the Great Kiskadee

Every evening around sunset, this lovely lady (or one of her friends) sits on the corner of my neighbor's roof, fluffing her feathers. The call of the Great Kiskadee reminds me of waking up in Rio, which isn't exactly a pleasant memory for whatever reason. I cringe a little at it, which I think is weird (because, if you didn't know already, I LOVE Brazil.) It might have been the close quarters with a bunch of stressed out grad students- all of us trying to learn the language, experience the culture, and get some work done. That first month was hectic and stressful, and every morning, very early, I would hear these birds calling and probably begin to worry about how to accomplish all the things I needed to in one day.

But by night these birds are pretty calm, and she's got a really pretty song that's a little different from the "que dor" song of the males. And now, I've got little worries about my future- finishing grad school and the career that awaits me beyond that- but it feels irrelevant. I know what I need to accomplish in this moment, and I know I have skills and the personality to tackle whatever it is I need to do for an enjoyable, healthy, happy life (and preferably one that has a positive impact on the people and planet around me).

Wikipedia says the Great Kiskadee is the largest of the tyrant flycatchers, which is funny because I've always loved the phoebe's that nested on top of our gutters at home, and I've always found the masked water tyrant here in Brazil to be very beautiful and fun to watch. Apparently flycatchers are my thing. Wikipedia says they're also very opportunistic and can flourish in many types of environments. Interesting..