December of 2019 proved to be interesting, busy, challenging at times, and finally smoothing out to a peaceful close.
The other morning I was distractedly walking from the kitchen, towards the front of the house. Up a good part of the night with worrying about everything, I hadn't gotten much sleep and I was tired. My mind was filled with a never ending to-do list, mentally assigning the hours of my day to this and that. As I came up to the front door, something caught my eye from the side light windows. When I looked more closely, I saw a large bird sitting in our front yard tree. It stopped me in my tracks and my heart began to beat faster.
I began to murmur to myself, "please don't leave, please don't leave."
I hurried into the den to find my camera. My murmuring tune now changed to "please don't let the battery be dead, please don't let the battery be dead."
I breathed a sigh of relief when my camera light turned on.
For the next 10 minutes I was still and quietly absorbed in watching this wondrous creature, snapping a photo when I could.
I'm not sure why the bird chose our tree to land in. Perhaps it was a pit-stop on its way to other lands. I prefer to think that, instead of it being on a breakfast hunt.
I experienced feelings of gratitude for a variety of reasons. It was a privilege to be able to get close enough, albeit behind a window, to spend time with this bird, if only for a brief time.
Along with my worries, all of the nonsense thoughts of making beds, laundry, food shopping and such flew out of my head and landed up in that tree on the wings of that mighty bird.
During this new year of 2020 when life might get somewhat overwhelming, I hope I will recall the morning I was still and quiet and remember the bird who took my cares and woes away on a journey to other lands.
