northern flickers

Tolliver spent much of the morning watching birds out the back window. He noticed one we hadn't seen before, and identified it using google and a guide book, based on the color of its nape and the sound of its call. He knew there were ants in the yard where the bird was pecking, and that food source plus a text exchange with the next door neighbor helped solidify his conviction. 

For the better part of an hour he watched the bird and I watched him, and I wondered, when the world feels shaky in one area, whether our instinct may be to double down on certainty in another.