Bird watching is therapy for Macon man
Mornings are best, when the sun lifts its head from its pillow and the songbirds begin their chorus from the trees.
Being an early bird is the prime time for bird watching. The light is soft. The world is starting to stir.
Skeebo Knight shoots birds ... with his camera. He does not kill mockingbirds. He snatches them with his lens, and the moment belongs to him forever.
Mornings are best, because the rest of the day soon catches up with him. He hurts. He has no energy. He moves like a tin man in need of an oil can.
For more than 20 years, he has suffered from scleroderma, a rare and incurable autoimmune disease that hardens and tightens his skin and connective tissues.
Some days, his fingers refuse to bend, and his legs are shackles of frustration. The pain is chronic. Getting around is a struggle. He must pace himself.
"It waxes and wanes," he said.
Skeebo will be 60 years old in November, but his body feels like a broken-down jalopy. It takes hours of intense physical therapy -- stretching and flexibility exercises -- just to be able to perform simple tasks like tying his shoes.
His wings are clipped.
Bird watching has become his mental therapy.
"It has been a true blessing," he said. "It gives me something to look forward to every day. There is a certain magic when you find a bird in the right light and the right setting. Every time I go out for a walk, I take my camera. I get excited because there is always something different, something new."
There was a time when his extremities moved in tandem with his spirit. He was at the gym every day. He was an exercise instructor at the Macon Health Club, then later opened Conditioning Unlimited on Forsyth Road in 1987.
He also claimed the most prolific pair of drumsticks in town. Nobody could keep the beat like Skeebo. He released eight CDs and two singles and played the drums to everything from hard rock to soft jazz. He laid down tracks with keyboardist Chuck Leavell, of The Allman Brothers and Rolling Stones, and Marcus James Henderson of The Marshall Tucker Band.
Two years ago, he had to give up his music. The progressive disease exacted its toll on his fingers, hands and arms. When he tried to play, it took too long to recover, to come back all the way, and even longer to get over the discouragement.
With the help of his younger brother, John, a photographer with the Mercer University School of Medicine, he picked up a Nikon D40 camera that his in-laws had given him in 2008 and found solace in a sanctuary of birds.
It's amazing what you can see when you open your eyes.
"When you take up photography, you pay more attention to what you normally might have walked by," said Skeebo. "I can get lost in it. It's like when I played the drums or played sports. You get in the zone. You don't get that feeling from things you're not passionate about."
He published a 2016 calendar of his nature photography. There are photographs of red-tailed hawks, blue jays, green herons and white egrets. For the month of April -- April 26 is National Audubon Day -- his camera captured a pine warbler perched among the blossoms on the Yoshino cherry tree in his front yard.
Birds have been the birthright of Richard Dennis "Skeebo" Knight. After all, his parents, Richard H. Knight and the late Jean Knight, nicknamed him "Skeebo" after a cardinal that made rounds in the neighborhood.
His family had nicknames for many of the birds that used to frequent their backyard on Winchester Circle in Wimbish Woods. They tossed bread crumbs on the ground to feed them. Skeebo and his friends played in the woods behind their house, building forts and tree houses.
He graduated from Central High School in 1975, and met his wife, Debbie, when he was at Conditioning Unlimited. She was working at Wall Sports, a sporting goods store on Forsyth Road. He was shy and kept showing up to buy socks. On May 21, they will celebrate their 28th wedding anniversary.
Bird watching is a passion they share. They have 14 feeders in their small yard. Skeebo doesn't have to travel far to find birds. They find him.
Debbie is a manager at Bass Pro Shop and loves the outdoors. She takes along her binoculars and helps him carry his camera equipment and stool. She has made alterations on hunting vests to hold and prop his camera, so the weight doesn't drag him down.
One of their favorite bird venues is the lake and nature trail on the Wesleyan College campus, where Skeebo has photographed everything from hawks to hummingbirds. They have befriended three Muscovy ducks and named them Dakota, Oliver and Lulu. The ducks are almost like children and recognize the Knights when they see them. One evening, Dakota hopped up and sat on a bench next to Skeebo.
There have been some majestic, memorable moments that have taken their collective breaths away. Once, an eagle sailed high above them along the duck pond at Lake Tobesofkee. Another time, they had front-row seats to watch some baby geese hatch.
"You learn where certain birds are going to be ... their habits and their habitats," Skeebo said. "You have to sit, wait and be patient."
It changes, too, when the migratory birds start arriving like the flowers in the spring. The grosbeaks and cedar waxwings pass through, as if they were vacationers at a rest stop, and the amazing hummingbirds are tiny boomerangs from their winter sabbaticals.
Common birds, like the redbirds and brown thrashers, are territorial. Skeebo loves to search for the extraordinary in the ordinary.
"It's awesome if you can get a mockingbird in beautiful light, with a good pose, the right head tilt and a little attitude," he said.
Although he does not play favorites, he is partial to bluebirds, the harbingers of happiness.
"It is something positive," he said. "It makes me feel good to see a bluebird. Debbie read one time that it signifies hope."
Somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly.
Ed Grisamore teaches journalism and creative writing at Stratford Academy in Macon. He can be reached at edgrisamore@gmail.com.
This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 7:36 PM with the headline "Bird watching is therapy for Macon man."