The Bird Book: Alma's Story

By Patsy Levang

There was only the bird book to tell her story. She left it as unfinished as her life seemed to be. The question of who she was led me to begin searching for the answers. Years ago I should have started searching while she was still alive; however, I did not really know about her until it was too late. I refused to have her life and legacy forgotten, and yet I was so slow in acting. I suppose there are those who would say that I should not invade the territory of one who is already gone. However, it has always been in me to find out the answers, and so for that reason, Almas story must be told. She left her story in phrases she composed. She left her story in the pieces of artwork she created. She left her story in the memories of those who knew her.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Apr 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781493157006

Patsy Levang

Patsy Bredwick Levang was born and raised in western North Dakota. She attended North Dakota State University where she graduated with a degree in psychology. She attended graduate school at the University of Kansas. She has been a volunteer in Kappa Kappa Gamma Sorority as well as continuing in her career in education as a teacher, as an administrator, and as a counselor over the course of the past thirty-plus years. She currently resides on a farm near Keene, North Dakota, with her husband, Gary. They have three children: Chad, a commercial pilot for a major airline, who lives in Houston, Texas, with his wife, Adri, and sons, Kaden and Genin; Rhaegn, an elementary teacher, who lives in Phoenix, Arizona, with her husband, Dason; and Margo, a stay-at-home mom and business entrepreneur, who lives in Minot, North Dakota, with her husband, Steve, and their son and daughter, Collin and Camrynn

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Copyright © 2014 by Patsy Levang. 542539

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013923400

ISBN:       Softcover          978-1-4931-5698-6

                 Hardcover         978-1-4931-5699-3

                 EBook               978-1-4931-5700-6

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic

or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,

or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 03/16/2014

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

Contents

Robin

Catbird

Wood Thrush

Bluebird

Hermit Thrushes

Veery Thrush

Eastern Towhee

Brown Towhee

Black-Billed and Yellow-Billed Cuckoos

Meadowlark

Brown Thrasher

Goldfinch

Redpoll

Black-Capped Chicadee

Two Kinglets (Golden-Crowned and Ruby-Crowned)

Yellow-Bellied Sapsucker

Eastern Kingbird

Nighthawk

Whip-Poor-Will

Woodpeckers

The Hairy Woodpecker

Red-Headed Woodpecker

Flicker

Mourning Dove

Cedar Waxwing

Loggerhead Shrike

Blue Jay

White-Breasted Nuthatch

Brown Creeper

Two Owls (Horned Owl and Screech Owl)

Long-Eared Owl

Ring-Necked Pheasant

Ruffed Grouse

Magnolia Warbler

Western Kingbird

Crested Flycatcher

Blue Grosbeak

Evening Grosbeak

Blackpoll Warbler

Chestnut-Sided Warbler

Wilson’s Warbler

Myrtle Warbler

Bay-Breasted Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler

Yellow Warbler

Ovenbird

Fox Sparrow

House Sparrow

White-Throated Sparrow

White-Crowned Sparrow

Tree Sparrow

Olive-Sided Flycatcher

Wood Pewee

Barn Swallow

Tree Swallow

Two Swallows (Rough-Winged and Bank)

Slate-Colored Junco

House Wren

Red-Eyed Vireo

Two Vireos (Philadelphia and Blue-Headed)

Purple Grackle

Red-Winged Blackbird

Yellow-Headed Blackbird

Cowbird

Starling

Baltimore Oriole

Scarlet Tanager

Small Flycatchers (Acadian, Yellow-Breasted, and Least)

Phoebe

Ruby-Throated Hummingbird

Purple Martin

Vesper Sparrow

Harris Sparrow

Chipping Sparrow

Song Sparrow

Red-Tailed Hawk

Broad-Winged Hawk

Two Hawks (Goshawk)

Rough-Legged Hawk

Cooper’s Hawk

Marsh Hawk

Sparrow Hawk

Killdeer Plover

King Rail

American Bittern

Great Blue Heron

Herring Gull

Common Tern

Mallard Duck

Two Ducks (Blue-Winged Teal and Bufflehead)

Green-Winged Teal

Bufflehead

Belted Kingfisher

Opening

She was shy beyond most normal definitions of the word. It can be seen in many of the encounters that people had with her. Linda and Harold arrived at the farmhouse in Minnesota to spend some time with the family, Hey, how ya doin’? asked Harold.

