Bird Droppings September 29, 2026
Just an observation, or am I seeing something totally different than you
“Sometimes beauty isn’t in what we’re looking at, but in the light by which we see it.” A voice in the dark
In the darkness, you never have to explain why you are alone. The whole world is quiet with you. Go somewhere quiet. Go where nobody needs anything from you. Roll down your window and listen, think, wander, and wait for some light; you will be amazed at what you find. I leave the house or wherever I am before the rising sun and turn on my quiet music and drive. Every morning, rain or shine, I am amazed at what I find. So for today, my friends, let’s all start seeing with new eyes.
“I am that I am.” I read that somewhere many years ago, a simple definition of someone. As I look at its simplicity, are we not all who we are? I grew up in a middle-class family, first in Pennsylvania and now in Georgia. In the old days, I often took to the woods for days, wandering trails through the North Georgia Mountains. I still see many of the places I went to then; I see them regularly on my visits to Rabun County. In my younger days, I learned about animals and plants from nature, teachers, and friends. My affinity for nature grew. I no longer look for the great picture, but for the interconnections between plants and animals. I see things I never knew existed when I was younger. On a recent morning, I walked out, and a possum greeted me as I went to the car. On any other day, it’s no big deal, but that day, with the power out at our house from a blown transformer, it was an interesting start to the morning. Within minutes, a large buck locked eyes with me, and so the day went. Daily, I have interactions I tend to call synchronistic with nature.
“I do not write from mythology when I reflect upon Native American spirituality in this book. In my own opinion, mythology leads to superstition, and superstition has proved fatal to many millions down through time. It is ironic, then, that Dominant Society accuses Native practices of being based on myth.” Ed McGaa, Eagle Man
My wanderings span several days of traveling alone, a week or so back and forth, and, of course, my morning sojourns into the dark chasing sunrises and moons. My wife was on vacation on her annual girl trip to Pawleys Island, and I was invited to be the designated driver for a James Taylor concert. Been a crazy month here in September. Thinking about and observing humanity has been a passion of mine for some time, and sitting in the first seat at a James Taylor concert gave me plenty of passersby to observe and note.
Just a few nights ago, my son and I heard outside a choir of coyotes just a few yards away, deep in the pines. It was literally an opera of coyotes’ howls and yells. For only a few minutes, the sounds were an eerie reminder that even in a civilized world, nature was only a few feet away in its wildest form. I was walking Sunday morning, away from my quiet spot near my home in Between Georgia, a small town in middle Georgia, and recalled sitting on the porch of an old mill house; the quiet was overpowering, along with the gentle breeze and sunshine. Around me, birds would occasionally fly into and out of the trees, but most of the time, there was no sound. I was essentially alone, sitting and listening while everyone else was inside. I had a wonderful experience watching from my own house as the sun set last night and started this book for the tenth time, Nature’s Way.
Ed McGaa is a Lakota Sioux and an attorney by education. He chooses his words wisely and does not simply offer a book to fill a spot on a shelf. He points to observations as a basis for our spiritual views rather than heresy or simply taking another’s word for it. This past weekend, as we drove home from a quick trip to see my son, his wife, and our grandbabies, we noticed nearly fifty red-tailed hawks sitting on the wires, watching us drive by. If you have ever seen a hawk hunting, observation is key. They watch every detail as they look for food crawling or scurrying along the ground.
“Clearly, we are meant to think, analyze, and deliberate. And yet humans seem to fear (or is it plain ignorance?) exercising the simple freedom to think. Why are we so prone to let others do our thinking for us – to lead astray and control us?” Ed McGaa, Eagle Man
Less than two years ago, we were through one of the most biased and perhaps most sheep-led-to-slaughter election campaigns I have ever experienced in my life. Negative ads made up the vast majority of what ran from either side. Issues were simply something that would be dealt with after the election, and even then, that was questionable. Here in Atlanta, several mega churches are going through serious upheavals, with pastors who, after years of preaching and blasting various human characteristics and issues, come out themselves and, in turn, become who they preached against for twenty years and built empires against. One theme I have seen in politics and religion so blatantly in the past year is “letting others do our thinking for us.” A few years back, a friend in New York mailed me a copy of a book after he published it. I had known the title for months, but seeing it and starting to read it, the title hit me. “Hustlers and the idiot swarm”, how appropriate is that to our society today?
Opening Reverend Manny’s book and turning to the first page, I found a quote that permeates our society, even if we don’t realize it.
“For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all experts’ liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.” Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol. I, Ch. X
Within a day or two of first setting foot in Washington, a newly elected Congressman who ran on a ticket to repeal the newly legislated Health Care bill was upset that his government health care insurance did not start immediately. He had to wait twenty-eight days, and he made a scene in his first official meeting. Over the past year, lies about the health care bill made more headlines than points that mattered to many families. I grew up in a family with a severely disabled brother who would never have been insurable under most standard insurance due to preexisting conditions. Even more significant, my son was still in nursing school and over twenty-five, but was covered under the new health care law on my insurance. If not for that, I’m not sure where we would be after his accident in May of 2014, with over three hundred fifty thousand in medical bills that were covered.
I really didn’t want to get into politics, since reality isn’t an issue there, sadly. I started thinking a few days ago about how we find our own center and understanding of the world around us. I have been saddened as I read former students’ interpretations of events and understandings of their own belief systems.
“The Sioux believe that lies, deceit, greed, and harm to innocent others will never be erased, and neither will good deeds of generosity and caring. Dominant society, on the other hand, leans towards the “forgiveness” theory, which claims that bad deeds can be purged.” Ed McGaa, Eagle Man, Nature’s Way
As I started getting into this idea of each of us formulating and ratifying our own understanding of all that is about us, it became clear that this will be more than a quick note. I walked out of the house earlier and had R. Carlos Nakai on my earphones, and it was rather loud. The CD is by Nakai, who is a seven-note cedar flute master, playing with a symphony of his various melodies, and it was almost haunting, like the visage of a clear sky and quiet surroundings, the trees. I had to stop listening to the music and see this quiet, still image before me. The two interplayed as I got ready to leave the house. To close this quick, bird-dropping, and getting on with the day, I remind everyone to please keep all in harm’s way on their minds and in their hearts, and always give thanks, namaste.
My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,
Mitakuye Oyasin
(We are all related)
docbirdote of that before it disappears into Module 3, Publix, supper, and the IRS.
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