Miracle. All of It.

Posted on by Live & Learn

My eyes graze his binoculars and without a word he passes them over. And like that the birds are no longer smudges, but elegantly detailed and purposeful and real. They steal my breath as they always do, these creatures who think nothing of having wings.

— Charlotte McConaghy, Migrations: A Novel (Flatiron Books, August 4, 2020)

Notes:

  • Photo: Cormorant. Spirit Bird. Sept 7, 2020. 6:48 am. The Cove. Stamford, FT
  • Back Story: Walking. In Search of my Spirit Bird.
  • Post title Inspired by Albert Einstein’s quote: “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”

32 thoughts on “Miracle. All of It.”

  1. Excellent description of a ‘wonder-full’ discovery. I had ‘my’ moment when I was given binoculars in a play at the opera or theatre…. It changes everything!

      1. Well, reading is about the only thing I can still do w/o my glasses…. They are not a thing of wonder, they’re a necessity….. I did go (then) and bought myself a pair of what we called ‘Operngucker’ – small, ready to put away in the ‘evening bag’ – cute and probably more toy-like but still, THE DIFFERENCE!
        = opera viewers

  2. funny how when we ‘see,’ everything changes, trust me that i understand the binoculars/glasses thing, and sometimes it’s just seeing things in a different way in a new emotional sense, that makes the difference

  5. Beautiful shot. So much to see in these world, magnified or not. My husband’s iPod crashing to the floor woke me up at 3:19 am this morning and as there was no more sleep to be had, I got up and am halfway through Migrations. 😊

  8. We have cormorants where I live. I was very excited when I managed to take some photos of them with the zoom facility on my humble camera. They were diving for fish off the end off a concrete structure into the sea, then preparing for take-off from a breaker, then actually taking off. I get very excited by all bird-related things (apart from seagulls pooping on my car when I’ve just washed it!). I heard a nightingale at twilight a few evenings back. The sound was so, so, so beautiful 🙂

  9. Reblogged this on It Is What It Is and commented:
    A sight to behold … “They steal my breath as they always do, these creatures who think nothing of having wings.” … Charlotte McConaghy, Migrations: A Novel (Flatiron Books, August 4, 2020).

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