Impermanence

A loud thump alerted me that something happened, but it took me a while to find what made the noise. I finally found the source sometime later, when I discovered a bird had flown into one of the windows of my house. Even with the understanding that no creature lasts forever — all of us have a timer ticking against our very existence — it is still sad to see a loss of innocent life, especially when it happens as a result of our technology in constructing buildings and glass so clear it looks as if it could be flown-through.

I tried, in vain, to identify this bird. If the v-shaped chevron area at the top of its breast had been red instead of black, it could be a Red-Breasted Grosbeak (Pheucticus ludovicianus). Even looking at photographs online of the female of the species, juveniles of the species, and the winter-plumage (which sometimes differs from summer plumage) of the species yielded no results such as this specimen. Other related species in the genus Pheucticus also revealed nothing similar. So, if anyone knows what bird this is, please let me know.

My spiritual path is one of those that sometimes employs malas (prayer beads). Two of the sets I have are fashioned from animal bone as a reminder of the delicate impermanence of life. One such set is dark bone, but this bleached, white-bone set is more feminine in appearance and my favorite of the two. Over years of use, the bone is turning darker again and has a quite striking appearance as can be seen in the above photo.