Entanglements in the hedge
In quantum physics, there is a concept known as entanglement. Two particles or systems become entangled, their properties linked to each other so intimately that the state of one instantly effects the other no matter how far apart they are. They may seem to be separate, but they are in unison. Spooky action at a distance.
I exist within entanglements. As winter faded into spring, more and more songbirds filled the hedges in nearby yards. Barely budding, it was easy to investigate the gnarling maze of branches to see the little birds hopping about. Chickadees, cardinals, nuthatches, and blue jays were frequent visitors.
Often, there were also house sparrows. These little territorial fellows will aggressively take control of the nests of other birds. Introduced by some dingus in mid-1800s Brooklyn, the House Sparrows are a tenacious invasive species.
It would be easy to shame them as ecosystem disruptors, but as they sit perched in a non-native hedge surrounded by non-native grass in a human designed neighborhood, they begin to just become one of many in the great dance of life. To merely call all of us system disruptors would be to disregard the active participation we have in these systems in which we exist. We do not go outside to engage with nature, we function within it. We affect each other. If we degrade the ecosystem we exist in, we are also diminished. Spooky action at a near distance.
As I watched the birds over the weeks, I noticed the little bits of trash they would carry about during the nest-building season. Leaf blowers and aggressive lawn maintenance may move tiny brambles from lawns, but the birds find work-arounds in the gutters.
We are entangled with one another. Bird songs fill my days. I stop to marvel at their conversations. A stray wisp of my red hair is caught in the beak of a chickadee. A bit of string in the beak of sparrow. Human offerings for their little homes. Magical action of entanglements.
