Today’s Write Practice – Joe Bunting – 14 Prompts

THE PROMPT
Birds can add a touch of detail that lights up your writing.
Today, practice writing about birds. If it would help, go
outside with a notebook and a pen and look for them.
They’re everywhere.
As you describe the birds you see, think about what
they mean to you.

As we stepped outside, a smile leapt to my face. I love summer. The sun is bright and warm and as I take care stepping down off my porch, my eyes jump to my dog, Izzy. Her shiny gray/black coat creates a perfect backdrop to the rich, green grass.

We begin our morning walk, traveling the same way each day — I’m entranced once again. We walk past a few houses. I always enjoy house number 16. They have an interesting contraption that reminds me of a pinwheel, but it looks like a bee made with a soup can. The bright yellow arrests my attention every time.

We turn right at the first corner and greeting us, as usual, are louder bird songs. I often remind my husband it sounded like one of our old window alarms. Maybe it’s breakfast time and baby bird is demanding his share. Oh, there’s the bright red/orange of a female cardinal, one of my favorite birds. I love bright colors and she is still beautiful, even with muted colors compared to her male counterpart. I watch her flit by to another nearby tree.

I stumble as Izzy jerks me to the left. She sees a squirrel, and it’s like a magnetic switch comes on and she has to get that critter. As gently coax her away from her quarry, it’s time to cross the street. We are approaching the low-hanging bird feeders, and I wonder who I’ll catch a glimpse of today.

Suddenly, I notice a patch of bright yellow against a green leaf. I slow our walk down, hoping that I’ll have time to see the finch jump down to a bird feeder. I like that they hang low enough for me to see, but I’m thinking it may take a lot of work for the birds to get their food with all the foot traffic interruptions.

We have rounded the next curve and are coming up to the edge of Izzy’s favorite park. If I had a time-lapse camera set up, I bet I would see heavy traffic patterns in this area because she spends almost as much time here as we do on our walk. That’s okay. It gives me a marvellous opportunity to look around for my next bird.

Uncertain how I feel when I see the black outline of a crow. They seemed to be everywhere I go, and usually they’re grabbing some animal that recently met its demise. This one looks like it’s having a grand time riding the warm air currents. I wonder what it would be like to be a bird.

We are almost back home and I’m still smiling. I’m feeling so much better. I’m glad that walking my dog keeps reminding me of nature’s beauty all around me and the sweet sounds of happy birds as they go about finding delectable morsels to eat and chase each other.