"The happening was migration. It was full upon the Northern Hemisphere. The shorter hours of sunlight and lowering temperatures were telling millions of birds to go south. The event had begun in mid-August. The loons, geese ducks, and shorebirds had heard the message and had left the barrens of Alaska and Canada. A few days later the swallows and swifts felt the change and left the Northeast.
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And then it happened. Frightful hopped from limb to limb until she reached the wispy top of the ancient hemlock. She turned her head slowly as she took a bearing on the sun's rays. She fixed on a longitude between ninety and seventy degrees. After many takes, the direction was indelibly printed on her brain. She pointed her head and body along the invisible line. She bent her knees and ankles. She lowered her wings"
~Jean Craighead George, Frightful's Mountain
15 comments:
Beautiful watercolor. I enjoy the sounds of the migrating geese in the fall.
I've never read any of her work. We have it in the children's section at the library - I'll have to keep it in mind!
I never see swifts around here, or swallows. :(
Fall can be wonderful to view
What the birds know is unfathomable, a wonder...
I've never heard of Jean Craighead George but I think I'd enjoy reading about Frightful's Mountain. Isn't it something how birds just know where they're heading when they are migrating.
I hope you're keeping well.
It's a colourful and sobering time of the year. So many endings.
The Blackbirds have been gathering up here to. A sure sign the birds will be travelling South for us here. Janice
Dear, precious, Frightful. And I agree with Janice - a colourful and sobering time of year with many endings. ~Robin~
This author is unfamiliar to me, and poignant as your featured paragraph is, I don't think I'll seek out the book. Years ago when a friend was teaching reading in middle school, I borrowed her copy of 'Where the Red Fern Grows'--animal stories seem to tear at my heart and I brace myself for an unhappy ending.
I have seen the geese going over honking. Our loons will not leave for another month.
cathy
I have My Side of the Mountain...remembered it from childhood and had to buy it. Now you have me wanting this and the other one...the Far Side of the Mountain.
It is wonderful to see all of the migrating birds this time of year. Such a pretty watercolor!
Pretty painting of the bird! I love to watch the ducks and other migrating birds flying in. In October the Sand Hill Cranes make their way to our area each year. I love to hear them calling out as they fly over
Migration is such a mystery isn't it. We're waiting for the vultures to congregate over the river as they do every spring and fall but so far there's only been a few that we expect stayed in the area all summer.
Oh my goodness-such a gorgeous painting! I love it! Your post was perfect.
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