Oh little one, the lake looks so daunting does it not? What goes through your mind as you feel the wind and its force singing in the trees? Have you seen white caps and waves on a lake in your brief time? I watched your parents stand nearby but still at a distance as you pondered the lake. Neither you nor they were in a rush. You made me laugh as you sat on the bank and stretched your neck as far as you could to touch the lake with your beak. What told you it was safe? How did you find your courage? And with a most graceful plop into the lake you went. Immediately your parents took their positions on either side and guided your journey. No, not to worry, not a trace of fear on your sweet face. It looks as if you’ve been doing this for years…. and may you do so.

A most perfect image as I watched you yesterday.  I too was inching my way along the bank towards my own lake. My own new beginning began today. My own neck and heart peering its way closer and closer to the lake. Perhaps not as graceful as you, but I too plopped into the lake. Like you, the Sweet Hands of Life effortlessly and gently positioned themselves around me. Like you, no thought today of the long and difficult migrations ahead and the simple perils of life. No, for both of us, it was simply this lake, this moment, and time to swim with the waves. And we did. May Life grace us both with years of peering, plopping, swimming, protection, guardians, and soaring…..