In late spring our family had gathered in the living room when suddenly we heard a plunk on the glass window. What was it? At first we thought perhaps one of the fireplace utensils inside the house had fallen. Then we surmised that perhaps a strong breeze had knocked over an empty vase. The answer was a mystery until someone looked out the window that was located next to the fireplace. This window offers a wonderful view not only of the lake but also of a birdfeeder which is a delight to Goldfinch because it contains nyjer seed—their favorite food.

Goldfinch are beautiful little birds that spend most of the year with a brown color. Then, in late spring, the males turn a bright yellow. In the bird kingdom it is always the males that sport the beautiful colors. The females simply remain brown.

The Goldfinch’s seed of choice is nyjer seed, a tiny black seed imported from Ethiopia. People often use the nyjer seed in curry and chutney but if there is nyjer seed in the area it is soon consumed by the yellow Goldfinch. The birds had flocked onto my bird feeder and they were having a bird feast.

So what was the noise that we heard? Well, against the window there was a dead Goldfinch. It was a sad little creature. We wondered if in some mysterious way we were to blame No. Blame it on the window! The window had recently been washed and glistened in the morning sun.

The little finch, seeing his reflection, wanted a close-up view and flew into the glass, or maybe he thought it was another bird. A potential friendship. Whatever the reason, the bird had flown into the glass and now lay on the walk beside the window.

I concluded that we should always look at where we are going. So many of us fly blindly through life, not looking at what might be in front of us and this can often result in a physical or emotional death.

At present we have lived through a very difficult time. More than ever it has been necessary to know where we are going and how we are getting there.

Sheltering