Meadowlark

Summers in Eugene for me were grass forts, the smell of rye, and above all the sound of the meadowlark! From a family that liked nature in a casual camping kind of way it was the first bird that was named for me. Everyone in my family loved and knew the bird and it was often referred to. We did not tire of its song. When I became a parent I recall trying to pick out that call for my children and I became more aware of the difficulty doing so. I had moved 45 minutes north in the valley so we were still in the meadowlark habitat. Now as an adult in my late 50s I have 20 acres on one river and less than a half mile away from another. We allow our acres to be natural (unfarmed) with the exception of three goats and a donkey who reside with us and try to keep the invasive blackberries away. In addition we have begun a formal renovation of the land back to its original state (hopefully permanently). I am very aware of what birds and wildlife we have here and more poignantly what we do not have. The Meadowlark is one of my saddest missing wildlife being or more correctly not being here.