A not-so-little birdy told me

This morning a sea gull flirted with the boundaries of my snow-laden lawn, and then thought better of it. Birdbrained though he may be, he was wise enough to realize that no good can come from a daybreak encounter with a springer spaniel. At least not for a sea gull.

With 17 degree weather and a sun that sets before the early bird specials even start in a Boca Raton restaurant, I suppose I got lost in the winter of it all and forgot that the Atlantic is but a mile away as a bird flies. It took a fly-by from a diehard down-eastern sea gull to return the ocean to its rightful place in my mental map.

And that got me thinking. (Oh no, here we go....).

I so easily lose sight of the vast and powerful and important things in my life, until an inconsequential fluttering of wings startles me back into perspective. It takes a rampant stomach virus to impress upon me the amazing blessing of health (and the glory of Oxyclean). It takes a few tough nights of single parenthood while Larry is on call to make me immensely grateful that he is here with us, even if only in fleeting moments. Because what precious moments they are. And it takes a scary piece of news or an absence of all certainty about the future to bring me back to my knees in search of the Peace that passes all understanding. Yes, the most important things, I so often forget them. Until a not-so-little birdy flies by with a reminder.