A Prescription for Swans

Excerpts from video, found below:

“…But then you realize, wait a minute, this visitor in front of me is just as real as everything else in this world.

And, in fact, it might even be more real coming from this lake than anything that I’m told is real coming from a screen.

And you understand that instead of evading responsibility you’re actually being more responsible by responding to exactly what is in front of you.”

~#~

“…I could have walked through the sloppiest mud and pushed through the thickest thicket just to get a better look.

And, well, as you know by now, that’s what I decided to do — not to distract myself from the stresses and troubles that plague a modern world run on godless devices but to, instead, be even more informed and to enmesh myself even deeper into the realist, most meaningful things imaginable.”

A Prescription for Swans

by Adam Haritan, Learn Your Land
March 15, 2021

The arrival of spring can easily be seen on a lake.

Melting ice, blossoming poplars, and migrating waterfowl are among its most faithful signs. Like an unerring calendar, the lake reminds us that the darkest days have expired and a season of growth awaits.

While walking the shores of a local lake one chilly morning, I observed and heard several signs of spring. One sound in particular, emanating from the center of the water, caught my attention.

As I approached the sound, its intensity changed from a periodic “coo” to a chorus of whistles. Too early for spring peepers and wood frogs, I thought to myself, but not too early for something else I had hoped to find.

Tundra swans.

I peered through the cattails and alder shrubs to confirm my hunches. The icy lake hosted hundreds of tundra swans that had stopped for a visit on their journey to the Arctic. With a camera in hand, I decided to document the experience while musing on the subtle power of swans to heal.

cover image credit: JulieMimages / pixabay