Because the streets are quiet, because there are not a lot of people walking through the neighborhood, there are birds staking out new territories. I can hear them start the chorus at 2:30 a.m. instead of the usual 4 a.m. time. There are new songs too. My cat Cleo has taken to waking me up before dawn so that I will open the blinds to her cat tree window so she can watch the new flight patterns between our house and the neighbors. Sometimes I sit with her and see the newcomers flash by in new colors. But the best one was today, I saw a hummingbird hovering under the tree next door where the sidewalk is shaded by a black locust and an elm. It’s not the first hummingbird I’ve seen in Chicago, but it is encouraging to see it so freely exploring across the sidewalk.
Freely flying
Freely seeking
Wings a humming
Nature restored
Above concrete
Below canopy
Inside city lines
Barnesversation 