Hello There

(Male and Female Bullock’s Orioles)

I feel lucky on days when I find Bullock’s Orioles along the trails at the Running Y. They’re difficult to spot as they often feed and hang out amongst thick brush and leafy branches. Luckily, they like to chatter and that gives them away every time. One ornithologist described their chatter as a “stirring rattle which seems to express nearly every variety of emotion.”

Here, I imagined two, meeting in the shadows for the first time. They stare into one another’s eyes. (It’s a painting. Some anthropomorphism is just fine.) They move on, mates forever.

That steady stare reminds me of a special moment in my life—an evening when I found myself in one of those long, steady stares with Becky, a moment that opened a world of new possibilities for a life left to live. And coincidentally, that very moment was caught on film, real cellulose, snapped by my friend and teaching partner, Nancy, confirming it was just meant to be.

And here we are, moving on and mates forever.