Do you know what an earworm is? It is a piece of music that gets stuck in one’s mind as if on an internal player and it just won’t stop! Two weeks ago I had an earworm. I was out with friends watching for birds as they migrated from South America to the northern forests of Canada for their summer vacation. Their first stop is Pelee Island and Point Pelee as they are the southern most points of Canada, so that is where we were.
My earworm was a children’s hymn, written in 1878, entitled “Birds are Singing”. It appeared in many hymn books in the last century but, sadly, it has not stood the test of time. It is not included in our current hymn book. The first verse reads:
Birds are singing, woods are ringing
with thy praises blessed King
Lake and mountain, field and fountain
To Thy throne their tributes bring.
The second verse is equally evocative of all things nature –
Waters dancing, sunbeams glancing
Sing thy glory cheerily
Blossoms breaking, nature waking
Chant Thy praises merrily.
Yes, the words and sentiment are dated but it has a rollicking tune and I can remember singing it with great enthusiasm when I was a little girl at Sunday School.
It seems to me the hymn writer Luella Cole captured the wonder of this spring time season when the earth bursts forth with beauty after the drabness of winter. Here in Bracebridge the lilac bushes and flowering crab trees have been loaded with blossom. The air is filled with bird song, as they flit about finding supplies first to build their nest, and then feed to feed their voracious chicks. It is a magical time as creation is renewed.
So while I scouted for the various kinds of warblers, spotted a red-headed woodpecker, saw a screech owl, had a close encounter with a scarlet tanager, watched flocks of blue jays and turkey vultures fly north, I hummed along with my earworm … “Birds are singing…”
