred or so birds were swirling joyfully, right above my backyard, and six mourning doves were crowded together on my feeder.  i stood there looking up for what seemed like forever.  "i must be doing something right," i caught myself saying aloud.  it's true, though.  some days, anomalous acts of nature seem to tap me on the shoulder and say, "you're alright kid.  keep up the good work."   i still haven't wiped the stupid grin off my face.

i have had many occurrences like this over the past few years.  sometimes i wonder if it's just me, or if other people notice this kind of thing.  really, i wonder if it's someone on the other side, trying to tell me something.  i know a lot of people who have died...and somehow or another i always think they're communicating with me through these birds.  it may seem weird, like new age mumbo-jumbo, but believing in that little bit of magic--well, it gets me through.  like when my friend john simon died:  every day this summer i went to his house to take care of his cat.  we had our routine: i'd open the door and we'd run out to that stump in the yard, she'd scratch a little,  and we'd lay around in the sunny lawn for a half-hour or so.  soon, a hummingbird appeared.  he would come everyday, buzz me close up a little, and then perch on the branch up above where we sat, bobbing his head side to side as if he was humming a little tune.  this happened every day for nearly a month solid, and i couldn't help but feel privy to something out-of-this world.