On a morning when you are feeling a little sad, because it has been five years to the day since your Mom passed away, and also it’s the week before Thanksgiving and that day hasn’t been the same for you since she died. On a day like that, if a bird appears in your front yard that you have never seen before? You take notice. It could be nothing. Or it could be a little gift to remind you that you are not alone, not so much, even if this day makes you feel like you are. All the usual birds are also there: the jays, the chickadees. But someone new is there, too. Maybe it’s a sign that something good could still show up for you, even after so much grief and loss. It’s especially noteworthy if it arrives just as you are standing at the kitchen sink washing the tea cup that you brought home from your Mom’s, the one that you gave her on the last Mother’s Day that you had together. You didn’t know it would be your last Mother’s Day with her. You might have bought something different, something more significant, if you had. But it was that cup that you bought, that cup you were holding when the bird swooped down. Maybe a Northern Flicker (according to my Merlin Bird ID app)? Doesn’t matter much what it was. Just nice that it was there.
