Bird Talk

Magic happened before, in the same place.

I’m not sure whether it’s the place, or the state of mind I’m in when I reach the place. It’s on my morning walk, far enough down the road for the fresh air and beauty of nature to have worked their relaxing effect - far enough down the road that the part of my brain which disbelieves anything that can’t be proven by double-blind, placebo-controlled scientific studies has shut down a little, and the ‘magical thinking’ neurons are beginning to fire...

Last year it was a dragonfly.

Today it was a raven.

The raven spoke to me. At first I did not know what it was. It started out making soft little trill-clucks much like chickens make in the morning, and for a moment I was transported back to the household farm of my childhood.

No chickens around here, I thought. Must be wild turkeys...

It was then that I realized the bird noise was coming from the canopy of tall trees straight above my head. Too high for turkeys. As the chirps & clucks grew hoarser & raspier I remembered that I was in raven territory. It was often that I would hear the call of a raven in this short stretch of woods- a single eerie croak or two, sounding like what I imagined the call of a pterodactyl might.

But this morning it wasn’t just croaking. It was... well... talking. Short, random chirps, croaks and clucks sounded like phrases and sentences. I suddenly had the urge to talk back to it, but... didn’t exactly know what one should say to a raven. “Good morning to you, too.” seemed a bit trite and a little condescending.

As I walked past my unusual companion, he (or she) flew ahead and landed upon a utility wire, almost immediately where it intersected with the nearest telephone pole. Risking a mosquito attack, I stood still for a moment to get a good look at this noble and loquacious bird. Handsome, suddenly silent, and blacker than the night that had not long ago departed, he looked back at me.

He stuck to his territory as I moved on, but as the distance grew between us, his calls increased in volume and urgency. For a moment I was convinced that he was summoning me back...
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