Cristina's Blog

Cristina Munoz here and this post is a very different to what I usually post about.

It’s actually a true story about how a Kookaburra recently flew into my life…not once, not twice but three times so far in less than one week and helped me get my laughter back!

The first time ‘Mr Kookaburra’ visited me was last week on Thursday and here’s the story so far…

It was late afternoon and taking us all by surprise a Kookaburra flew into our backyard.

He perched himself onto our Archway just like you will see in the quick video I recorded for you below.

My partner noticed him first, and he was just sitting there looking in at us while we were inside in the family room.

I live in Woodend which is about an hours drive out of Melbourne, and being in the Bush it’s not unusual to see Kookaburras.

In fact when we lived on four acres of partly cleared bush land for 6 years, we had a few Kookaburra families living on our property which pretty much kept to themselves and never ventured very close to us at all.

Now we live in a new house that we brought here in Woodend much closer to town over a year ago now.

It’s actually only a five minute walk into Town and on a 1/4 acre, and even though we have seen lots of different native Australian birds this was the first time we had ever seen a Kookaburra here.

This in itself  is still nothing unusual I know, and in fact after about half an hour he flew away and I thought that was the end of that.

If that was all that had happened then I probably would not have written this at all but it wasn’t.

Later that evening, after Eva my eldest was in bed I went outside onto the decking for a little time out as I was feeling a bit down as my back has been causing me more pain than usual.

Since I still couldn’t sit, I was lying down on a piece of carpet we have specifically for this purpose by the BBQ, when all of sudden a rush of feathers flew past my head, and as fate would have it that very same Kookaburra then perched himself on the chair right next to me!

I looked up at him and said, ‘Hi Mr Kookaburra, nice to see you come back. I bet you didn’t expect to see me down here. It’s very nice to meet you.’.

He just cocked his head, and looked down at me with one intense very dark brown eye.

He was so close I could tell he was not a young Kookaburra.

I’m not a Kookaburra expert however I would hazzard to guess he was not very old either.

He looked, dare I say it, in the prime of his Kookaburra life.

I thought now that he knew he was that close to a human he would fly away, as I’m sure he would not have been expecting to see a human lying down there right next to him but he didn’t. He showed no fear whatsoever, and instead kept looking at me with that intense eye of his.

I was stunned, and not quite sure what to do.

I’ve never been that close to a Kookaburra before and I just stayed there lying down looking right back at him in wonder.

I said to him out loud, ‘I wonder why you have come to visit me?..Since you are clearly not going to tell me and seem to just want to stare at me I can tell you it’s very nice to see you again.  I was feeling a bit down and you have well and truly cheered me up, though don’t start laughing as you will wake up Eva my daughter who has just gone to sleep, okay?‘ 

He didn’t say anything, just listened and continued to cock his head to stare at me.

It was as if he wanted to tell me something, and since I can’t read a Kookaburras mind I have no clue what.

I also knew I couldn’t stay out on the decking all night having a one way conversation with a Kookaburra, no matter how adorable he was, so I very slowly stood up to not alarm him and he still didn’t move just kept looking at me.

Once I was upright standing right next to him he still didn’t fly away.

It was almost as if he wanted me to stand next to him.

To get back into the house I had to walk past him.

I didn’t want to scare him, and I don’t know what made me do it but he was so calm and peaceful I decided to get even closer to him.

I said, ‘ Hey Mr Kookaburra, would you mind if I patted you?‘

I stepped a little closer, and held out my hand to test the waters so to speak and all he did was move his very long beak closer to my hand.

Then I reached out a little further and he let me pat his feathery head for a few seconds which felt exactly as I had imagined, soft and feathery.

He then clearly had enough of humoring me, so he finally he flew away but he didn’t leave.

Instead he perched himself on our arch way again, and I was so amazed by what had just happened I quickly went inside and got my video camera so I could take a video of him and here it is for you now:

As you will see he let me get quite close to him to take that video as well.

Anyway I could not believe what had happened, and my partner who had been watching this whole event through the lounge room window thought maybe he was sick, as it is weird for a wild Kookaburra to allow a complete stranger to pat them.

This was the last thing I wanted to hear so I really hoped he wasn’t sick.

I thought it was more likely that he was tame alreadly, possibly raised by humans or something when he was little to not have any fear of me and actually allow me to pat him.

Whatever the reason why,  his little unexpected visit definitely cheered me up as I had not been doing much laughing lately.

The next day I did wonder if Mr Kookaburra would come back.

He didn’t so I put him out of my mind until…

…Saturday I was out onto the decking again.

This time with a bowl of popcorn and my back was still so inflamed I could not sit.

To get some fresh air I had my portable mattress out onto the decking with me so I could lay down on that and do a bit of work online whilst on my stomach.

After I finished working, it was such a lovely afternoon I called a very close friend Maria and I ended up telling her all about the Kookaburra who visited me on Thursday and how much he had cheered me up.

