Our nature club had been doing two bird walks a week. Every Thursday and Sunday. Our town has several parks with various habitats, so we were always able to see a variety of birds. Our membership ran into the thousands, but our walks usually only got about ten to twenty bird watchers.
In March 2020, the news announcements told everyone there was going to be a complete shut-down due to the Covid-19 virus. It was difficult to fathom. Such a thing had never happened before. We had seen the news out of China. All those crazy Chinese running around with masks on their faces! But this was America. We were great. We didn’t need to do such crazy things.
Soon, the state was telling us we could not hold bird walks. None! The parks were closed. We rebelled. We attempted to walk “in” the park by walking along the edges. Many said they would not wear a mask. Silly thing, stupid! This is America. But as the deaths rolled in, masks became fashionable. Masks with birds on them became very popular with our bird watchers.
The weeks rolled on. Television and the Internet repeated the sad stories, the confusion, the costs, the hopelessness, the growing fear. Most Americans were not used to such bleak conditions. Still we wanted to rebel. Deny it was happening. Reason our way out of it. If we walk with a mask, in the bright sun, in the cold winter air, would it be safe?
Finally the experts decided that the parks could open. We were again allowed to hold our nature walks—as long as we wore masks and kept six feet apart. It was May. Birds were coming in! Mating calls and songs echoed from the tops of trees. There was joy in nature. We looked up at the migrating birds from the rims of our masks.
The bird watchers continued to meet and walk from spring to summer and into the fall migration. The virus moved onward like a spectra of death and despair. The winter holidays came and went. Many family members disappeared. Friends gone. Reports of more sickness increased.
Then a powerful cold front shoved bitter dry air across the plains. The wind swept across the Great Lakes and brought down the demons of the artic.
By the end of January, everyone was seeing them! The glowing yellow eyes of a predator. The wicked talons of a fierce killer. Snowy Owls were everywhere. The bird watchers rejoiced. What a rare bird! What a lucky find! What a gift nature had given us. Was it a reward for enduring the ravages of a virus and for understanding how challenging survival can be?
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