High up in the bough of a tree a bird, smaller than all the rest, trills out three pure, clear notes on a descending scale. The woman raises her face into the last rays of the setting sun, and she smiles.—-The Singing of the Dead
You know the bird that sings every time Emaa wants to make her presence known to Kate? That, my friends, is the golden-crowned sparrow, my favorite bird. It’s a migratory bird so it leaves for Vancouver Island and the west coast of the U.S. every fall, but when it comes back the following year, you know by its song — “Spring…is…here….” — that you made it through another winter, and that spring really is finally here.
Which is why I chose it to be Emaa’s voice from beyond the grave.
Listen to it here.
Chatter Kate Shugak Random Friday bad blood golden crowned sparrow Kate Shugak