The Feather

The beautiful feather was waiting for me in one of the little pools of water where the heron stands, in front of the children's garden at the Arboretum.

It had been wet overnight - isn't it always around here - and the feather was covered in droplets of water. As I kneeled down to photograph it, a tiny bug - a water skipper - landed just where you see it, and improved my shot.

Was the feather a tiny magical craft, waiting to be sailed away upon to high adventures? (The bug thinks so!)

Was it a work of art, waiting to be painted on canvas and immortalized by a master? 

Was it a gift from the Universe, telling the happy news that angels are near; or perhaps that we should not worry, for a loved one is doing well in Heaven?

Yes. Oh, dear ones, the answer is so often yes. It was all of those things and more: a tiny magical craft, a work of art, a gift of happy news.

Thank you, Universe, for the feather; we enjoyed it so. . . .

The soundtrack: Andreas Frohner, with the Feather Theme from the film Forrest Gump.