Mythical Garkin, protector of newbie gardeners!Birds of one feather
I’ve got to post these before I clean up my desktop! One of the many things I’ve left undone!
OK this picture is of some crazy flower that decided to become parrot-like. Intelligent design or evolution? What would be the point of evolution creating a flower that is just beautiful? The structure of the flower, when compared to the functionality of other flowers means that either a bird, bug or a bee is attracted to that bird and likes to get nectar from it’s nether regions. Hmm…too bizarre to me! I like to think that in a moment of cosmic love and whimsy a loving God created this.
And sticking with the bird theme, the other day I found a creek in a park area in Redmond. It lies in a steep ravine, consequently, nobody goes down there. The only folks that went there probably 15 years ago were the people laying out plastic pipes for roadway drainage. :*( Well lo and behold I went down to check things out. I grew up in the woods here so this was nice to get back to my roots. The trees overhead made a nice cathedral of green and I climbed over crag and fallen tree. Soon I discovered an oasis. I just breathed it in. There was this sense of time just stopping as the sun spread out in sunbeams and small, gentle flying winged insects circled and danced in the light over this small stream.
I wanted to stay there, but had to return home. As I was climbing to get back home over a wall of fallen trees, I remember being so grateful. Just as I sent out that thanks, I instantly spied this most unusual feather on the forest floor:
To an Indian this is a sign of good luck, or perhaps a message. Each bird represents a different thing in native lore. Of course I had no idea what sort of bird this feather would come from. So, I spent a good hour on the internet and found out that it was a Northern Flicker!
Its an unusual wood pecker than distinguishes itself by hunting on the ground! As a sign I suppose it means persistence, putting your nose to the ground and working hard, above all to keep trying. I liked that, as it certainly is the new theme here lately! So with gratefulness, I say, keep trying, and then, try harder.
*UPDATE* All this morning, a Northern Flicker has been making its call outside my window. To hear it’s beautiful sound click here.
Michael on 
It was fun hearing the Flicker this morning after learning that was the bird I've been hearing for the past month! It's such a cool looking bird! I like what you had to say about persistance and putting your nose to the ground. Great wisdom. And those flowers? How cool are those?! What are they and can we grow some?
Wow!!! What a beautiful post and I LOVE that such a beautiful bird left a gift for you! Here's what “Animal Speak” has to say about the Flicker:
KEYNOTE: New Rhythm of Growth and Healing Love
…Because of the tapping and drumming that all woodpeckers do in their search for food, they have connections to new rhythms coming into your life. … When a flicker comes into your life, it will reflect new bounding leaps of spiritual growth. …
The red on the back of its head reflects a stimulation of the chakra centers of the head—the throad, brow, and crown centers. These centers will be stimulated into new activity. This reflects that latent talents and intuition are going to be activated to a greater degree. It usually reflects, especially when it's a red shafted flicker, that the stimulation of the latent talents is going to be a catalyst for major creative changes in your life. Your physical and material life is going to change.
…
There's a lot more that I'll type another time (wrist hurts too much). It's a wonderful animal to enter into your life, Sam!!
Thanks for sharing!
Lots of love to you,
Wendi
XOXOXO
I love it when things come together like that – feels like it's meant to be and that there's a message of peace and good will from the universe coming right at you. How lovely
PS definitely think you should grow some of those flowers!
I love getting gifts from the winged ones. I thought that was a Flicker tail feather when I saw it.
Here's a link to the Animal Speak that Wendi mentioned: FLICKER. You'll want to read pages 142-143. Good stuff! Got a drum?
thanks hon, they are from Thailand, and tropical…alas…
Thanks so much Wendi! (((Wendi))) your insight is refreshing and I'm grateful for the time you took to post that! It's truly beautiful, thanks for the addendum to my experience!
Thanks Antony, oh I wish I could grow those! I agree with what you said about things coming together…
Oh AWESOME EarthMother! Thanks for that link! I've been doing a lot of percussive music lately so its interesting it correlates. I haven't done anything like that for ages. I've been feeling a new rhythm lately, I think it's going round! I definitely need a drum!
I love getting gifts from the winged ones. I thought that was a Flicker tail feather when I saw it.
Here's a link to the Animal Speak that Wendi mentioned: FLICKER. You'll want to read pages 142-143. Good stuff! Got a drum?
thanks hon, they are from Thailand, and tropical…alas…
Thanks so much Wendi! (((Wendi))) your insight is refreshing and I'm grateful for the time you took to post that! It's truly beautiful, thanks for the addendum to my experience!
Thanks Antony, oh I wish I could grow those! I agree with what you said about things coming together…
Oh AWESOME EarthMother! Thanks for that link! I've been doing a lot of percussive music lately so its interesting it correlates. I haven't done anything like that for ages. I've been feeling a new rhythm lately, I think it's going round! I definitely need a drum!