In the Name of Love

A hawk flew up from a pine tree as we drove down I5 in Oregon last week and I suddenly remembered another bird, another trip. No matter where I travel, my favorite past time is looking for wild life. One of my best memories of visiting the Grand Canyon this week is seeing a family of deer -- a buck, doe and two fawns. What I remember most about visiting Paris was being awakened by the rich song of a robin. I lay under my thin blanket in a business hotel hear the Eiffel Tower, something like a Holiday Inn the review said. The room was tiny and spare by American standards -- not at all like a Holiday Inn, I thought, but certainly adequate.

It was May, and while the grass was green, this most romantic place had not yet embraced the warm colors of summer flowers. I rose and pulled back the curtain to see if I could see him, but the wet gray street was empty. These Parisians led a civilized life. At six a.m., it was just me and the robin. I was surprised to hear the sound that I counted on every year to let me know I'd survived the winter. Of course, I knew there were European Robins, but nonetheless, it seemed a rare moment to hear this fellow traveler. I could imagine him in the top of a leafless tree, head thrown back, mouth wide open, sounding out with all his heart. We'd come to Paris for history and art. He'd come for nothing but Love.

I did not see him, or even hear him again after that morning. Perhaps he flew on; perhaps he found his soul mate that very day. We enjoyed the sights and sounds of Paris, which was just what we'd expected. We got saturated with art and history at The Louvre, ducked under bridges on a Seine boat ride, sat on the grass beneath the Eiffel Tower, climbed up the Arche de Triumphe and became accustomed to being corrected when we tried to speak French.

It was May 2001, before the planes, before the war, before Freedom Fries, left me wondering just how welcome I am in the world. It is my ego that gives me these misgivings, of course. I am not so important that I would even be noticed when visiting most places. And in my heart I believe that when it comes down to it, I'm as welcome as the robin when I travel in the name of Love.