golondrina, vencejo, avión… eh, cigüeña [nombres de pájaros] – swallow, swift, housemartin… er, stork [bird names]
Oh my goodness! The coolest thing just happened to me!
I had five minutes to spare before my next video call, so I brewed a cuppa and went out into the garden, setting a timer for three minutes so I wouldn’t be late for my call.
Now, three minutes doesn’t allow for much of the yoga or self care or journalling I like to do during my breaks from work, but boy did I make those three minutes count today!
Grateful to get away from my desk, I breathed the fresh air deeply into my lungs and (just for fun) asked for a cool sign from the Universe/Source/God/Love/Life. Nothing more specific than that. But I only had three minutes, you understand, so it had to happen pretty smartish.
I did some gentle stretches (and foam rolling) on my yoga mat and immediately connected to the beauty of the trees swaying in the breeze, the heavenliness of their leaves glistening in the sunshine.
My three-minute alarm soon went off and, just as I was getting up from the mat, I caught a glimpse in my peripheral vision of a large bird disappearing behind the rooftops in front of me. I took a step closer to get a better look and gasped as a freaking stork rose into the air from behind the big pine tree opposite (the same one I blogged about yesterday)!
I held my breath as it flew in a direct line overhead. I have never seen a stork fly over our garden in the eleven years we’ve lived in this house!
Swifts (vencejos), swallows (golondrinas), and housemartins (aviones), yes. Lots of sparrows (gorriones) and blackbirds (mirlos) and magpies (picazas) too. The occasional robin (petirrojo), to remind me of home. And every now and again, other more unusual birds I have yet to learn the names of. But never a cigueña. So cool!
The stork has a special meaning in our town; it’s the symbol of our municipality, here in suburban Madrid. You can read about it here. We often see storks high up in their nest on the bell tower of the lovely San Miguel church in the centre of the pueblo, but they rarely venture into our part of town.
I did a quick Google to find out the spiritual significance of the stork, and then I journalled a bit to delve into what I thought its meaning was for me. I decided that it was a symbol of hope, love, birth, and the meaning of life (because the births of my boys have been the most love-filled and meaningful experiences of my life so far).
Perhaps it also signifies the imminent birth of my book “baby”—the culmination of a long period of procrastination and self-doubt—and realizing a first small step towards my lifelong dream of writing books that touch readers’ hearts and minds and change their lives for the better in some way.
Now, the more sensible or skeptical reader (¡hola, mi amor!) might say “Oh, come on now, Louisa. This is all a bit much. You don’t strike me as the superstitious or gullible type!”
All I’ll say is that I’m open to seeing this world as one big spiritual playground. No need to take it all too seriously. Permission to play make-believe like a child. And to open up to magic and possibilities. Most of all, my dear reader, let’s open our eyes wide to the exquisite awesomeness of this amazing world.
What made you come alive today?
Vocab notes
Oh my goodness! – ¡madre mía!
I had five minutes to spare – me sobraban cinco minutos
video call – una videollamada
I brewed a cuppa – preparé una taza de té
self care – autocuidados
journalling – escribir en un diario
break from work – un descanso del trabajo
boy! – [una exclamación de sorpresa; se usa como “¡Dios!” pero sin el significado religioso]
to get away from my desk – alejarme del escritorio
I breathed – respiré
fresh air – aire libre, aire fresco
lungs – los pulmones
smartish [British slang for “quickly”] – [coloq. británico] – rápidamente
the trees swaying in the breeze – los árboles se mecían en la brisa
the heavenliness of their leaves – la exquisitez de sus hojas
glistening in the sunshine – brillando al sol
the alarm went off – sonó el alarma
just as I was getting up from the mat – justo cuando me levantaba de la esterilla
I caught a glimpse in my peripheral vision – atisbé en mi visión periferal
rooftops – los tejados
in front of me – delante de mí
to get a better look – para ver mejor
I gasped – me quedé sin aliento
freaking – [expresión de sorpresa, énfasis, eufemismo por “f***ing” ]
stork – la cigüeña
rose into the air – se alzó al vuelo
to hold one’s breath – contener (o aguantar) la respiración
swift – el vencejo
swallow – la golondrina
housemartin – el avión
sparrow – el gorrión
blackbird – el mirlo
magpie – la picaza
robin – el petirrojo
remind me of home – me recuerda a casa
I have yet to learn – todavía no he aprendido
the symbol of our municipality – el símbolo de nuestro municipio
they rarely venture into our part of town – rara vez aparecen en nuestra parte de la ciudad
hope – esperanza
birth – nacimiento
the meaning of life – el significado de la vida
love-filled – lleno de amor
my life so far – mi vida hasta ahora
imminent birth – nacimiento inminente
the culmination – la culminación
procrastination – la procrastinación
a first small step – un primer pequeño paso
lifelong dream – un sueño de toda la vida
in some way – de alguna manera
Caption: We often see swallows, swifts and housemartins in the garden.
My Little Spanish Notebook 