How to describe the day? A day of the child within. To drive to the wildlife refuge was to be a child at Christmas ready to open the gifts under the tree.  To stand and listen to the silence of nature’s song was to be a child listening to a bedtime story. To hear the silence broken with the explosion of a massive singular flock of migrating birds flying towards me was the absolute wonder and awe only a child could know. To hear the different callings coming from the massive flock was to be a child confused by rules and conditioning that did not fit. To realize the singular flock was actually cranes and Canadian Geese entwined together made me dance and laugh like a child. To see the flock part as the geese landed while the cranes turned and went their way was to weep like a child held in a mother’s gentle arms. To find three feathers gifted was to be a sleeping child kissed by her mother. To discover I had locked myself out of my house was to be a child stomping her feet. To enlist the help of an 80 year old neighbor who lives alone and hear her laugh “We’re not helpless women!” as I climbed through the window, was to be a child at play with her best friend.

How to describe the day? A day of the child within. A day when you believe again that “strangers” like the cranes, nature, and neighbors still help you find your way home. The innocence of a child who knows no strangers. A child who can still hear the whisper “Can you come out and play?”