A forgotten recollection

   While thinking about how to begin this blog entry, I thought of the proverb "absence makes the heart grow fonder", wondering whether it was true or not. I came to the quick conclusion that it probably is, but only insofar as one is able to really hold the person or thing in mind enough continually to be aware of its' absence.
   Often times for me, it is only by being reminded of the missing object that I am able to remember that I have not seen it for some time. I don't know that it signifies it being any less important for me, but I do know that in the case of the people that I feel really connected to in an emotional way, I am very regularly aware if there has been some void.
   Because I walk around Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park so frequently and with such regularity, I have the privilege of seeing the small differences and changes that can occur. The variety and complexity of life there is so wonderful, but the depth and complexity also means that some of the parts can get a bit lost in my sometimes spotty memory.
   Consistency affords me more ways to forget, as well as a unique way to experience.
   An example of things that have been misplaced are my recollections of the the dive-bombing attacks of Brewer's Blackbirds. In past years, these animals nested in two bushes on the eastern side of the lake in the park, and would attack passersby, myself included, as we walked by. It was amusing to watch the birds do this, but I probably enjoyed it most because it helped me to mark the passage of time, as it seemed to occur rather annually. It helped me feel that pleasant memories could be durable and somewhat regular.
   Another nice occurrence that established a sense of continuity was the arrival of American Coots to the lake area. They would begin to come a few at a time, again seemingly annually, and would eventually occupy a large part of the bird life there.
   This year, however, there are only three of this species as far as I can tell, and although I see this trio as sort of trailblazers, and have been there for a while now, I wonder what happened to the rest of those that would normally come. The coots that are there remind me that I had forgotten about them, and also evoke those that are absent.
   It seems that those three individuals, as well as the missing attacks of the Brewer's Blackbirds, point not only to the lapses in my memory, but also to the absences that I wish were more filled in.

Where are the dive-bombers?