Keeping My Eyes Open

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In the Pacific Northwest, it's the time of year again when the days are short and the skies are mostly gray.  After 40 years in Seattle, my winter experience is quite different now that I spend it in the high desert valley of Arivaca (elevation 3600 ft).   Even though many nights are freezing cold, most days are still sunny and relatively warm.  However, whenever I am visiting the NW for the holidays and the rain lets up, I find that the winter sun seems more golden and the blue skies brighter than I remembered!


Branch of Vibernum bodnantense 'Pink Dawn' in my Seattle garden

One of the things I love about this time of year in the northwest is the sweet fragrance of winter-blooming shrubs that thrive in the cool, wet weather.  Nothing is more cheerful than the smell of Pink Dawn Vibernum flowers wafting through the air, if you're lucky enough to have one growing in your garden or neighborhood.  To me, even wet, leaf-covered garden soil smells good too.
 
However I am well aware that, no matter where you live, your perspective on winter is colored by whether or not you are fortunate to have a warm and cozy place to go home to, and enough to eat.  With so many in our country struggling to keep any kind of roof over their head and food on their table, I never want to take my luck for granted, or be intolerant of a different view of winter.  It's so easy for us humans (me included of course) to assume that we are seeing the whole picture at first glance, but time and again I am reminded to keep my eyes open and to keep looking deeper.

Beautyberry shrub in full fruit in my Seattle garden

For instance, a few years ago on a winter day when it was sunny and bright, I had the great fortune to look out my front window when three female Cedar Waxwings flew in to have lunch in my Beautyberry bush (Callicarpa bodinieri).  At first I was a little sad for them, as over the previous week many Chickadees, Song Sparrows, Wrens, Robins, and other Waxwings had already been feasting, and it didn't look there was much left.  That feeling was short-lived though, as I watched this determined trio hopping to and fro, balancing perfectly to stretch out towards the iridescent purple clusters on the tiniest branch tips that no other birds had yet been motivated to reach, and able to balance on.   There was plenty of food after all.



Cedar Waxwing


The Cedar Waxwings continued meticulously examining every branch until they had eaten every berry that was left, then all three of them flew to the top of the bush, fluffed up their feathers, and preened in the sun.  These beautiful little birds were just going about their daily lives, but to me it was another good lesson in keeping my eyes open no matter what things look like at first glance, and that there is always much happiness to be found when helping to provide for others.

To have "lunch with the Waxwings" was quite a gift, and one that I will treasure in my mind's eye for a long time too.







Photo credits:
Bradner Gardens Park Winter Interest Garden by Emily Bishton (a public garden I designed in 1997)
Beautyberry shrub by Emily Bishton
Cedar Waxwing by Judy Gallagher, Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

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