Looking for a Rufous

Halcyon Days: Respite from the Storms of Life

Obviously birds are important to me – they are one of the “themes” for my blog, and I named my blog after a bird. But this blog post is not specifically about the bird. Although the kingfisher is a very cool bird, the bird is just the idea behind this post. Also, with most bird species there are many variations (color of plumage, nesting habits, etc.), but I’ll leave out all that except for the scientific name of the kingfisher that lives in my neck of the woods, “Ceryle alcyon”. Be patient there’s a connection coming with that name if you haven’t already figured it out. I’ve provided a link to the Audubon site that has information about the Kingfisher species and the source that provided some of my information for this post, including the call and the picture.

Audubon Society Field Guide

“The Greeks had a myth that the Halcyon, a bird we think was a kingfisher, could calm a little area of sea to float its nest upon. Hence, ‘halcyon days’ are a lucky respite from the storms of life. Our real-life kingfishers raise their young on a heap of regurgitated fish bones . . .”

The quote above is from a sign next to a pond in a nature park where I run. There’s a bench where people can sit and watch the birds. And on occasion, like today it happened, I saw two kingfishers as I paused to catch my breath and see what was going on. Naturally, I was motivated to come home and do a blog post. Admittedly, I had been thinking about “halcyon days” since the first time I saw the sign.

I posed the question in my title, “are they important?”. Maybe a better question is “why are they important?”. In a couple of posts, one on “Mindfulness” and another titled “Doing Nothing” in Things to Think About, I talk about just sitting and relaxing, no tablet or cell phone, with no preoccupation with anything else, just breathing and maybe listening to bird sounds or a train in the distance.

Things to Think About

Lord knows we all need a respite from the storms of life right. Of course, our lives are busy and involved and stressful sometimes, actually most of the time. Even if the Greek myth about the Halcyon was just a myth, it certainly makes sense to take a break.

Rattling Call of the Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher (Ceryle alcyon) Laura Williams/Vireo