Words from Walden

Birds from Walden Canada Geese

As I sat staring at the water in deep thought, I heard a noise from far away, getting closer. It was the unmistakable honking of a pair of Canada geese flying directly towards the pond in anticipation of a late afternoon swim.

Canada Geese are graceful for their size, and when they arrive, they come in like flying ninjas. Originally appearing as if they would land on the ground, feet first, they opted for water instead.

They immediately look like they have been swimming in the pond for hours.

They can be seen bobbing their necks back and forth to move in the water. After some time, the geese eventually step out of the water to dry off in the sun, and they walk over to the lily pads, searching for frogs.

Awestruck by this natural treasure, I noticed the bird staring back at me and not moving for thirty minutes, and then it went back into the water again.

After the staring contest, the geese swam around for a bit longer, and then it was time.

More squawking meant they were calling radio control in the form of the red-winged blackbird to announce take-off.

After being cleared by the control tower to the west, the two geese squawked louder and faster. They positioned themselves at the far eastern edge of the pond.

They started flapping their wings faster and got even louder before eventually becoming airborne and barely clearing the tree line as they flew toward the setting sun. And like that, they were gone until the next time.

Geese are the closest thing to a jet plane in the Animal kingdom. The 747 jumbo jet was most surely modelled after someone watched this marvel of engineering in amazement.

Click here for Goldfinch

Birds from Walden Oriole

Orioles are a type of blackbird. Waiting until spring is in full bloom to make their entrance, they are exquisite in their sharp orange colour, which, similarly to the red cardinal, stands out beautifully, highlighting any green backdrop of trees, bushes and shrubs.

The Oriole is a unique bird with beautiful popping colours so bright that there is a radiant glow in the landscape when they inject their presence.

Found nesting in the canopy of a tree, these birds prefer the higher elevation for protecting their young. Sometimes, they build their nest low, only a few feet off the ground, in shrubs, long grass or bulrushes.

Orioles are a beautiful mix of orange and black. The most common in the northeast is the Baltimore oriole. However, there are other types, including –the orchard oriole and the Spot-breasted oriole.

Orioles can bend their tale inward and hang off the side of the feeder. This is a brilliant display of how birds can manipulate their bodies to experience dimensions humans could only dream of.

After watching the hummingbird feeder, an interesting observation is that Orioles are the only other bird around Walden Pond that flies in for the sweet, nectary taste of sugar water.

Sitting above the plastic flower petals of the red feeder, Orioles can be seen careening their neck down and around into the fake yellow pollen pedals to take a good long drink.

Where one is found, there are usually more around. Then, in the early morning, they can be heard with one of their signature song patterns; a whistle unmistakably high, low, high.

Some birds run into glass windows or doors, thinking it is an opening; the oriole seems to do this more than most birds, except for the red-winged blackbird.

Click here for Canada Geese

Birds from Walden HummingBird

Hummingbird

The hummingbird is an extraordinary sight to behold. This miniature, magical, majestic bird comes in many colours and sizes. It can be seen flapping its wings so fast that it appears to be floating on the spot.

This little creature is a marvel of physics and biology.

It is the only bird in the garden that can fly backwards, which only adds to making it a true joy and delight to watch. It is a pretty remarkable trait and, in a sense, an animal superpower

There is a tiny green hummingbird that frequents the feeder around Walden Pond. It is so small that it can sit on the edge of the feeder and drink the sugary “nectar” without the humming sound of energy buzzing in the background.

Most of the hummingbirds around Walden have beaks the same length as their body,

Attracted by a simple mix of 1 part sugar and four parts water, ‘real’ plants or flowers are unnecessary to draw this beautiful bird.

Although this type of bird comes in many sizes and colours, it is always unmistakable with its long beak used to get inside the feeder to inhale a long drink. Even with their eyes closed, they make a particular noise.

The hummingbird feeder is pleasant to watch in the late spring and early summer. It offers a superb spectacle for children and adults alike, bridging biology and nature in lessons that can not be taught in a school setting.

The design of such feeders, along with the hummingbird’s beak, makes it so that other birds can not get the nectar because their mouths are not long enough to drink the sugar water.

However, one other bird fondly frequents the feeder, The Outstanding Orange Oriole.

Birds From Walden – Robin

The red-breasted American Robin represents the official start of spring and new beginnings.

