Ravens, John Haines and Benny Hill together in the same post! You are a phenomenon. Beautiful as always, and I'm heading to that YouTube conversation now.
I'm in awe. So many thanks for your sharing. Your witnessing is what I needed today. To the mystery, to the longing... The ravens here in Sudbury, Northern Ontario Canada, they fly westward each evening before nightfall. I go to the hills to join them. I hear their wings beat overhead. Some fly so close. They trickle by, then come in droves, dancing, inverting, touching wings, skirting... one by one, twos by twos, families, free, warbling, calling, responding, listening with all of their being to the world breathing, singing. It takes a good couple of hours... where do they go... where do they go... life lies in their constancy.
Thank you Pandora. I saw ravens in Canada (BC) a long time ago. They were huge, much bigger and more impressive than ours, which are only a little larger than crows (but still a wonder to me).
Wow, a couple of hours? Here. Crows straggle and and meander against generally harsh blue skies, swearingsliy to each other. When you do catch them inside the gravity of trees, those mumble conversations are a revelation. There is a tangle outside our bedroom window - a thick vine and weed encircling the bird bath, and this has brought the private times of other pairs up close. Whip birds, and those sleek birds that collect blue things, whose call sounds like a watery cricket. Both have revealed intimate language that I have realised, with a shiver, is actually love poetry. Complete with gentle touches and slow dancing.
I love how you weave birds into your posts... this one ravens as a way to explore possibilities, quietness (not something I associate with ravens), musicality, and conversation. Your description of the ravens paints a picture allowing me to feel as if I were there watching them. And then there are your images which further anchor and evoke a sense of first hand experience. Very cool. I also tend to read your posts much more slowly than I do other posts. Also very cool. Anyway, my raven share for you is: here on the Merrimack River in Massachusetts we have a Winter Crow Roost where by February there are nearly 25,000 crows roosting at dusk along the banks. Swooping, cawing, chattering. It is an amazing phenomenon to behold and stirs a very primal sense of unity to be among them.
Beautiful. So much in one post: I am so glad I found your publication. I am scared of birds but crows and ravens are an exception. They feel like kindred spirits. And music and lyrics... Not being a native English speaker, and despite being bilingual now, I can still 'switch off' from listening to the words. I like being able to choose the melody and music of the words over their literal meaning sometimes.
New Substacker here, I chose a cracker to read first! More conversation, it all of its forms and meanings, is certainly needed. Long time fan of John Haines, you should definitely check out his memoir The Stars, The Snow, The Fire. I once sent him a fan letter and received a beautiful response. He seemed a kind soul, not unlike yourself.
The motion in this image is wonderful, just the feeling of diving from height, everything rushing past…
Raven vocalizations are one of my absolute favorite, all those throaty calls. Just last spring, we heard the juvenile "screaming" for the first time, and it cracked me up!
Thank you for this, such nourishing thoughts. It's good to read your words. I love the image of you joining the crows' conversation. I'm sure they listened.
"What I love about melody is its possibilities, how one group of notes played in a certain order can be transformed completely by a simple change, a drop in tempo or pitch, a slight rearrangement. These changes can shift how you feel in an instant, like all possibilities."
Ravens, John Haines and Benny Hill together in the same post! You are a phenomenon. Beautiful as always, and I'm heading to that YouTube conversation now.
Thanks Sharon. Benny has been a big inspiration, so I thought I'd give his masterpiece a mention . . .
I'm in awe. So many thanks for your sharing. Your witnessing is what I needed today. To the mystery, to the longing... The ravens here in Sudbury, Northern Ontario Canada, they fly westward each evening before nightfall. I go to the hills to join them. I hear their wings beat overhead. Some fly so close. They trickle by, then come in droves, dancing, inverting, touching wings, skirting... one by one, twos by twos, families, free, warbling, calling, responding, listening with all of their being to the world breathing, singing. It takes a good couple of hours... where do they go... where do they go... life lies in their constancy.
Thank you Pandora. I saw ravens in Canada (BC) a long time ago. They were huge, much bigger and more impressive than ours, which are only a little larger than crows (but still a wonder to me).
Wow, a couple of hours? Here. Crows straggle and and meander against generally harsh blue skies, swearingsliy to each other. When you do catch them inside the gravity of trees, those mumble conversations are a revelation. There is a tangle outside our bedroom window - a thick vine and weed encircling the bird bath, and this has brought the private times of other pairs up close. Whip birds, and those sleek birds that collect blue things, whose call sounds like a watery cricket. Both have revealed intimate language that I have realised, with a shiver, is actually love poetry. Complete with gentle touches and slow dancing.
Love the world.
I love how you weave birds into your posts... this one ravens as a way to explore possibilities, quietness (not something I associate with ravens), musicality, and conversation. Your description of the ravens paints a picture allowing me to feel as if I were there watching them. And then there are your images which further anchor and evoke a sense of first hand experience. Very cool. I also tend to read your posts much more slowly than I do other posts. Also very cool. Anyway, my raven share for you is: here on the Merrimack River in Massachusetts we have a Winter Crow Roost where by February there are nearly 25,000 crows roosting at dusk along the banks. Swooping, cawing, chattering. It is an amazing phenomenon to behold and stirs a very primal sense of unity to be among them.
Wow! 25,000! What an amazing thing to see. Thank you Emily.
Ugh, I misquoted. It's 15k... Still! That's a lot! "WinterCrowRoost" on Instagram has video of this year's roost to date.
I watched them - fabulous! Thanks for the link.
Another beautiful, thoughtful post, James. Thank you for this gift.
Thank you Terri!
Thank you so much for that James. The part about talking back to the ravens in particular resonated with me. It's something I often do.
Beautiful. So much in one post: I am so glad I found your publication. I am scared of birds but crows and ravens are an exception. They feel like kindred spirits. And music and lyrics... Not being a native English speaker, and despite being bilingual now, I can still 'switch off' from listening to the words. I like being able to choose the melody and music of the words over their literal meaning sometimes.
Thank you Gaelle. They feel like kindred spirits to me too.
New Substacker here, I chose a cracker to read first! More conversation, it all of its forms and meanings, is certainly needed. Long time fan of John Haines, you should definitely check out his memoir The Stars, The Snow, The Fire. I once sent him a fan letter and received a beautiful response. He seemed a kind soul, not unlike yourself.
Thank you! I've read his memoir and loved it. Hope you enjoy Substack.
Just intoxicating!
Thank you!
Just what I needed to read and see this morning. Thank you!
Thanks Sandy
So beautiful. I love everything about this.🖤
Thank you Colleen.
I felt like a raven swooping and sailing through this post. Beautiful.
Thank you Dottie
The motion in this image is wonderful, just the feeling of diving from height, everything rushing past…
Raven vocalizations are one of my absolute favorite, all those throaty calls. Just last spring, we heard the juvenile "screaming" for the first time, and it cracked me up!
Thanks Sydney! They can be very comical. Maybe I'll write about that soon.
This is so lovely, it reminded of when I went to England and discovered ravens. I was mesmerised. My English travel companion thought I was bonkers x
Thank you AnnaMarie!
I love how your essays are like reading meditations for me. They are so grounding. Thank you for this gift.
Thanks Kat.
Thank you for this, such nourishing thoughts. It's good to read your words. I love the image of you joining the crows' conversation. I'm sure they listened.
I hope they did Carri! Thank you.
A lovely read! This quote resonated:
"What I love about melody is its possibilities, how one group of notes played in a certain order can be transformed completely by a simple change, a drop in tempo or pitch, a slight rearrangement. These changes can shift how you feel in an instant, like all possibilities."
Thank you Pamela