“While doing laps at the pool one day, I came to the conclusion that the penguin is the most courageous and admirable of birds, because swimming is a meditative act, and a cleansed mind occasionally entertains notions of avian mettle. Not the eagle, I decided, which coasts by on piercing looks but is secretly not above scavenging, nor the owl, whose fame for foresight is wholly unearned, bested in wit by any parrot or common crow. No, I concluded as I flipped and pushed off into another length, it is the penguin I revere in all its awkward, earthbound glory…”
The germ of the essay originated during a routine pool session back when I was still disciplined enough to go regularly; somehow movement, especially repetitive acts like walking or swimming, seems to help facilitate the flow of ideas. The piece also ends with a personal resolution I hope to tackle in 2018 – I wish you all much success in the upcoming year!
Read the Piece Here
4 Comments
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Ekostories 
As always your writing moves me. I am getting involved this year in a project about endangered birds and love your perspective. We (humans) just don’t get it- how important every species is before we destroy it or its habitat. I am happy for you this got picked up with the magazine. Congratulations!
Thank you for your kind words Suzanne. Extinction is a subject matter that’s on my mind in recent months, so I wish you luck on your upcoming project on endangered birds!
Good for you! Here’s to more articles being published in 2018! All the best, Muriel
Thanks Muriel. All the best to you as well!