Janice, thank you for sharing your comment… I’m glad to contribute to that sort of connection, and especially to know that you, who have shared so much of the story and connection at Sevenmile Creek with me, are impacted by this story, too.

Thanks so much, John, for sharing your reflections on this piece. I’m glad to hear how it touched you!

Shane’s descriptions vividly portray his environment. Further, his observations caused him to reflect on the sights and sounds, on the amazing migration of the warblers, and, on the fact that people share this planet. He observed that “we’re one humanity living on one Earth, connected by the birds, by the monarch butterflies, by vast currents of wind and atmosphere. And when we try to learn the languages of our neighbors from another country, to exchange stories, thoughts, and daily life, perhaps the world becomes a little more beautiful.”

I enjoyed accompanying Shane on his trip to Mexico and back. And I applaud his reflections on our shared America, and on our shared world. I look forward to reading future articles that “continue the story.”

Thanks so much, Kate! Really glad to hear your thoughts and the parts that especially touched you. 🙂

Some of my favorite phrases and images:
A mechanical bird, within a shell of aluminum. flight feathers that never molt. gridded light. autumnal exuberance. other time capsules.

A narrow barrier that, through some cruelty of life, seems to define our human existence too much in our two countries.

Swim against the economic current. wealth gradient.

the birds that don’t recognize borders, that connect our continent in a single, diverse entity. the wall and our connected, complicated humanity on both sides of it.

The landscape is soggy with the anticipation of spring.

The infinite stories of the migratory birds that weave this continent together. from the wall that the warblers ignore and the gentrification that I can’t ignore.

Te saluda. Muchos abrazos.