Sunday, April 9, 2006, 10:17 pm
Not everyone is bound to the land
UKARUMPA, PNG — It’s raining now, as it has every day. We’ve had nearly eight inches in the last two weeks, and everyone’s hoping the dry season will come soon. It’s just an inconvenience for people like me, but it’s ruining the gardens of our Papua New Guinean friends, who depend on sweet potatoes for their food.
I saw a few bee-eaters overhead today, all sporting the notched tails of youth. Against a dreary gray, I saw their red-brown underwings and clear blue bellies. They soared and fluttered in circles, trilling in their own soft way. Their new flight feathers were growing in; I could see that.
They didn’t stop. They are free to soar.
David J. Ringer
