The Birds and the Bees

Recently, I had the distinct privalege to be in the great Smoky Mountains. Driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway, one cannot but be spell bound by the beauty of these majestic sights and wild creatures. One morning while rising early, long before sunrise, I sat down and listened appreciating the low clouds pooling in the valley below like dry ice at the feet of an opera singer. The cool air in the canyons combined with the mist of the streams and created these snake-like puffs of white that slowly rose into the air to greet the day.

As the morning unfolded and the deep scarlet colors appeared just above the distant horizon, a stirring began in the treetops. Leaves rustled in the trees of the 5,700 foot high air and the tweets of distant chirps could faintly be heard just above this noise. louder and louder these birds flew closer to my position dashing about, calling to each other, and staking out their territory for the morning hunt for worms and bugs.

It was still grey, no colors could be seen, when a mocking bird flit on a limb close to me, head cocked and eyes staring into mine.  I did not move but thought without speaking a word, "Welcome, my friend." Moments later, the curios creature began foraging on the ground, hopping a few strides and then poking in the short brown grass. As its head arose, a wiggling beetle protruded from its beak and it flew off down the hillside.  I could hear its wings flapping the air and the swoosh of it moving over its wings as it flew off.  The stillness was so profound that I heard other things far off in the background.

Twigs snapped heralding the arrival of some larger unseen animal, probably a deer, followed by another, louder swooshing sound deep below in the valley. the wind was starting to stir and so was my excitement.

I inhaled the coolness and my nose felt cold.  The sun was still below the horizon but the light began to pour from what few clouds were forming over the high peaks. The sky started to shift to its more familiar light blue color in the east, but the west was still showing stars and a slice of a slivered white moon. I put my hands in my coat pockets and shivered.

More wind, this time louder and longer blew through the field I was in, gusting and swirling the nearby leaves. I looked up feeling eyes watching me and high above in the now quite blue sky was a hawk circling overhead and another off to the south.  Life was returning to the sleepy mountains and I was in the middle of it all.

The crickets faded from their non-stop serenade and the last of the tree frogs stopped croaking in the valley.  More winds, this time a bit warmer, caressed my face and the first faint hints of the sun appeared before me.  The bright orange ball slowly climbed into the sky revealing only its tiny crescent at first. Volls, squirrels, and rabbits appeared from the bushes also in search of that morning morsel.  Breakfast for creatures is very different from the hot meals I preferred.

The snapping twigs ceased in the forest off to my right and the sun rose completely into the sky like a crescendo of a symphony. I stood up in the brisk breeze, bees buzzing my ears, and saluted my senses for the hour it took for them to record a memorable moment in my life.

If you have never been in the wild, far away from the sounds of cars and people, I encourage you to do so. The faint sounds you hear in the stillness help train your ears to pick out those little inner details in your audio system.  The subtle changes in colors help you understand the differences in quality of your video system. The exposure to the elements revives a deep feeling inside of you from a blood line dating back to who knows when that feels familiar if you just let go.

I hope you enjoyed my audio trip into the wild. Yours is waiting for you.

Yours for higher fidelity,

Philip Rastocny

I do not use ads in this blog to help support my efforts. If you like what you are reading, please remember to reciprocate, My newest title is called Where, oh Where did the Star of Bethlehem Go? It’s an astronomer’s look at what this celestial object may have been, who the "Wise Men" were, and where they came from. Written in an investigative journalism style, it targets one star that has never been considered before and builds a solid case for its candidacy.

My other titles include:

• Althea: A Story of Love
• Build an Extreme Green Composter
• The Extreem Green Guide to Wind Turbines
• Build and Extreme Green Hot Water Solar Collector
• The Extreme Green Guide to Solar Electricity
• The Extreme Green Guide to Improving Mileage
• Meditation for Geeks (and other left-brained people)
• Build an Extreme Green Raised Bed Garden
• Build an Extreme Green Rain Barrel
• Build an Extreme Green Squirrel-Proof Bird Feeder
• Extreme Audio 1: House Wiring
• Extreme Audio 2: Line Filtering
• Extreme Audio 3: Chassis Leakage
• Extreme Audio 4: Interconnect Cables
• Extreme Audio 5: Speaker Wires
• Extreme Green Organic Gardening
• Extreme Green Organic Gardening 2012
• The Extreme Green Appliance Buying Guide