Watching birds has become my new passion during 2020. This bright yellow Townsend’s Warbler occasionally visits my backyard. When he lifts up his wings high enough, the 4 black stripes are more pronounced. He is hiding his stripes under his wings. Initially I noticed the bright yellow chest underside of this bird.

As I was watching the bird getting ready to launch and fly, he revealed his stripes underneath his wings.

When he was perched on our fence, he has a fluffy and round shape. But when he is leaving and flying, his body stretches out long to show a thinner shape as he takes off. I wish I could look that lean by changing my positioning.

It is also interesting how he has the black mask look around his eyes. He does not need any black eyeliner to make his eyes more pronounced. He is fortunate that his black shading around his eyes gives him the super hero mask appearance. This is a pretty cool built-in look!

This year our Christmas will not be spent with our usual large group of family and relatives. Our Christmas will consist of 3 of us at home. We will cook Christmas dinner and drop off food to my parents. But unfortunately we will not be able to interact with family and relatives.

Holiday parties and interaction is great. But do we tend to participate in small talk especially when the party is with a large group? When it is a large party, we usually do not practice a lot of intimate conversation, just because it is hard to do in a crowd. We may not share any problems or issues during our holiday celebrations, since it may not be appropriate.

When I saw this bird reveal its hidden black stripes under the wings, what are we hiding underneath? Maybe our burden would be lighter if we shared it with someone.

If we lift up our arms and let go of a worry or a problem, we could feel lighter. Anxiety over our problems will not make them go away. Working on a plan to possibly resolve a problem could be the answer. Allowing a friend to support us in our problems could relieve anxiety. How about trusting God to solve our impossible situation?

Let’s lift up our arms and show our hidden black stripes. Can we fly higher seeking help to resolve our black stripes?

Photos Teach!