As I was talking to her a flurry of feathers came out of no where and yes, you guessed it Mr Kookaburra came back and literally perched himself on the edge of the bowl of popcorn right beside me!

I said, ‘Maria, Mr Kookaburra has come back! He is right here now perched on my bowl of popcorn’.

Mr Kookaburra looked at me, and then with his mega long beak even tried some of the popcorn!

Here’s is a photo of him getting into my popcorn which by the way he did not like and very quickly let go of.

I started laughing and said, ‘OMG he is having some of my popcorn. Maria hold on I’m going to take a few photos of him if he will let me’

I put the phone down, and then thankfully as I had my mobile with me Mr Kookaburra let me take some photos of him.

The one above and also this one below so you can see just how close he got to me.

Since I was laying down we were literally at eye level to each other, he was actually a little taller than me, and if he got any closer he would have to sit on me.

Mr Kookaburra let me take these photos, and just like last time he just cocked his head like above, and stared at me with his very intense dark brown eye.

I put my mobile back down, and then picked up my land line phone again to continue speaking to Maria and he stayed there staring at me even while I was talking to my friend.

Maria could not get over the fact a Kookaburra was next to me while I was speaking to her.

It was rather distracting trying to have a conversation with a wild Kookaburra right next to me listening in, and seeming totally not bothered about me talking on the phone right next to him.

I asked her, ‘This is not normal is it?‘.

She said, ‘God no, this is amazing! It must mean something. Do you know what it means to have a Kookaburra come to you like this out of the blue?’

I told her I didn’t, as truth be told I never expected him to come back again.

I’m very glad he did as I was worried that he could be sick to let me pat him that first time he visited me, seeing him so close again it was clear even though I’m not a Vet he was as healthy as any Kookaburra could be.

After maybe another ten minutes or so of staring at me he flew away, and then he stayed perched on our arch way again, like he was in the video above on Thursday and he stayed perched there staring at me the whole time for over an hour before he finally flew away.

I don’t know what you are thinking right now, but I felt like I had just experienced a magical and very special event.

I feel even more grateful that one of my closest friends was there so to speak to experience it just as I did too.

All I could do was laugh.

Since a Kookaburra is considered the King of the Bush and is known for its laughter, it was kind of very fitting that he made me feel like laughing too.

Later that day, inspired by Maria and Mr Kookaburra coming back again, I did some research online about Kookaburras, and in particular what it means when you have one visit you, the symbolism behind a Kookaburra flying into your life as well as the spiritual meaning of Kookaburra’s.

It seems birds, including the Kookaburra can be Messengers.

Kookaburra’s are considered Spirit Birds, so I wondered if he had flown into my life to send me some sort of message as well, or it could mean absolutely nothing at all and just one of those weird wonderful things that can happen.

Without a doubt my new Kookaburra friend has cheered me up, and has got me laughing again as I can’t begin to tell you how privilaged I feel to have him allow me to be so close to him, not once but twice now.

It’s special and I only wished my girls had seen him as they were out with my Partner doing their swimming lessons and then at a 1st Birthday Party at the time.

I sent the photos to my family and friends and very quickly they were passed around everywhere.

Since they had already seen the photos my girls when they got back home wanted to know if Mr Kookaburra had come back again yet, and I told them well he has come to visit twice so far so he may come again and we just need to wait and see.

Well Mr Kookaburra did visit again, the very next day on Sunday afternoon.

I know that Kookaburra’s mate for life and back at our old house we would rarely see a Kookaburra alone, their mate would usually be somewhere near by, but this was not the case with Mr Kookaburra.

He always came to visit us alone.

Mr Kookaburra turned up and perched himself on our archway in the backyard again and Eva and Lara were so excited to see him.

Lara who is two said, ‘Look Mum, Mr Kookaburra is back!’

Mr Kookaburra was very patient as my girls stood under him jumping up and down trying to offer him some bacon to eat. They stayed outside with him for quite sometime before he finally flew off again.

It’s now Wednesday, and our new feathery little friend has brought quite a bit of extra joy into our family, and even though my back spasmed again on Monday so severely I had to call an Ambulance to get me to the Doctors to settle it down I’m okay about it.

I’m not fussed or upset about it at all.

It was not fun at the time, and I did NOT in any way, shape or form particularly enjoy the part waiting for the Ambulance to arrive, however once it was settled down and I was back home again in bed I felt surprisingly okay about what had happened.

I’m now writing this while on my portable mattress and I feel very at peace and have a sense that everything is going to be okay with my back regardless of what all the Professionals say.

No matter how many flare ups lie ahead for me I just have to ride through this latest set back and accept it and not fight it or get upset about it or assume the worst.

I shared with my friend Maria, that in the past when ever I have gone through a particularly difficult period of my life I always would receive reassuring messages in my dreams.

The strong medication I have had to take on a daily basis to control the nerve pain I live with these past 12 months has meant those dreams are not able to come through any more.

