The First Swallow!

This morning we saw that we have a sparrow’s nest in the thick ivy that grows on the wall around the garden. Drake gets quite excited when I open the garden door and he sees the little birds on the lawn. He rushes over barking and wanting to play and then watches in disappointment as they fly away!

Today, I was standing on my balcony, enjoying the warm sunshine on my face and shoulders. In spite of being forced to stay home because of corona virus, fortunately now the weather is beautiful enough for us to get out for some fresh air on the terrace. I noticed a swallow sitting on a wire just in front of me. It was the first one that I have seen this year and I felt uplifted as I watched it stretching its wings in the sunshine and studying me back, with its pretty little head cocked to one side. I pointed it out to my husband. It was the first he had seen this year too. Usually they nest under the eaves just outside our bathroom window. They make an awful mess and the chicks are noisy but we love having them there. Last year the winter winds blew the nest down and so far they have not rebuilt there, which is a shame.

As a writer I see metaphors and symbolism everywhere, every day. I have a few symbols which are very special to me and whenever I see one I feel a connection with the spiritual realm. I’m not the only one to feel like this and a quick bit of research on the internet will show many different things written about animal and bird symbology. However, I don’t pay much attention to what others have written, for me it is more about the way I feel and my personal attachment to those symbols.

So, for me, the first swallow is of course about hope .. the beginning of Spring .. the return after a long winter and things starting anew, in the traditional way. For me though, is also about my parents. They loved swallows, even called their home ‘Swallows Rest’ and every year they had birds nesting under their garage roof.

These days of isolation have been an opportunity for a lot of deep thinking about life. In fact, it has been a very fertile time for me from an artistic point of view and I have been able to get very absorbed in the new novel that I am writing, without the usual excuses that I would have found to distract me J

It has been a time where I have been able to look very deeply inside and find a few hidden truths there. I know that once we are able to leave our houses and begin living our lives again we will all, hopefully, do it with an awareness that things need to change. The old ways of society, politics, pollution and superficiality just might be challenged, as we humans recognise the need to make some fundamental changes. So too, on a personal level, I hope that I will be able to make some positive changes towards living the kind of life that I truly desire to live.

While I was watching the swallow, on its precarious wire, these thoughts were in my head. A flood of warm love washed through me when I thought of my parents. I felt a strong determination to live life to the full, enjoy every sun-kissed moment and above all the need to make those inner changes. A neighbour parked across the road and strolled over to have a chat, from a safe distance below the balcony. Those rare moments of seeing friends, even from afar, are special but as he crossed the road my attention was distracted by a sudden movement near my head.

The swallow had chosen that moment to fly off and did so with a graceful swoop really close to me, as if making sure that I was paying attention to its message.

I did pay attention, and I will!

May you all have the pleasure of seeing these small signs and symbols of hope in your daily lives and once we can meet up again we can try to share the personal lessons we have learnt and try to work together to make the positive changes that our society needs. Yes, I’m probably a dreamer and an optimist but this too is the way that I choose to be!

Photo by Jim Summerson at Unsplash