Learning to Fly with Clipped Wings

Volunteering at a Wildlife Rescue has taught me that Nature always finds a way even in the most difficult circumstances.

I was recently inspired by a post by

soul remedies

titled Embrace The Wings and Take Flight. One aspect of substack that I have grown to love is discovering smaller, newer writers, rather than the “thousands of subscribers” and well-known authors, the experience of searching for unknown and indie authors is like the treasure hunt in high school for indie emo bands that only I had heard of in the entire state of New Mexico and it became my own secret world.

Ayanna’s post made me think not only of my own spiritual journey of learning to fly with clipped wings, but also the very real, physical work I do at my volunteer job with Wildlife Rescue caring for pigeons, doves, ducks, and other birds who come in hurt or injured and we nurse them back to health. Every day I am humbled to play a small part in this giant world to heal wildlife, giving them another chance to fly and be free.

Joaquin Roibal with a White Wing Dove (WWDO).

The most interesting part of my life these days are when I’m cleaning out a bird’s habitat, and transferring a pigeon or a dove, wrapped in a towel like a baby with just its head sticking out, looking at me and wondering who I am but a trust in me that I’m here to heal him. I don’t know which birds are male or female so I call all of the birds ‘Him’. I say to the birds “come on little buddy”, treat them gently and with respect. Although they don’t say “Thank You” I feel an immense gratitude and a new respect and appreciation for the natural world and life itself.

Oftentimes we get a bird who isn’t injured, he’s fully developed with his wings intact and all his feathers, he came in because he’s just learning to fly and just needs a few days of food, water, and shelter to grow and strength his muscles so that he can fly. I take this as a lesson and it gives me encouragement in my own journey.

Volunteering at a wildlife rescue is like being transported back in time to my Mom and Stepdad’s farm. We raised horses, goats, ducks, geese, even guineas with their black feathers and white spots. When I would come home from school each day the guineas would come to the fence line and made the cutest ‘teet-teet-teet-teet-teet’ sound as their bare head stuck out in the air from their big feathered bodies. My third grade class even went to our house to see all the animals on an official school field trip. My step dad grew a garden for our food. When a zucchini got overgrown hidden in the zucchini leaves he would give it to me to give to my teacher Ms. Carter who would bake zucchini bread for the whole class and give me the biggest piece.

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As the idea of “wings” continued to flutter around my brain, the more I realized how prevalent their presence had become in my life. I began thinking of my own wings, which I described as similar to a bird’s wings: feathered, powerful, and utilitarian. Their beauty is in their use: flying to get food, flying to escape predators, and camouflage when hiding in a tree or on the ground. To me the most beautiful things have always been tied to their use and to strength. One aspect of the house that my mom and step-dad built, my childhood home, is the beauty in the industrial aspects of it. My step-dad was a general contractor who owned a business with his brothers, and they built hospitals and hotels across New Mexico.

You can see his eye for the industrial in things like the car port which he built entirely framed by railroad ties and secured with railroad spikes and giant 1/4” thick metal plates. The fact that this carport could survive a hurricane and could survive another 100 years is what makes it beautiful to me. From this design philosophy and aesthetic, I now appreciate when a coffee shop or restaurant embraces an open air and industrial aesthetic, like when you can see the aluminum tubing of the HVAC system and the metal trusses suspended above polished concrete. It’s something that I try to live up to in my writing: beauty through purpose that will last the next 100 years.

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The idea of wings and flight have permeated my life in the same way that irrigation water slowly soaks deep into the soil to nurture the roots of an apricot orchard. During the last few weeks of my mining career, when I had a little bit of money left over each week after paying for basic expenses, I would buy a couple of ounces of silver each week. I’ve always believed in rooting for the home team, so I figured it was only right and honorable to stack some silver since I was working at a gold & silver mine. The first one-ounce silver bar I purchased is stamped with Michael the Archangel triumphing over evil. Michael is depicted in armor holding a sword into a serpent’s mouth and barely visible are his feathered angel wings extending the length of his body. I still have that one ounce bar, and a two ounce hand poured silver bar with all it’s imperfections, but I don’t stack precious metals anymore.

Michael the Archangel 1 oz Silver Bar. GovMint.com

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As I continue to learn how to fly with clipped wings, advances in technology have allowed me to fly with propellers. I continue to grow my skills and knowledge of drones, and every day I practice, take photos, and challenge myself through Drone Racing League Sim on my Xbox. Nature always finds a way to survive, to make a way when no way is visible. Although I am no longer stacking silver, or guiding giant machinery deeper into the Earth, I have found a way to keep moving forward and make use of my limited time and space on Earth.