That Elusive Kingfisher

Yesterday Rachel and I visited Fairhaven. It’s website says: ‘Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden is in the heart of the Norfolk Broads and offers 130 acres of protected natural habitat, dedicated to conservation, education, and wellbeing.’

There’s wildlife… otters, deer, marsh harriers… In particular, every time we go someone says that they’ve seen a kingfisher. We look. We wait patiently. We’ve never seen one there. It’s become a running joke. It deliberately hides from us. That elusive Fairhaven kingfisher remained elusive yesterday.

Don’t stay disappointed: The Fairhaven website also says: ‘There have been instances of Sudden Branch Drop, where tree branches can break and fall unexpectedly without warning. Please stay alert and take extra care when walking near trees…’ I’m pleased to report that no branches fell on any heads…

We could have worried about falling branches, been disappointed we didn’t see that kingfisher… Through the woods, beside the water, there’s so much more to experience! Sometimes by focusing on the negative we fail to notice many other good things.

Keep searching: I remember Bob Lind’s song about not an elusive kingfisher, but ‘the bright elusive butterfly of love’. Wikipedia tells me that Lind said: ‘I wanted to write something that had the sense we feel of being most alive when we’re searching or looking or chasing after something. That expectation is more life affirming than getting the thing you’re after.’

You know it’s there; you just can’t see it. You’re more alert, more aware. There’s benefit in searching.

Live in hope: We spent yesterday at Fairhaven with four friends we’ve known for many years… we knew each other as teenagers! We talked about good times from the past… getting old, our dis-abilities… The danger is we look forward to things deteriorating… losing our hearing, memory, good health, sight, mind, marbles…  

Rather, as Christians, we choose to live in hope…

…of good times ahead, grateful for friends and families.

…of the peace and joy of heaven… that Fair Haven.

…of one day seeing that elusive Fairhaven kingfisher.