A fair summer morning on the Carolina coast, as anyone living here will tell you, begins with the sun popping up above the horizon like a rubber duck in a bathtub. Then bright sunshine spreads across the blue skies and white, billowy cotton-ball clouds reach up to heaven. And the soundtrack for the morning get-go is provided by a choral of mockingbirds singing their morning salutations. There's nothing else in life quite as uplifting as that.
"But this morning didn't begin like that," she said. "In fact, I expected you to come home drenched from that short rainstorm. Of course, it's sunny now but you're not outside."
She seemed a little disappointed when she said it but I decided to give it a miss and keep things on the bright side.
"That's right," I said, "and all's sunny that ends sunny. That's what I always say."
"I've never heard you say that," she said.
"I'm saying it from now on," I said. "When the mockingbirds are on the job, even the grayest of days accept defeat and the world becomes a brighter, happier place. On days like today, I'm on top of the world..."
"With a rainbow 'round your shoulder," she said.
"Right," I said, "and I'm singing..."
"Zip-a-dee-do-da," she said.
"All day long," I said.
"What's mockingbirds got to do with it?" she said.
I didn't answer right away because I was somewhat non-plussed by her question. Could it be, I wondered, that she didn't know about the reason that Mother Nature invented mockingbirds? I envied her just a little at that moment because she was going to experience one of the greatest pleasures in life--she was going to hear a marvelous story for the first time, and it was coming from me. What's better than that?
"Wonder," I said, " sit back, relax and let me tell you a little story."
"I don't have time right now," she said. "Can we do it later?"
"No, we can't do it later but I'll make it short. It won't have the same level of excitement without the elves and dragons but that can't be helped I suppose."
"I have a conference call at 10:00," she said as if that explained everything.
"Then let's waste no more time," I said.
"When I arrived at Brunswick Forest this morning, the eastern horizon was hidden by gray clouds and I didn't like it one bit. Then, long before I saw him, I heard the most beautiful song, loud, clear, and delightful. Eventually, I saw the mockingbird sitting atop the welcome home sign at the entrance to Magnolia Village.
Wonder, that little bird was putting on quite a show. He was standing on tip-toe with his beak opened as wide as his eyes. His little body was stretched as far as it could and he was singing in the direction of the very spot in the sky where the sun, if he'd had any pride at all, should have appeared."
"You may be imagining much of that," she said.
"If only you'd seen that look on his face," I said, "and the way he lept into the air several times with the excitement of his effort. Wonder, I've never been so happy as that in my entire life."
"Hmmm," she said.
"Moments later, the clouds cleared from the horizon and there was the old boy himself, the Monarch of the Heavens, beaming down on us with a smile that gave the whole of Brunswick Forest a jolt of renewed energy."
"I'm just happy that you're happy," she said.
"I know," I said, "me too. It reminds me of a story my grandmother used to tell. It's a Muskogee folk tale about the contest between Mockingbird and Rooster. The object was to see which one of them could raise the sun in the morning with their singing."
"You'll have to tell me later," she said. "It's time for my conference call. But I can hardly wait to hear it. I'll bet you hold me spellbound."
"You always say that," I said.
"That's because you always do hold me spellbound," she said.
And so that's how the whole thing went down. I'm sure you're hoping to hear the folktale of the mockingbird and rooster but it will have to wait for another time. I've got to get busy myself. In the meantime, I'm wishing you a marvelous day filled with birdsong and sunshine. A fair summer day isn't complete without them.
