Sometimes it’s the small things in life that you can count on that make you most happy. This is one of mine. Every morning, two mourning doves land very awkwardly on the bird bath outside my office window. They are incredibly clumsy, which makes me smile (probably because I am incredibly clumsy myself.) Sometimes they even hit the window on their way to the bird bath. They don’t hit it hard, not hard enough where they hurt themselves, but more like they are trying to squeeze in to the bird bath and their butts slide against the window on the way to it. Again, I can probably relate.
After they sit down on the feeder (kerplunk!), the thing shakes back and forth but they just sit there and smile (in my imagination they do at least) to each other. Like, “Cool! We made it and we’re the first ones!” Then they take a drink or have a little splash in the bath before they go about their day.
I really find joy in this.
I’m not sure if it’s the routine that really gets me, or the fact that I can relate to these slightly less than graceful birds. I also like the fact that these birds generally are monogamous and that both the male and female care for their young. I like that fact that they would not traditionally be considered beautiful, but to me there is something in the way they relate to each other and the world that is beautiful.