If I have them I do not remember them.

Taking this into account plus the fact I have been mainly house bound these past 12 months it kind of makes sense to me the only way I could get a spiritual message sent to me would be by a bird now.

Maybe if that bird was a Crow or a Sparrow I would not have noticed it…having it be a Kookaburra however is a very different story.

A Kookaburra could not be more fitting as I love to laugh.

I’m known for how much a love to laugh, it’s not something I’m even aware of most of the time, and I usually no matter what happens to me laugh often, and I even laugh when something is not that particularly funny.

Yes I can be a total Dag as we say here in Australia.

Being serious now after my back got worse after my first visit to the Pain Management Center in January it scared me.

The Doctor after he checked my MRI and then examined me pressed on one of my damaged nerves three times, and each time he did it was like an electric shock which caused my whole body to jump on his patients bed.

Before having to go to the Pain Management Centre I had been able to get to the stage where I could work for 5-6 hours a day and was able to function almost normally at home which was a major improvement and something I was very grateful for and wanted to build on.

I was also looking forward to one day in the not to distant future to be able to stop having to take the strong medication as well.

After my back flared up so badly after arriving back from the Pain Management Centre it caused me to worry more than I ever have about my back before.

It didn’t help that I could not get on top of the pain at home even after a week and ended up needing a morphine injection to stop the spasming.

It was such a painful slow process and it worried me so much somewhere along the way I stopped laughing.

This was the first time in 11 years that I’ve lived with this back condition I’ve ever allowed it to get to me like that.

It didn’t help being told once again that the nerve damage is severe and permanent and also that I had a very remote chance of ever being able to get off the medication again and that I would need to accept I would have to be on medication to manage the pain for the rest of my life.

When I had the Spinal Surgery in May I felt very optimistic that I would make a full recovery.

I knew their was a major risk of nerve damage and Chronic Back Pain however I didn’t think that would happen to me and even when my Surgeon told me in October it had happened and that this was as good as it was ever going to get I did not believe him.

Having the Dr at the Pain Management Centre pretty much say the same thing but in a much nicer way floored me and stunned me.

I felt a deep sense of sadness and also grief and it thus stopped me from feeling any urge to laugh at all.

I’ve never felt so helpless, or so out of control in my life, and could not see any light anywhere and each day was just another unrelenting day of constant pain, never knowing if my back was going to spasm again and get worse or not.

I know not being able to sleep well didn’t help, and the bleak diagnosis I was given by the Doctor at the Pain Management Center plus the extra medication I had to start taking were making it very difficult indeed for me to see any way out of this.

Hardest to take of all was the fact it was also effecting how long I could work as well.

Most people in my situation can’t work at all.

I can and do, and even though I can’t work the way I used to, for as long as I used to, I can manage part time hours and on the good days more than that.

If I couldn’t work at all that would be like a ‘death’ to me, as being able to work is very important to me.

I love what I do, and can’t imagine not being able to do it, and no matter what lies ahead I will always do whatever I can to find away to continue to do what I do as it gives me so much joy and such a powerful sense of purpose.

I’m grateful to share that Mr Kookaburra has helped me truly feel and believe everything is going to be okay.

To not give up.

To not lose hope.

To not allow my fears to take over.

And to most of all keep laughing as yes just like the movie where Stella got her groove back, Mr Kookaburra has well and truly helped me get my laughter back – laughter after all as they say is the best medicine.

So if you are wondering what it means to have a Kookaburra visit you, or fly into your life the most comprehensive article I found about it you can read by Clicking Here.  The part about turning hurt into happiness hit me like a ray of light.

I have a feeling this is not the last we will see of Mr Kookaburra so I will keep you updated if he does come again.

Now I’d love to know if you have ever had an animal or bird visit you?  

Has a Kookaburra ever visited you as well?

Or has some other wild animal or bird visited you and let you touch them?

How did you feel about it and do you know what it meant?

I’d love to know what you think and what your experiences have been with animals and birds so please feel free to leave a comment below.

I don’t know if a Kookaburra is actually my Totem Animal but maybe it is, and since I’m not an Expert in this field, so if you are, and can shed some light on what it means to have a Kookaburra visit me in this way I am all ears, and thank you in advance for leaving a comment.

Even if you have never had any such experience, if you are going through your own challenging time I hope my little true story here helps bring a smile to your face.

I also hope you laugh a lot, and as often as possible no matter what life throws your way too.

Warmly,
Cristina Munoz
AKA http://OutbackTraffic.com
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PS: If you also happen to live with a disability which means you are unable to do a normal ‘job’ you don’t have to live on a disability pension or on sickness benefits for the rest of your life. You can like just like I did find away to work from home as it is possible as I’m living proof of this. You may need to be a bit creative at times when you get flare ups etc however you can still contribute to society and make a difference. Whether you live with a disability or not, if you have always wanted to work from home Click Here.