Winter Birds

all photographs by Mario Giacomelli

It's been raining for two days. From Paris my friend Daniel sent me some beautiful music by Ray LaMontagne, which seems to fit the mood these last two days. I've been listening to one of the songs in particular, called "Winter Birds," with these lines:

The stream can't contain such the withering rain,

And from the pasture the fence it is leaning away

The clouds crack and growl

Like some great cat on the prowl

Crying out, "I am, I am" over and over again

The winter birds have gone back again

Here the sprightly chickadee, gone now is the willow wren

In passing greet each other as if old, old friends

And to the voiceless trees it is their own they will lend...

Though all these things will change the memories will remain

As green to gold and gold to brown

The leaves will fall to feed the ground

And in their falling make no sound

Oh my lady, lady, I am loving you now

All the verses in the song speak of changes and the transformation wrought by time, and the need to love the here and now. Just the song for a winter day such as today.