Thomas Doty – Storyteller

Juncos (1 of 2)

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Trio of Dark-Eyed Oregon Juncos taken at Dragonfly Place, Winter Solstice, 2012.

In the early 1970s I was living by myself in the family farm home on the outskirts of Medford. It was a cold winter, and the only heat I had was an old-style fireplace. I spent most of my time hunkered down near the fire. That winter, in intervals between scribbling poems, I taught myself to play recorder. One snowy morning, I looked up from my playing to see five juncos lined up on the windowsill, standing in the snow and listening to the music.