I walk with Rosie every day. When the lake is frozen I love to walk out onto the ice where there is a wonderful view of the mountains that create this valley. Rosie loves to hug the shoreline and explore a muskrat lodge. It appears she can hear them inside it. When the ice shifts there is an amazing song that vibrates across the lake … at times it booms. I’ve witnessed Rosie several times stopping to stare down at the ice and then she jumps at it, much like a fox diving head first into the snow after a mouse. Without the deep snow Rosie simply bangs the ice with her front paws, creating more sound and more intrigue for her with more front paw banging. It never ceases to have me laughing out loud when she does this.
On this one day there was not much snow pack so I was able to hike across the frozen lake and onto the trails without cumbersome snow shoes. From across the lake I headed into our trails that meander through varied terrain of our acreage. As I chose a trail that would eventually head back to the house a Chickadee flew by me very close and landed in a branch right at eye level. I love Chickadees. The Black Capped Chickadee is here in Maine year round and recognized as Maine's State bird. Sweet, small, with a black cap and gray body they have many different voices with one that sounds like their name, “dee-dee-dee”. During mating season they give a melodic “fee-bee, fee-bee”, always a blessed sound of spring.
This one little bird caught my attention and with it sitting so close to me I stopped to talk with it. At this point the tree filled with many little birds, a flock of Chickadees. They flitted and swirled all over the branches. I stood smiling at all of them when a few began to fly around me. I felt no aggression, only amazement as they flew so close I could hear their small wings and feel the air that they created in this flight. This lasted for several minutes until Rosie realized I wasn’t behind her and came charging back down the trail, which sent the birds scattering.
As I headed home I chose one more trail that wouldn’t be a direct line to the house but allowed us to extend this walk a bit longer. Once again a chickadee caught my attention and landed in a branch that overhung the trail beside me. I stopped and watched in amazement as the tree filled with this flock.
“Are you all following me?” I whispered?
And a few birds flew to me and back to the branch. With Rosie running back to me she scattered the birds once more. They didn't revisit me again for the rest of the walk.
The next day Rosie and I needed to do a longer walk. Sometimes this will mean heading down the skimobile trail in the opposite direction of our trails. A half mile from the house I reached the peak of the first rise when the Chickadees returned to me! I stood in awe as they filled a tree beside me for a third time. I closed my eyes and whispered my gratitude to them as I felt little wings on my face as they swirled around me.
I just stood there astounded at these little beings that were insistent on getting my attention once more and then honoring me with their trust as they flew so close to me.
Chickadees are the one bird easy to “tame” with a bit of food. With a little coaxing and patience you can get them to land on your hand and take the food from you. But on these two days I carried only dog treats, no seeds for these feathered friends. I was offering them nothing to feast on. Nor did I feel any aggression from them. This was not mating season or nesting season for these birds and even if it was they would not be protecting a nest as an entire flock like this!
For me this was a spiritual sign, a message. Over the course of my years I have been graced with many signs from the animal kingdom. These messages are gifts to me and I have learned to accept the message that is being offered; to learn and grow from it.
Here is the Chickadees message:
One of the primary gifts of the Chickadee Spirit Animal is simple joy and a sense of serenity. If life has been far more complicated than it need to be, Chickadee's presence is like a breath of fresh air. Take it in! Put down those worries for a little while and listen to the Chickadee's lilting song; the bird also portends better things are on the horizon for you, particularly good news.
Call on your inner Chickadee Power when you want to stick to the absolute, fundamental truth in any matter. The lines in the sand are clear, and you need to walk them with dignity and honor.
This was absolutely the message I needed to absorb, to trust and to embrace. At that time I was struggling with a lot of family drama and being shown who one family member was. I had to believe her and this was difficult for me to accept. My heart, head and spirit was hurting as I had to navigate this new information and the nefarious deeds that had been done against me and my other siblings.
The Chickadee's message was so powerful at that time, so intuitively correct for me that I reached for it several times over the course of months.
Today I still struggle with letting go, but as the Chickadee promised better things have come and I live with gratitude every day.
