Birding Brings Joy Amidst Pain for My Black Family
Every day brings a struggle to preserve the light in my children’s eyes from a growing awareness that dims it
Like a mother bird tending her chicks in spring, I have largely occupied myself during the Covid-19 pandemic with caring for my three small children. I am thankful my husband can work from home as I write freelance and manage the kids’ homeschooling. We began to notice the birds trilling amid the tree blossoms as April gave way to May.
Our feathered friends are a delight. When we observe them, we forget why we are cooped up in the house. Watching birds with my children gives me respite from the anxiety of being Black during a pandemic that has disproportionately killed Black people. It’s also provided openings to help my kids process the social unrest rocking the country.
My own emotions dart away before I can identify them by name, much like the brown birds hovering near my window. So I reach instead for joy.
The time my family has spent at home over the last three months has made us look out the window to see jogging strangers, familiar birds — anything but these four walls. My little brood dabbles…
