i thought that mourning doves were called morning doves. i also thought the mourning doves i had been hearing lately were owls. they do a hooo hooo hooo that i only associated with owls in picture books. it’s called birding.
i did some digging. the hooing has been the mourning doves. they chill on my fire escape sometimes, perch until they’re gone again.
i am working on a project about the relationship between whiteness and suicideality, the cost of and impact of whiteness in my lineage, in my own life. it gets heavy.
as i was writing this morning i looked over, and a mourning dove was perched right outside the window. it lingered for what felt like longer than usual. it was facing away from the window but at a certain point it turned its head, we made eye contact, i waved and greeted them. they lingered for a while more, unphased by my eagerness thank god, before they flew away.
the internet said that people believe a visit from a mourning dove means encouragement from a departed loved one.
what our beliefs reveal about our willingness to be heartened, to be held by the unseen amdist the seen, by the life around us.
highlights from the research (commonly asked questions if you google from where i sit ‘mourning dove’)
what does it mean when a mourning dove visits you? can doves see you? (yes amazing eyesight) can you befriend a mourning dove? Are doves smart birds? why do mourning doves coo all day?
how do you get a dove to trust you?
do doves get lonely?
can doves feel love?
who are these questions really about….lol.
coo!