"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us." {Miss Maudie's quote from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird.}
I believe a rare gift has been given me whenever I hear a mockingbird sing. I stop whatever I am doing to listen. To me, they are one of the most fascinating birds to have been created.
Did you know that some older mockingbirds have a repertoire of up to 300 songs? Some can even imitate other animals. Yet, strangely, they have no song of their own.
Like the albino deer, a mockingbird sighting is considered a good omen in many cultures. Some consider it a harbinger of good fortune and luck, or an easing of your sufferings and trouble. Others believe it signifies a reassurance that your guardian angel is watching out for you and that you are protected.
Most notably, however, a mockingbird is interpreted as signifying innocence. (Hence, the book, To Kill a Mockingbird, is symbolic for the loss of innocence....After all, why would anyone want to kill such a free-spirited, joyful, creature?)
{Sorry that you cannot see the songster more clearly, but I was looking into the sun taking this. But turn your volume up!}
I know mockingbirds are common to some, if not many, of you...but, here, in Nod, they seem to be a rare treat for some reason. Even rarer are the beautiful night time serenades they're prone to do. They can wake you from a sound sleep and keep you awake for hours, but you do not begrudge them that.
Well, at least I don't.
