the sound of wings

the other morning i woke up early and wandered outside before anyone else had woken. it was absolutely silent out with no one else around, no sounds coming from inside the house, no vehicles on the road.

and then i really started listening...

there were birds - probably twenty different species. each chirping and squawking and screeching to each other. it was deafening if you tried to pick out each separate noise. as soon as i noticed it, i could no longer ignore it.

and there were the chirpings of the bugs in the garden too. crickets and frogs and beetles and bees.

i stood at the front of the house by the spot where my pond will be and as i stopped for a moment, there was a rushing of wind above me. in the sky, just overhead, were probably ten canadian geese flying in a line. i heard the beating of their wings. the world was so silent and still around me that for a moment, i heard the sound of their wings. they did not honk or call to the other half of their flock - they were flying and i was blessed enough to be able to spend that instant with them as they flew overhead.

what more motivation do i need to get up early in the mornings and slip outside while the rest of my world sleeps?