Happiness is...a bird in flight.

Birds have always fascinated me. (Disclaimer* Solitary birds or those in small groups. Anything larger than 5 or 6 birds and I start to have visions of myself as Tippi Hedron with no Rod Taylor to rescue me!) I think it probably comes from growing up with a mother who would point out the window at the various hawks and eagles and other 'exciting' birds as we would take family vacations and an uncle and grandfather who carried binoculars on every camping trip so they could search the skies and treetops for feathered friends. In any case, I love watching birds flit through the air or catching a glimpse of a bit of color or movement out of the corner of my eye and being rewarded with a bird song. Even better is when my brain is working enough that I can identify what it is I'm seeing.

There's a small run near my work that I like to walk along during my lunch break. There's a bit of green space and a walking path lined with trees and a small bridge over the water. It's provided many a moment of solitude, reflection and re-grouping during my workdays and gives me a chance to breathe deeply and enjoy nature a bit. Earlier this afternoon we had a small spring shower so when I took my walk the air was filled with the sounds of various birds enjoying the cooler weather and the moisture. I walked past puddles filled with splashing sparrows, a raven/crow/blackbird (one day I'll learn the difference) sitting on a post eying who-knows-what in the water below, robins tugging worms out of the damp earth, along with various ducks and a gaggle of Canadian geese swimming across the water.

I've seen cardinals and blue jays, pigeons and doves, and all manner of small nondescript brown birds in the finch families, woodpeckers and hawks and in the summer we even get herons and egrets. But today I stood in awe as the geese, alerted by some unseen and unheard signal, took flight, falling instantly into a V formation, wing tips trailing patterns across the formerly glassy surface of the water as they lifted in unison arching above the bridge where I was standing, and soaring into the sky directly over my head. They cut a dark wedge across the blue sky, reaching higher and farther until they were nothing but specks in the distance. It took just over a minute and yet I seemed to see unlimited glimpses of the possibilities of life, the future, and human potential unfold with each flap of wing. If God could create beings as majestically simple as these birds, imagine what we are capable of doing and becoming as human beings formed in His image. The possibilities are astounding and something I needed to be reminded of today...I only wish I'd had my camera!

I firmly believe that when we get to heaven we'll be able to soar and fly as free as the birds. (Please no one talk me out of this idea. Flying dreams are my favorite!) But until that day we'll have to be content to soar a little closer to the ground basking in our dreams and imaginations and future possibilities, leaving the actual flying to our winged friends.


BTW-Happiness is also allergy medication. Lots and lots of allergy medication!