Talking to you…Killdeer 3/8/20

I heard a Killdeer this afternoon.

I saw a lady bug crawling on my windshield.

The breeze huffed through the trees, then died down, and again.

I stopped and looked up at the lady bug, once. She was still.

I think she was holding on.

Of course, she was a she. Duh.

And now she’s gone.

Cars kept zooming by on their way, always taking someone somewhere. So busy…

A grey 4×4 pulled in and parked one over to the left of me. A man with a dark beard sat in the drivers seat.

I cracked the windows to enjoy the breeze and turned the engine off.

It was quiet where I sat.

Distant rumbles of mufflers,

And knots so many knots.

From my view I counted four, maybe five.

Each telling a story.

A smell crept inside, burnt rubber, or something. It distracted me.

I had time, so I drove around aimlessly looking. Until I heard sirens.

There, off in the distance, black sky. I stopped and watched.

After I was satisfied, I returned to my spot next to the the man with the dark beard,

Killdeer.

I heard one this afternoon through the screen door while I was rinsing the dishes.

It’s not very often I hear them anymore, but

In the prairie when I was young, the breezes would blow and tickle our legs and the birds would fly above and yell at us, Kill-deer, Kill-deer.

Maybe the clock does tick back sometimes…