Bird in the Grass
How many photos or paintings of a bird have you seen where the bird is in the grass? They do exist, but most of the bird images I can envision are of birds in a tree, in the air, or by the water. I was thinking about this the other day during a bike ride on gravel roads by fields and trees. It was one of the first lovely spring days of the year. I took my time enjoying the nature around me, stopping a few times to watch the wildlife.
A small bird was completely hidden in the yellow, foot-long grass at the edge of a field, only to be seen briefly each time it flew two feet to a different spot in the grass. I had already enjoyed witnessing two pairs of ducks flying and quacking and trying to spot what had jumped into the water in the ditch (I didn’t catch a glimpse of that one). Now, here was this little bird offering the pleasure of the sight of it when it fluttered around.
Why aren’t there more photos of birds like this? A close-up that could reveal it in the grass. A shot of it flying just a couple feet above the ground. Certainly, the birds perching on branches, soaring in the sky, and peeking out of bird houses are striking, magnificent, and charming, but my bird was also a delight, likewise contributing beauty to the diversity of creation.
Similarly, in my early teen years, I wondered why there weren’t more pictures or art pieces of dead flowers. Some might find it easier to appreciate a small, fluttering bird than a dead flower, but I find beauty in observing a flower at this stage. Appreciating it for what it still is at that moment and also for what it was when it was softer and more brightly coloured. Contemplating aging and the cycle of life and death, the sorrow of remembering what has passed, the gratefulness for what is present, and the anticipation of what is to come. Being in awe of the marvel of God’s creation of human beings that we can hold all this in a dead flower.
My painting of a dry, dead rose didn’t turn out well. It didn’t reflect the feelings and thoughts that I still haven’t been able to fully describe here, but it helped to secure my appreciation for the beauty of the sometimes less regarded in my mind. The flower, and now the bird, that may be passed over as not as bright and beautiful, not as magnificent, but is beautiful and is something that means something.
Kristen
3 Comments
I think it's really cool that you've been able to notice birds and that you have the time and ability to see God's creation! Thanks for sharing what you find beautiful and challenging others to take time to reflect on the things around them. I'll be looking outside at the birds in the bush by my window tomorrow for sure.
Such a wonderful piece! Too often we are hustling and bustling in life, never enough time to do this or that! As I approach yet another birthday.....(don't we all) I can definitely feel the aging process at work in my body. I had to compare myself to your bird and flower. In all my haste, will I have just been 'busy' or will I have enjoyed God's beautiful world? Hmmmmm, priorities!! Thank you for slowing me down, just a little to see the bird in the grass!
I appreciate how your images of the bird in the grass and dead flower have caused me to pause and reflect on the true beauty that surrounds us. I have too often been guilty of missing or devaluing the beauty found in the simplicity and cycles of creation. With the bird in the grass, the intentionality of seeking goodness and delight wherever you are and finding it when your heart is open to discovery. With the dead flower, the appreciation and gratitude in respecting the fading beauty that still exists and has a story to tell of worth and significance. That doesn't change even when appearance does. What God designed and created to blend in, to fade, to die, is just as unique and beautiful in its own way as a majestic mountain or a brilliant star. Thank you for this!