Article March 14, 2011 Issue

Healing lessons from a Great Blue Heron

This majestic bird throws unexpected light on the concept of protection from contagion and warding off unhealthy thoughts.

By Deborah Wood Warncke

Recently my husband and I moved into a golf community overlooking a small lake, surrounded by lush rolling meadows and dense woodlands. It’s the ideal habitat for great blue herons. They nest in the tall trees and fish in the early morning. In the evening you can see them stalking along the shorelines of inland lakes and ponds.

Throughout our first summer here, the new home next door was unoccupied. During July and August one great blue heron—a male, from what we could tell in our research—would fly into our yard in the evening, then walk over to look into the glass-paned windows under the deck of the vacant house. He would strut back and forth in front of the windows for about ten minutes, then fly off.

One evening he flew in while my husband and I were having dinner on our deck. With a wingspan of about six feet, he startled me when he landed about 20 feet away. I imagined a prehistoric flying reptile—he seemed so large!