Essay: Under The Holly

A dryocopus pileatus sailed through the air while I took a morning walk with my four-year old. It landed on a telephone pole. Its mere presence was exciting and sad at the same time. Exciting because I’ve never observed one in the wild but also sad because the creature had adapted to a changing environment and now searched for food from an upright log sprouting cables in all directions. The species prefer a mature hardwood forest and not a telephone pole for its natural surroundings. Moments later the creature found sanctuary in an American holly whereupon it began consuming berries. When food supplies are depleted, as often is the case during Spring, birds eat berries for survival.

“What’s he doing now?” my child asked as we began to resume our walk. I told him that the bird was having brunch. the child waited a few steps and then asked the same question again. I thought for a moment that this might be one of those teachable moments in training a child. Stories provide an excellent vehicle for relating a truism or fact. Where should I start? The bird or the tree?

I could begin by telling him that the bird in question is unfashionably called a log cock which frequents places that are home to carpenter ants and beetles. This fact alone is interesting on two levels. On one hand the forests in this part of the country are being destroyed by pine beetles and its nice to see the natural enemy of the beetles in the neighborhood.

The log cock with its bright red crown in some aspects resembles a cockerel. However if a cockerel or rooster smashed his beak into a hardwood tree in search of beetle larvae it would crush his skull and lead to the end of a species. This is perplexing. Today the log cock is commonly referred to as the Pileated Woodpecker.

I suppose I could recite Shel Silverstein’s poem to my child: “The saddest thing I ever did see / Was a woodpecker pecking on a plastic tree”. But then he might believe trees are made of plastic and that won't do.

I could also tell the child that the tree where the woodpecker is feasting is an American holly which is dioecious which means there are male and female trees. Of course, he might ask me which is the daddy tree and which is the mommy tree. Since plant sexuality is a bit much for morning conversation I decided to simply state, “The woodpecker eats fruit from the holly.”

“He’s eating berries?”

“Yes, they grow on the holly.”

“Does God grow the moon?”

“Huh,” I said surprised at the change in topic. He pointed up into the sky above the holly and there was the moon–still visible in the morning sky.

For writers, if a story isn’t engaging, a reader will find one that is. Much like my conversation with my son, a writer needs to know his or her audience and how to communicate effectively. If a writer can not successfully engage a reader, then he or she is a typist. That may be a bit overstated because a reader may be distracted, as my son was, by other points of interest. That just means a writer needs to work harder to engage the reader. For fathers, teachable moments are great, but sometimes being there is more important than having all the right answers. I try to be both.

Originally published on Write Stuff. Reprinted with permission in Wander, Volume 1, Number 6