Fall has come to the farm. The turkeys are back, pecking their way through the leaves while our cats watch, caution in their eyes. The trees are proudly displaying their leaves, making me very happy that we live where we do. Folks have put away their “Sweet Tea and Jesus” signs and dusted off the “It’s Fall, Y’all” ones.
Dan and I enjoy it all from what I think of as our little-piece-of-heaven porch. We don’t put the glass panels in the windows until it’s absolutely miserable to sit out there. Snuggling down, covered in blankets, a cat on each lap, coffee in hand, we spend a good part of the morning watching the farm wake up.
For years we’ve had bird feeders outside the porch windows. Because the porch sits high up, we’re on even keel with the birds. It’s interesting to watch these small and large pieces of God’s handiwork.
This time of year brings bird travelers, the flashiest being Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks. Black heads, white beaks, rust/rose colored inserts on a snowy white breast, topped off with black and white wings, these birds are beautiful. The first time I saw one I thought someone’s parrot had escaped but a quick call to my mother-in-law set me right. I think of them as mid-sized birds with a big attitude.
I’ve noticed that at the bird feeder, one’s beak size matters; the bigger the beak, the better the chance of ruling the bird feeder. Not so according to the grosbeaks. Not the biggest birds at the trough but using sheer attitude, grosbeaks scare off much bigger fellows. Always for the underdog, recent mornings have found us gleefully watching them fend off larger red-bellied woodpeckers, cardinals and anything else that comes their way. Wow!
Birds need protein – think insects. They come to bird feeders for energy, their cup of coffee. Just like Dan and I, they want their coffee, they want it now and no larger bird is going to deny them that! Go grosbeaks, go!
When I first started teaching school, I was assigned seventh and eighth graders. Middle School kids often hit growth spurts which meant there were times I was either eye-to-eye with a student, or possibly looking up at one.
My high-school-teacher father was appalled. He kept saying, “You need to be in elementary school – those kids are too big for you!” He didn’t think my beak was big enough!
But I discovered size doesn’t matter, attitude matters. One stands up straight, one respects others while requiring respect from them, one maintains the right attitude. You don’t need a bigger beak; you need the right attitude. Respect. Attitude. We can talk. We can behave, if we have the right attitude, the right respect.
The grosbeaks know the secret – it’s not the size of the beak; it’s the beak’s attitude!
Cindy Arp retired from Knox County Schools as a teacher and librarian. She and husband Dan live in Heiskell. And she goes hiking once a week – even in a forest fire.