While I sat in my kitchen waiting for my tea to brew, I reread a card that a lovely friend sent me. She tucked inside an additional treat for me, a Hawk feather! It was a wonderful surprise & such a beautiful gift.
That was the 3rd feather to come my way so far this summer. The first, a scraggly little blue & black one, was found in the woods while hiking in Northern California this past June. I had just stopped to look & listen to the old growth redwoods, when she appeared. A tiny little thing fallen from the branches above. I cherish that sweet one as it was gifted to me by the magnificent Hendy Woods.
Last month while visiting my home state, my sister presented me with a gorgeous Hawk feather. She found a cluster of them, grounded together in the grasses, while walking through a nature preserve. She blessed my visit with this special gift & I will honor it's beauty & it's sentiment as long as I live.
Feathers don't come my way that often. When they do, they move me.
They will be placed in my cabinet of curiosities, next to shells & bark, skeletons & painted rocks. One by one I will arrange them but until then...
As I waited for enough time to pass when I could pour my cup of Earl Grey, I gathered my small collection of feathers & held them in my hand. I twisted & twirled each one of them in my long fingers, and arranged them in a ceramic heron hatpin holder, for just a moment. It was a simple moment, a still life of sorts...a gathering of feathers...the honoring of friendships...& the gifts of love.