The Robin is a powerful symbol of parenting and hard work in the bird kingdom. Its values are as firm as its boundaries. Visibly willing to sacrifice itself for its young by distracting anything more significant that comes near its babies, it shares this innate, altruistic trait with humans.

The Robin shows how to care for its young by regurgitating its food and putting it directly into the throats of the babies in the nest. The babies are too helpless to feed themselves and rely on the tribe’s adults for food and shelter, another shared human trait.

Upon breaking out of the egg, the baby is fragile and tired. They can often be heard chirping for food. Their bodies are so delicate that their eyes are barely open. Even though they cannot fully open their eyes, they innately know that they need to stick their neck straight up and open their mouths to receive a meal from their parents.

The mommy and daddy birds spend their days hunting for worms and foraging the forest to support their young.

Shelter comes from relentless work, and Robins will spend their days finding hay or dead grass to weave and wrap tightly into a perfect nest. The nest is hidden as best as possible. Nests can be found in trees, on top of wood fences, and anywhere that they will be semi-protected by the elements.

The Robin will only stay in the nest long enough to warm the eggs. The signature eggs are so unmistakable that Crayola has named a crayon after them, Robin’s egg blue.

Once the babies are hatched, the adult bird will stay away from the nest, not too far away, but not so close that predators can easily spot the babies inside.

After a few days, the robins are ready to leave the nest. They do not travel far, though; they must first practice flying. In the days following their initial departure from the nest, the babies can be seen flying short distances at heights close to the ground.

While the adolescent birds learn to fly, the parents can be seen nearby. Happy with their role in the reproduction process. I have been fortunate enough to witness these beautiful button-eyed birds begin to share the joy of nature with the youngest and newest tribe members.

These birds can often be seen looking like stealth ninjas fluttering toward each other. As one bird moves in for the attack, the other jumps a couple of feet upwards off the ground, maneuvering remarkably before torpedoing downward on 45-degree angles. From my observation, whether this is a mating, playing or fighting pattern is unclear. I guess that it is a game.

The song the Robin sings to the other birds, and other robins, in particular, is original in its own right.

This bird signifies renewal and is one of the first of the spring.

By May, the Robin can be seen aerating lawns around North America while digging for worms.

If you see a nest, you may get close up and view the beautiful blue eggs, but please do not touch them, or momma will be mad.

Click here for Hummingbird

Birds from Walden Red-winged Blackbird

“The birds I heard today, which, fortunately, did not come within the scope of my science, sang as freshly as if it had been the first morning of creation.” -Henry David Thoreau-

When I moved to Walden Pond, there were many unknowns to discover, both inside and out.

One of these unknown discoveries is the many different birds that live intentionally and peacefully in harmony, rarely seen in man.

I have arranged some of the most intriguing birds into a series of posts for your enjoyment.

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived” -Henry David Thoreau-

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Red-winged blackbird

The red-winged Blackbird represents rebirth and renewal. After a long winter in the Northeast, this beautiful bird is one of the first we see softly, sweetly, singing spring songs.

One of the songs is a whistle that translates into a mating call, accompanied by symmetrical body movement. The dance consists of stretching out large and circular like the sun.

As the deep cooing call comes, the red-winged blackbird spreads his wings in full display, appearing twice as large and more appealing to potential mates.

At first glance, it looks like almost any other blackbird with a bright red stripe sitting above a yellow stripe on the shoulder of the wings.

Once the mating song has been sung, the bird opens its feathers to show its prowess, displaying the fullness of its wingspan and deep colours.

This beautiful blackbird spends most of its day flying back and forth from tree to tree, opting to sit atop the crowd wherever it lands.

This stunning and graceful creature directs the traffic of all the other birds around Walden Pond with his unmistakable whistling voice.

At times, as a radio control tower, the bird can be heard clearing the runway so that Canada geese can take off like jumbo jets after swimming.

It also acts as a defender of all nests and will help the other birds in the forest by distracting anyone who gets too close to them.

This bird is a leader among birds. One who takes pride in the tribe’s protector role, and it shows through the harmony that is seen in abundance around Walden Pond.

There is one particular red-winged blackbird that I have come to adore for its whimsy and innovative nature. On the comical side, the bird keeps flying into the window at the front of the house.

It will start on the ledge and try to fly upwards, attacking the two fake bird decals affixed to the window.

The fake birds are there to prevent real birds from crashing into the window, and this seems to be a counterintuitive approach to the red-winged blackbird.

