As I rushed down the lane in the misty twilight to make the trek to Berlin, OH to pick up Audrey from her life as a barista — a squat square of feathers flew dangerously close to the windshield and landed in a tree just a few feet to my left. Stomping on the breaks, I stared up at a puffed up gray screech owl trying to gain balance on a tiny branch. Backing up slightly, I watched him slowly turn his head to look back at me over his shoulder. Because the car idles with a low purring rumble (thanks to a bad muffler), I expected the experience to be short lived. Instead he deemed me no threat at all and stayed stock still, thrilling me with a few minutes of wonderful observation!
I discovered birding during a college ornithology class that coincided with being hired at the Zoo as a full time zookeeper. Our class was taught by Dr. Scott Orcutt: he-who-could-identify-any-and-all-birds-even-by-sound-alone. We did a lot of work out in the field that semester, including trips to such wonderful sounding areas as Funk and Blatchleyville. Most memorable was standing back-to-back (literally) with hundreds of other birders on the boardwalks of the Maumee Bay area watching warblers make their spring migration. 96 species of birds that day. My biggest count day to date.
That’s when I started my Life List. It’s a birder thing — counting the number of species you have seen in your life time. “That’s a lifer for me,” means you’ve just seen a bird that you have never seen before. It’s all about finding, observing, listening to and watching the amazingly diverse individual birds that God has created. It’s a collection pegged to memories spent outside ‘hunting’, hiking and talking with friends. It’s a celebration of diversity, uniqueness and your own personal commitment to tracking these experiences. A quest that encourages reliving the moments of the best finds much like my husband can relive his best musical moments or triumphs during a Euchre game!
Abby sat in on a talk at Hope College by Tim Lehman of National Geographic. He spoke on the project he has been working on: identifying all 39 species of the Birds of Paradise. She was amazed enough at his photography, and the glory of these birds, to want to overcome her fear of heights so as to follow in his footsteps and photograph the world of biology in the trees.
You know, frankly there are time when I can see everyone in the world as diverse and beautiful and unique, like birds, except myself. I forget, or downplay, my own individual style, purpose and meaning in this world. How can someone who sees amazing stories in everyone around her ignore the role she plays in her very own story? How can I touch others’ lives daily without acknowledging myself as a unique, special individual also created by God?
So I’ve decided to think this through in my own terms. I believe that God keeps a Life List. He knows all of the individuals that He has created, and why He created them, and what He planned for them to be doing. And I picture Him geared up for a hike, waterproof notebook and binoculars in hand, setting out to create His Life List. He writes down each of the ‘Lifers’ He sees — those of us who are just discovering His plans for us and beginning to walk with His purpose in mind. But He also jots down those that He is seeing again, and again, and again — the individuals that He has known for a long time and relishes seeing them as they continue on in their lives – contributing to the world as He expected they would. I bet He writes in His book the date and the place that He spots us, making notes about our ‘habitats’ and who we are with and how we are thriving. I hope that there is laughter in His heart as He finds a ‘new’ individual to add to His list.
I’ve never had any trouble blending my belief in God with my love of science. I have no desire to explain God through science (or detract from Him, either). I see how God must be in the intricacies of the nervous system, in the beauty of a fiddlehead, and the complexity of an atom. It is a never-ending source of delight to discover more and more about the world around me. One leads to the other in my mind.
So, an owl in my drive leads to life lists that lead to my relationship with God. Throw in a great movie and you’ve made my day. Try The Big Year with Jack Black, Steve Martin and Owen Wilson. Jack plays a character mostly based on a young man from the church I go to in Berlin, OH. His name is Greg Miller – he came in second. But that’s another story.
wanderingoutinleftfield 
What a fantastic read!!
Glad you enjoyed following my wanderings, Michelle! You’ve encouraged me to try more.