Birding has been a lifeline.
As the leaders of the world seem determined to plunge society into chaos, I find a safe space among the birds. It serves to declutter my mind, and also is a reminder of how insignificant we all are in the bigger picture.
Nature is the one thing that has always been reliably there for me. Through thick and thin, nothing rejuvenates my spirits like observing a woodpecker spiral up a tree trunk, or a flock of birds passing overhead. January should be the turn of a new leaf, and yet around me I see many making the same age-old mistakes that lead to the same age-old catastrophes. But alas, there is hope in me and in many of us.
Friday morning I had an important zoom meeting with Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, a venue owned by Penn State University that aims to educate the public about wildlife and the ecosystems they depend on. As it turns out, I am being commissioned to be a part of an art exhibition, and will be incorporating my very own brush strokes on a large painting that will show the planned entanglement all of our local forest ecosystems have with birds being – obviously – a large part of the showcase.
To begin with, Shaver’s Creek has been a part of my life since I was just a wee boy – often a trip we’d take for my birthday, and even now, a trip take “for myself” to just be emerged in Stone Valley. It’s a barrage of habitats and the trails that snake in between them make it the perfect outing for anyone interested in the nature that exists right here in central Pennsylvania. SO, to be a part of a project like this – it’s massive to me.
The full exhibition, which we will touch base on later, will be taking place this summer – around July 1st – in Bellefonte, PA. And once over, Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center will keep my painting and display it for all the visitors who come through the doors of their magnificent nature center.
I guess I better get to work on these sketches, eh!?