Greetings all my Fellow Scomo Doona Hermits!
Been cold, wet and utterly miserable weather here today, and probably has has some impact on my approach to life in general. Too cold to go out, and no where to go anyway. 🙂
“We Bounce”, is a term, that a mentor, David DuChemin coined after an accident sidelined him for 18 months or so back in 2011.
He was leading photo-tour in Italy, and was standing on a 12m high wall explaining the variations of light, form, tone, texture, viewpoint, lens selection and vision, when he misplaced a foot, and fell to the bottom of the wall. Legs, ankles and pelvis were broken, and required much surgery to repair, and even more to get right. As David tells, he was fortunate; as three or four people had fallen from the same wall the previous year, and all had died.
A year on, and he was able to walk, mostly with the aid of a cane. “The human spirit is a remarkable force,” he says.
We can’t all have perfect health, perfect bodies, perfect lives, and perfect photos… But we can chose to endure, to perservere, to take the courage to keep going, to sleep off the venom, (a reference to Honeybadgers—part of his post) to Bounce Back.
And, when bouncing isn’t enough, as David remarks, the truly blessed also have friends. And he then goes on to give thanks for all those who followed his trials that year.
So, this, is a post to say, “Thanks, Thank you to all who’ve been following along the ramblings of a Saturday evening, when we both could be wasting time watching tv, or out and about with family and friends.”
“Thank You, to all those who have tirelessly worked to bring us some stability in the dreadful condition we find ourselves embroilled, so many risking so much for so many.”
“Thank you” to our governement leaders for their forthright and determined decisions that have given us a glimmer of hope for some relief. I only have to look at the world sats to see how fortunate we have been. Tough, yes, but we’ll Bounce Back.
It turned my head to realise that the United States now have lost more people in three months than battle casualites during the Vietnam Conflict. (58,220 1964-1975)
One good thing from being at home is that many tutors, trainers and artists have setup online access to some of their materials.
I’ve mentioned Jon Young and his “What the Robin Knows”, book before, and he has an hour or so long seminar Discover the Hidden World of the Animal Through Bird Language. In the webinar, Jon, Kristi, and Dan shared some truly fun stories and tips today that can help you tune into Nature through the voices of the birds. It was 5:00am here, but a replay is much more convenient.
PS, its long and rambling as these sort of discussions are, so make sure you’ve a cup of the Earl’s finest, or whatever takes your fancy, if you settle to watch it. But the Nuggets fall quickly and are worth searching out.
You can view the webinar replay here.
And my Wordpress Friend, Ashley, over at Aussiebirder.com, his blog is here
Ashley has just published a new Edition of his book What Birds Teach Us so good luck with the publication.
For over six months, we had the opportunity to work with a single Grey Butcherbird, it has become quite confident at our presence. Now, I know that anyone who has Butcherbirds in their local patch will find that pretty ordinary, as Butcherbirds quickly assimilate.
However the last few sessions we had, Butch came out into our area on its own accord. The featured two shots, are a result of the bird flying directly over my shoulder. Close encounter.
Had to do vertical, as I couldn’t fit it all in on horizontal. Just about full frame. Close.
Jon talks about such encounters as Connection, Not Conflict As awareness grows, so appreciation grows, so, empathy grows.
We bounce, but its usually a matter of choice, in life, in art, in photography.
Keep takin’ pictures, we do.
Remain
Davyyd.
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER - --doesn't mean I'm LOST 
This is a good read again David and thanks for the links I’ll follow later.
You have just made me rethink my attitude towards the Butcherbirds visiting my garden (2 of them). I’ve been rather reserved so far, mainly because of the Brown Thornbills, but I am tempted now to try socialising with them. I admire their songs after all…
Thanks for sharing
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Hi Adam, my Mother hated Butcherbirds, not sure why. We don’t have them as a regular bird in this area, so I am hoping Butch will somehow attract a mate, or he/she will have to move on to another area.
In the webinar Jon talks of a close perching bird as ” a compliment by the bird
I know you I’m not terrified, I’m giving you space I’m going to look back at you and watch you go by.”
I often get asked about how come I seem to take such audacity with a bird and will move into its space. And always it is because the bird has graced me by allowing a close approach. How do I know, well, you just know.
Good luck with your locals, they can teach us a lot.
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Thanks for the links, and your always interesting thoughts, David. And of course thank you for the beautiful shots of your friendly Grey Butcherbird. Wonderful to be able to develop a relationship of trust with a wild creature.
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Thank you Eleanor, glad you dropped by. A bi to feedback helps break some of the aloneness we all seem to be experiencing now.
I think I’m getting tired of being tired. The need to have plans and opportunities to get out and about for just the next few hours is missing, and we don’t seem to have much to fill it.
Jon is so relaxed and laid back and his simple stories always are enthralling.
Remain
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Lovely to see the Butcherbird. I don’t get to see so many! I think I can speak for us all when I say we enjoy reading your insights on a Saturday, or in this case Sunday arvo. Yes, we will bounce back from this and yes it has been good that in the birding world as well as my work world the shutdown has seen many opportunities to read and learn from others.
Must say I am itching to wander up to Glen Orden and will probably do so later this week, weather permitting. Sneydes will have to wait a bit longer. We will see what happens after May 11. I noticed the supermarkets locally have wound back the one way in, one way out today. And there seems to be a lot of people about despite the cold and damp.
Stay well. See you on the track – sometime in the, hopefully not to distant, future.
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G,day David, I left home this morning before 6am this morning, and walked to Glen Orden, it was just before sunup when I got there, There was a lot of water out in open areas, and several places the footpaths were underwater a few inches.
I only walked through didn’t stop, as it was still dark. Saw only a few birds, but did see a guy sitting on the boardwalk with a thermos and a cuppa enjoying the cool of the morning and the sunlight coming up over the water. Felt a bit jealous. 🙂
Thanks for the fine comments, always good to hear that what I’m saying makes sense. Sometimes it goes easy, and is a joy to write, sometimes a bit of a struggle. 🙂
I did go out for the weekend shop last friday, and was a bit taken back by the numbers of people that were out and about, not all of them engaged in ‘essential’ activities.
If we can get a bit of relief, I for one won’t be doing any congregating in the public areas, I’ll be heading for the open paddocks.I don’t even want to travel a long way, Down to Jawbone would be a good start.
Remain
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Beautiful shots of Butch David, and true “we bounce” and it is this Aussie quality that makes our country so special, as we are seeing in the past year to now. As you probably know my pet Butch cheers my heart every day as he calls. He does so every time he sees me come down or up the stairs to the courtyard. He is the only bird that I have not been able to catch bathing, as he does so in the dogs drinking bowl, which is hidden from the house. The dog has been long gone, but I keep it filled for him. Thanks dear friend for putting a word in for my book, I appreciate it. 🙂 Keep warm and safe
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Hello Ashley,
Hopefully we are resiliant in a postive way, I came across this quote today,
“In the rush to return to normal, use this time to consider which parts of normal are worth rushing back to.” – Dave Hollis
They are a lovely bird to work with, and I know they are a serious nuiscance to the smaller nesting birds, still, this is the only one locally we’ve seen in seven years, so are pretty excited about it.
I worry that its not likely to get a mate in the present location, or perhaps it will move on to ‘greener’ pastures. Time will tell.
I can’t see us getting much easing of the restrictions in the near future, but know that many people do need some relief and ‘breathing’ space.
Remain
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Yes, it is difficult to know how much longer it will continue. I like the quote it is very wise. 😊
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