This beautiful bird will repeatedly smash into and then fall back down the face of the window in a feeble and funny effort.

The innovation aspect the bird shows is in Morse code. How many humans know Morse code? Exactly!

The bird can be seen perched on the metal antenna attached to the outside of the home. Intentionally, the bird starts pecking his message into the metal frame and over the ether, communicating with other birds.

At first, it seemed unfathomable, but after continued observation, it was unmistakable. A message would get sent, and from another antenna 500 ft away, a return message would arrive seconds later.

Back and forth, these messages would continue. I do not know Morse code, so it is unclear what the birds were communicating, but they were speaking back and forth through metal rattling.

The first time, I thought it must be an echo; however, the pecking patterns perceived differed in length and speed.

In the early evening, with the sun at its back, the bird sails smoothly toward the feeder, and the effect is that the colourful yellow and red wings appear as a solid orange.

At other times, the bird can be seen exiting a tree and diving down to the cattails at the pond’s edge, bracing onto a long stock as it bends but does not break. The bird will almost touch the water before turning back the opposite way, and then it will sit still, soaking up the sun.

The red-winged blackbird is the initial start to spring around Walden, and next comes the Robin, the official bird of Spring everywhere.

Click here for Robin

Alphabet soup for the soul – “Z”

Z is for Zygote

“A zygote is a gamete’s way of producing more gamete. This may be the purpose of the universe.”

Robert A. Heinlein

The dictionary defines a zygote as “An egg fertilized by sperm.”

This natural biological process in humans and animals is the initial reproduction stage.

It is the essence of life itself, the first manifestation of a soul’s entrance into the human experience.

The Dali Lama beautifully explains a zygote’s intended objective when discussing how suffering can create joy.

After exploding on the scene through the birth canal, we see how suffering can quickly be turned into joy.

A child is born, and another point of attention connects to the rest of the universe.

Some children will remain lighter and vibrate higher throughout their lives. Unfortunately, due to the conditioning received and chemicals, foods, water, and other external forces in the public sphere, the overwhelming majority of the people on our planet have been so conditioned out of their natural state that they are denser, and their waves are vibrating incoherently.

What is needed is a return to the ABCs; Abundance of health, Benevolence of being and a call to Creation. A return to quiet time and time to go within. A return to healthy grown fruits and vegetables and clean and pure drinking water.

All of this will allow the zygotes to vibrate higher from the beginning.

There is no irony that at the end of Alphabet Soup for the Soul, we are starting back at the beginning. It is intentional. It shows the cyclical nature of all things.

The Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end!

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Thank you for taking this journey with me through Alphabet Soup for the Soul.

Below is the link for the first series I posted on Words from Walden.

12 steps to a spiritual awakening

Alphabet soup for the soul – “Y”

Y is for You

“Believe you can, and you’re halfway there.”

-Theodore Roosevelt-

You already have everything you need inside you.

You have energy, light, and electricity coursing through your veins, giving you access to higher dimensions and realms that science cannot measure.

You are electric; your thoughts are liquid.

You are a wave of light and energy.

You are a radio, and every single moment, you are transmitting your vibration across the universe. But, a big part of the vibration signal you send is based on what you feel as a body and think as a mind. And therein lies the problem.

As the French philosopher Pierre Teilhard de Chardin said,

“We are not Human beings having a spiritual experience;

We are spiritual beings having a human experience.”

Those who are spiritual will understand this while

Those who are not suffering under an affliction of their own mind and bodies.

You have all the tools, and if there is any doubt about that, just read through the Alphabet soup for the soul, starting with abundance. You will quickly remember that everything you need is inside of you already.

Click here to read Z is for Zygote

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“Y”

Alphabet soup for the soul – “X”

X is for -” X marks the spot.“

“If ‘X’ marks the spot of the destination of our life journey, then ‘Y’ should be the reason we’re choosing to go.”

– Cedric Crawford-

The phrase ‘X marks the spot’ has several different attributions. One version is that old pirates would bury their treasure, and they would remember where it was by placing an X on a map close to a landmark they sought as the burial site.

Another version is that the British army used it. For example, when performing executions, A soldier would mark a piece of paper with an x and position it on the heart of someone sentenced to death.

Somewhere along the line, we became less brutal in approaching this phrase.

