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Reader impressed by former student’s research, book
To The Editor:
Sometimes I feel honored when people do things that are unexpected. This past Saturday, Laurie Bethel, a third-grade student I taught at Palmersville, the last of the nine years I taught there, came by the studio to see me. She has written books that are well-written and she is continuing to write.
Later a man, David Pitts, came by the studio and gave me a book that was about the study he and his son, Steven, had made about the little bluebird that inhabits this part of Tennessee. They must have spent numberless hours to obtain the information that is in the book. I find the information fascinating and I admire them for having the patience to gather the information. As I read I recalled a time several years ago when a bluebird built its nest on a porch of the house in which I lived. I watched it as it built it nest, and then watched the eggs until the little baby birds with their closed eyes, and their open mouths when they were hungry, and on until they had reached the point that they were ready to fly away.
The following, titled “My Treasure,” is a small poem I wrote about the incident:
The other day I found a treasure
And it told no no one at all.
Then when no one was looking
Upon this treasure I’d call.
Several times a day I’d peek
At my growing treasure alone
Until one day I had a look –
My bluebird treasure was gone.
Nature has two sides to it and man should enjoy the natural beauty of the better side and accept the opposite – the not-so-beautiful side. The rose is an example: the bloom and the thorn. Another example: the cooling breeze that we enjoy and the raging wind that brings destruction. All parts of the natural world in which we live.
An example of the bad side of nature: In 1933, a tornado passes through our community, and after its passage, there were 33 people dead.
In the rush of our daily lives, we need to take a few minutes and enjoy and appreciate the beautiful side of nature.
Thank you, David Pitts, for honoring me by giving me a copy of the book that represents your effort to study the natural beauty of a small bird and its effort to survive in surroundings that have hazards that are sometimes disastrous.

Hyla Richardson
Dresden
Published in The WCP 12.6.12

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