Birds Don't Float

A Piece of Prose From the Path

Yes, ducks and geese and swans do float. But for the purposes of this piece, let’s leave them off the proverbial plate for now. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Thank you. I will literally be here all week… and how I love alliteration.

So yes, you are correct. Gulls, loons, pelicans, puffers and sandpipers, as well as several other species also do float. But stay with me.

As I walked on my regular path today (one of a few “regular” paths) I saw a bird in a seated position floating in mid-air. I stopped and stared and was absolutely mesmerized. I know that hummingbirds can appear to be still in mid-air because their wings are flapping so quickly, but this was something else. It was as if a magician with an invisible string was magically suspending this bird from the sky. But birds don’t float, they fly.

I preemptively correct this by adding that the ostrich, emu, kiwi, chicken and penguin can’t fly. But we really need to move on and stop being so pedantic. Where was I?

Oh yes, I saw a bird in a seated position floating in mid-air. It was as if a magician… yada, yada, yada. Of course, as I got closer, I could see it was perched on the thinnest of branches. Yet from a distance, the illusion was perfect. Even still, the branch was so tiny the balancing act alone was kind of miraculous. I used to do magic as a kid, so I appreciate both technique and the awe that can be created. But nature’s magic is even more astounding.

This made me ponder. Birds don’t float. In the air, I mean.

They can fly and they can soar, but it requires the use of their wings. If their wings are tucked, they’ll drop to the ground. Part of it is instinctual, and some even believe it is a memory passed down by their ancestors.

Part of it is trial and error, where the birds are simply pushed out of the nest, left to figure it out and fend for themselves. So much for the mother hen theory. Does this then mean that helicopter parents don’t “let” their kids fly? Kind of, right? They hoover and control and… Okay, now I’m distracting myself.

All of this reminded me of the story my mother used to tell, about how she was “taught” to swim by being taken out in a boat on a lake, pushed out and told to figure it out. That’s a bit harsh. And a bit of child endangerment.

That triggered a memory of me as a young boy falling into the pool at our apartment complex in West Paterson and having to have a neighbor jump in and save me as I sank to the bottom.

And that memory triggered another where our late dog, Bozie, jumped in a friend’s pool, forcing our friend Deborah to dive down and save her. So clearly swimming for some people and even some dogs isn’t instinctual! Birds float… us humans… not so much. Not without effort. I mean, Muhammad Ali floated like a butterfly and stung like a bee, so…

But flying… Ahhh… How many of us wish we could fly? Is that how you answered the fun party/psychological question about getting one super power???

Flying. Flying free. Flying high. Wouldn’t that be something? And I don’t just mean daredevils, parachuters, paragliders and pilots. Did I mention I love alliteration? I mean just us regular Joes and Josephines. Cue one of my most missed artists, Tom Petty:

“I’m learning to fly but I ain’t got wings. Coming down is the hardest thing.”

Birds don’t float, they fly. It takes effort and practice. It takes learning and experimenting. When you see a hawk gliding on a breeze or a gust of wind, it is magical. That is the end result. They learned how to do it. When I’m on my trail, I now see crows trying to fly like the hawks. It’s not as natural for them, but they do love to give it a literal whirl. It’s incredible and fascinating.

And I’m not sure it takes 10,000 hours to get there, Malcolm. But it is quite the site to see and the dream of so many of us. But we have to watch, observe, learn and then leap and trust. We can rest on a branch, but in order to float and fly, we have to let go, release and dream.

Humans don’t float, but we can learn to. And we can’t fly either, not on our own. But we can figure it out. And we have.

So, here’s to a wing and a prayer. Here’s to soaring and gliding, sailing and coasting, fluttering and floundering. Here’s to falling and failing, but then catching that perfect wave of air and riding fantastically high. Here’s to floating and here’s to flying.