For this article, you are X, and X marks the spot where you are standing at any time or point in the world. You are at the centre of your world at all times.

This means that you are the center point of your reality. Everything you encounter daily is a message for you and you alone.

The guy you pass on the street at a particular time daily has a message for you.

The lyrics to a song stir feelings inside you. Pay attention to that message.

The bird that lands beside you in the park or the cat that crosses your path. The email you get or the book you read. All of these are messages for you in your world.

Other people are receiving different messages. There is magic in song, scenery and surroundings.

Sometimes, we don’t even know the message until a later date. Have you ever experienced this? Something happens, and you instantly recall a song or a book you read in the past. The reason you realize right away is that it was meant for you.

This sometimes happens without our knowledge. For example, maybe you wanted to run first thing in the morning, but when you woke up, your foot was sore. So, instead, you decide to run later in the day, and you encounter something you would not have otherwise seen on that run. That is also a part of the magic.

Do you believe in something you can’t see but know there? Just like a WIFI signal that we know is there because our phone is working, yet we can’t see it, God is the magic and is always there. But, unlike the WIFI signal, she never cut out on us.

You are the X, and the map is your imagination. So, start right now, where you are, and with whatever you have.

Click here for Y is for You

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2- X is for X-ray-vision

Alphabet soup for the soul – “W”

W is for Work

“I learned the value of hard work by working hard.”

– Margret Mead –

If you do the work, you will reap the rewards. And, if you do what you love, it will not feel like work (most of the time).

Working hard is not about money or fame but rather about being the best version of yourself that you can be for your level of consciousness at any given time.

The goal is to evolve, but personal evolution does not simply happen by creating your future from a closed trans-like state of becoming no-body and no-thing in no time, from no place and going from no-where to now-here. There is another essential step.

After you create your future from that meditative state, that spiritual dimension, you must re-enter the physical body and play in the 3D world of physical form.

The trick is trying to stay conscious without repeating the negative thought loops, patterns and unconscious behaviours that are hardwired inside each of us. Neural networks that have been laid down over a lifetime.

We must ask, What can I do so I don’t fall from grace today? And, If I do fall from grace, How can I shorten the refractory period?

Have you ever been upset about something you have said or done, and then, even days later, you are still upset about the same thing?

This is where you must forgive yourself and move forward to become lighter and vibrate higher. This is where we realize we are human. We get up dust ourselves off and return to doing the work.

The prize is inevitable as long as we keep working and taking action toward our goals and dreams.

Click here to read X marks the spot

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“W”

Alphabet soup for the soul – “V”

V is for Vision

“If you are not being defined by a vision of the future, then you are left with the old memories of the past.“

-Dr. Joe Dispenza-

Do you have a vision for your future?

If not, now might be the time to start thinking about it. Where do you see yourself in 1, 5 or 10 years? How about 20 or 30 years?

The critical thing to note is that those milestones will happen no matter what. It is up to you whether or not you have a say in how they happen.

Since you can choose and create your future, you might as well choose what you wish to become before it’s too late (if you are reading this, then it’s not too late).

One of the most intelligent people I’ve ever known said to make a list of what you wish to have twenty-five years from now and spend the next twenty-five years getting it. To some, that may sound a little too difficult, but that is because you have a mental block that has allowed you to ‘accept your lot in life.

Somewhere inside you is a limiting belief that says, ‘Life is just the way it is, and I have no control over my future. So, some will be happy enough to repeat the same day repeatedly.

I am here to tell you that you possess, and the Universe is the genie here to grant you as many wishes as possible.

A new possible colour? A new house, where? a new job, in what industry?

Your wish is my command, says the Universe to the person holding the lamp.

Pleasure don’t just take my word for it. Practice this for the next 60 days;

TRY THIS: Sit with your eyes closed for 5-10 minutes a day and dream about all the desires you wish to manifest in this life. At first, you may not believe what you put forth; you probably won’t, but do it anyway. Do not let this stop you from dreaming daily.

Continue to repeat the same dreams, wishes, and ideas for the entire 60-day period, and not only will you start to believe them, but your brain will also start to seek out the answers to how to do it. The key is not to waver.

Please stick to the same dream and do it every day from that closed-eyes state. You will discover that the Universe will provide you with opportunities you previously could not see. That is when the magic begins. Do you believe in yourself? Do you believe in magic?

Click here to read E is for Earth

Alphabet soup for the soul vol.2 -“V”