The birds of spring

I really don't know much about birds so I can hardly consider myself a bird watcher but I truly enjoy seeing them each spring as they appear and go about their wonderful nesting activities. And so a couple of paragraphs in Precious Solitude on the subject really spoke to me this morning. Ruth Fishel writes:

Birdwatching is an activity that can be done with other people and still be a source of solitude, says author and therapist Sandy Bierig. She finds birdwatching a solitary adventure, taking her totally away from everything else. Once can become so absorbed in identifying each species, keeping track of the number of birds one finds in each species, naming them, and recording them that it doesn't matter how many other people are in the same area.

Sandy finds birdwatching nourishing and balancing. As a therapist who spends a great deal of time with other people, birdwatching fills her need to get away and find quiet time connecting with nature. She calls it a "respectable form of loitering."

I like that concept: "A respectable form of loitering"!!! I feel that way browsing among the books of a busy book store. There are lots of people around and yet I experience quality solitude in that situation. Walking my dog is like that too. I encourage each one of us to make a list of "loitering" activities that work for us. Then there is always a way of availing ourselves of rich and healthy quiet time alone.