My First Birdbath

Names are so arbitrary…and yet…names are so important. While growing up, my dad used to call me Jaybird—very appropriate considering the running career that I would come to have. (Fortunately not all my dad’s nicknames had such foreshadowing or descriptive qualities. I’m not sure “Bird-Dog” or “Squirrel-Meat” would connote anything good.) In any event, he called me Jaybird.

I have tried to come up with a good name for this blog—something that would capture this blog’s essence. I have chosen “Jaybird’s Birdbath,” and hopefully that will prove to be a worthy name. But why a bird bath?

When a bird settles upon a bird bath, it first perches on its rim. For a brief moment, the bird reflects above the still surface of the water. Then it hops in, splashes about for cleansing and refreshment, probably takes a drink, and then alights in flight once again.

This blog serves the same purpose. It offers a brief moment each day to reflect, to refresh my mind, to drink deeply, and then to resume my day. My name is Jaybird, and this is my birdbath.