…When those marvelous sandpipers come around here, the little ones. While they’re in the air flying, they have one mind, they move all together. When they alight on the mud, they become individuals and they go pecking around for worms or whatever. But one click of the fingers and all those things go up into the air. They don’t seem to have a leader, because they don’t follow when they turn; they all turn together and go off in a different direction. It’s amazing.
~Alan Watts
Every morning is a miracle in its own right. The sun casts long shadows over the dew-heavy landscape and the air stirs with increasing warmth. The phalaropes spin in circles as they feed and court. They court in the morning sun with a genetic compulsion to carry on the species. The effort is without pretense or strain – as natural as possible.