He enfolded Lena in his great big hug and almost simultaneously reached out a very large hand to shake the extended hand of Harry. Alma had peeked around the corner of her bedroom door at the sound of all the commotion and then disappeared. Alma did not speak to him, and she barely let her eyes flicker in his direction. Well, how are you? Harold queried a little more quietly, with a big friendly smile. Harold moved back, the smile fading from his face; he knew not to intrude. Not a word had been said, Harold and Linda had been to the farm before. Each time they tried to visit with her, Alma said nothing, except for a small sound she made in place of a greeting. Linda had only been to the farm a few times, and conversation was all one way with Alma. As Linda tried to recall the few words that were spoken, it was to no avail because the words were so few. When interviewing other relatives, it became clear that the experience Linda and Harold had was similar to all the others; Alma did not speak, only when she wanted to, and that seemed to be never. The bird book was in my thoughts. From the moment that it came into my possession, I knew it held the story of the anonymous little family.

When I first got it, Alma had passed away. She had been in bed at the end and did not speak. When the book arrived in my home, I put it on a shelf, and then I began thinking about how I could finish the book. Alma’s family wanted me to have it. The family, my cousins, wanted me to finish the artwork that had never quite reached completion. Perhaps, Alma wanted desperately for someone to tell the story within its pages. The story is her story, and this guided my approach. It was probably the hope she had of bringing her love for birds to others. Many times I got the book down and began planning how I would finish the artwork in it. I thought about what mediums I would use. I never thought much about finishing the written story hidden beneath the silent pictures of the birds and her small amount of prose. Her story had to include her relationship with her sister, Julia.

It was the summer of 1919 and Alma was barely fourteen. She went out the back door of the lovely Franklin Farm Home looking in all directions. She looked up, down, left, right, and straight ahead. Out the door she bounded straight ahead, eyes wide, fixed on the white-washed board fence that surrounded the near-in pasture. There in the pristine quietness lived the creatures of her world. There were trees, wild flowers, bushes and a plethora of beautiful birds. It was the cacophony of sound and sight that caught Alma’s attention. She looked around hoping to see a bird, the bird of particular importance to her, the Robin. There it was, just as if it was painted in place. It perched on the top of a young sapling. This beautiful bird was her friend and it was this bird she would use to demystify the thread of life. The terrific heat so early on this bright June day was frightening to her brothers and sisters, but not to her. She did not even notice the eighty-eight degrees, which was incredibly unusual for Minnesota in June. While she could not run with any amount of speed, she could run with persistence, and persist she did. Her older sister, Julia, was always close at her side or behind her keeping an eye on her. Julia had finished high school and had finished her short stint learning how to teach others, but had come home to help care for her mother and help run the farm. Alma knew the bird houses needed seeds. She carried those seeds, all six different mixes to the furthest bird house. She would fill seeds in the bird houses in the thicket until she had made sure they prepared for the visitors of the spring, summer, and fall. The messengers of beauty and peace, her lovely friends, the birds came without fail flowing from south to north. Her mission every spring was the same and her intensity matched her mission. Her sister, Julia, assisted in keeping Alma from harm’s way. Julia had no premonition that it was really she who should be kept from harm’s way. Alma had no other desire, but to get to play among the birds during the long uninterrupted days. This was the only desire of her young heart. The eighty degrees below zero of last January was nothing but a distant memory and the joy of her birds, the sunshine, and the green grass dominated her completely. Being the seventh of seven siblings meant very often not much attention was paid to her except, of course, by Julia. She was free to do as she wished for the most part.

The green of the grass carpet was so brilliant it hurt her eyes, but so enticing she could not resist. The blue of the sky matched the blue of Alma’s eyes. She felt herself pulled out the back door. She would lay upon the grass looking up at the sky that seemed to go on forever until disturbed by the tops of the trees. The birds never stopped coming until all the meadow seemed to nearly burst with the singing and calling of every strangely beautiful flitting specimen of living bubbling energy that ventured into the North for an opportunity to have its young. This was Alma’s world. She alone could see it for what it was. She did not see the work that seemed to be the focus of everyone else on the farm. She did not see the danger that would occupy the minds of her siblings and parents. Her only purpose in life was to play and laugh and watch the birds. This was her world and she loved it thoroughly.