Earlier this week I asked you to be mindful of the beauty of a flower, whether that be a simple spring bloom in your garden, or – should you still have the option of going out beyond your home – a wild flower growing on a roadside verge. But what else might we have to celebrate in these dark and challenging days?
Well, I’m listening to one possible candidate right now as I sit typing this in my study: the song of a blackbird soaring from a treetop outside my window. I could listen to it for hours, such is the haunting quality of its fluting melody. Every blackbird’s song, I am told, is slightly different, the males experimenting with a variety of notes, rhythms and cadences in order to set themselves apart and attract the most desirable female while simultaneously warning rivals to keep out of their territory. It’s a rather prosaic reason for singing, isn’t it, yet there’s nothing prosaic about the results. With good reason, the blackbird is widely regarded as Britain’s best songster. There are few sounds to touch it. Make the most of your opportunity, then, during these weeks of enforced isolation, to enjoy its daily offerings, for come July it will fall silent again, except for the odd alarm call, until next spring.
Stop, and listen. No, don’t just hear. Listen. In our busy hi-tech world, with so much clamouring for our attention, that’s something we can forget to do. We shut ourselves away in our homes, poring over our mobile phones or tablets; tweeting, posting or texting; or glued to our television sets; and the wonder of this world passes us by. We miss the truly magical, literally on our doorstep. Pause, and let the sounds wash over you. As well as that blackbird, I can hear blue tits calling, goldfinches twittering, sparrows chirping, pigeons cooing, a chaffinch in full song, the dulcet tones of a robin, the exuberant melody of a wren. It’s been going on all afternoon, but I was too busy to notice. For many of us, there’s no excuse for that now. There’s a world of music out there; nature’s music – soothing, uplifting, special, joyful. If that isn’t something to celebrate, I don’t know what is.
Here’s a brief taste of a blackbird song from one of the many YouTube videos available online. My thanks to Paul Dinning, who recorded it.