The Loons Are Migrating

The view out the expanse of glass is lake, moderate in size, tree-lined. Our cabin is situated on a bluff and today the winds are curling the waters as dark clouds gather mid-morning. I was peeking through binoculars earlier before the sun had fled and saw birds riding the waves, their white bodies flashing in the rising east light. They looked to be some mid-west version of a gull but when I checked my bird book I found they were loons. Common loons.

It is late March here near the Mississippi River. Andy and I are away with ourselves for seven days, a personal retreat to restore sanity. We are somewhere in north western Illinois, the same state that has become infamous as the safe haven for Democratic legislators under siege. Seemed like a good place to come although we didn't know in December what was ahead for Senators or common people when we made our own get-away plans.

The Common Loon is a migrating bird who, now in spring, has left the Gulf coast and Mexico to head north to Hayward, Wisconsin. And other points north. The loon's name comes from the Swedish word 'lom' meaning "lame", for the difficult and awkward manner in which it walks on land. Somehow I wished I didn't know that but it is odd how these days I see more things that remind me of how common the world is and, in its commonness, is magical. May I say this as well? Like all of life - like We The People - common, beautiful, magical. This year will continue to be a wild ride for the common people.

We have been here less than twenty-four hours. I've slowed down a bit but I can feel a humming inside that will lessen the longer we are here. Tonight is Earth Hour. It won't be difficult to turn off the lights here for an hour. I hope to gain a few insights on things personally in the light and the dark, do some thinking about this immense challenge to the ground support structure of our democracy and read/eat/sleep.

Meanwhile, I want to look at those exquisitely painted common loons who have blessed us with a stop at this lake on their grand spring migration.

Power To All The People! (and all the common life with which we live)