Ode to a Loon
(upon seeing him in Williams Lake)
We have seen the first loon of the season, his profile proud against the silvery water, and it has brought me close to tears. How this little bird has kept his date with posterity, flown many hundreds of miles to try yet again to raise a brood, passing through a natural world that we are changing beneath his very wings.
Well, it boggles the mind, and it stirs the heart. That he could keep faith, and never be discouraged, never find himself too tired to go on, nor be hampered by questions about his role in nature’s great turning wheel. That he could press on, not content till he reaches his destination, and can now float serenely across the water, sure of his place. I imagine how reassured he is to find his lake fresh and replenished, and a healthy habitat awaiting him and his mate.
It restores my conviction that Nature can prevail, despite all our depredations. And it gives me strength and resolve, to keep doing all the things we can do to set aside some part of the natural world for such magnificent brave creatures. It tells me never to give up hope, and to keep my pact with this bird, to set aside the habitat he needs. So that we can all wake up to the haunting mystery of a loon’s call, reminding us to never forget the importance of the wilderness around us – a wilderness that helps to sustain us in so many ways, and without which we would be vastly impoverished, in mind, body and spirit.