Everytime I walk down our stairs, I see this metal artwork by David Butler which hangs in our home, and it makes me think of days like today.

The sky is clear, the sun is bright and the temperature has continued to warm. Sure, it’s jacket weather, but I like that much more than parka weather. Out back the house sparrows are building nests in the various birdhouses. New birds are arriving every day. Red-winged blackbirds. Grackles. Yesterday, there were two noisy crows. Some nights we hear an eastern screech owl up in the spruces. I’ve gone out in the morning in the hopes of spotting it, but it’s easy for a big bird to hide in a huge spruce tree.

David Butler was an African American artist from Good Hope Louisiana. He lived from 1898 to 1997. Mr. Butler learned to make sculpture not from an art school, but from his father. In the early 60s, he sustained an injury at work in a box factory and retired. After that he began creating tin objects and I read the local kids called him The Tin Man. He festooned his bicycle with his work and so became kind of a mobile gallery in his community. I also read that his work was inspired by dreams, which he characterized as being from God.

What sort of creature is this we have hanging in our home? A green-tailed squirrel? Or is it a bird on a striped tree? I’ll leave that to you. It makes me smile and I hope it has the same effect on you.