When I Look To The Sky

Sometimes you just connect with someone.  They can live very far away, and you may never meet them in person, but still a bond is formed through shared ideas, common beliefs, and sometimes it's just something you can't fully explain that brings you together and makes you click.  I recently found that in another blogger, and it truly is a gift.

Yesterday, it was absolutely gorgeous here.  The sun was shining and a breeze was blowing, so I headed out to our backyard to hang out in the hammock and drink it all in.

I wish I was one of those people who could close my eyes and drift off to sleep to the gentle sounds of of the tides rolling in and the swaying branches overhead, but I'm not.  I think maybe it's because I'm afraid I might miss something, like the sight of an Osprey diving into the water searching for lunch, or a the chance to get a wet kiss from a loving pup.

If only I could let my mind slow down or even stop for a moment so that I wasn't always plotting how to fix the world, or trying to figure out a way to invent something to prevent dust from accumulating in my house, but then there are other times when I embrace this trait of mine.

Times when I'm glad my senses are sharp, that I've kept my eyes wide open, so that I didn't miss something that others might pass by or simply ignore.

I've been thinking about my friend Dan a lot lately, missing him and wishing we could have a good chat like we used to, and yesterday was one of those days when I longed to hear his voice again.  And just then, I looked down and saw it, a tiny white feather.  Now you might think to yourself, so what...it's just a feather?!  But then you wouldn't know Dan and how he would send such a beautiful little gift my way.

You see, I spoke to his wife just a few weeks ago, so excited to share in the excitement of the Royal Wedding with her, since she lives very near London.  It hadn't occurred to me that for her the wedding took on a totally different meaning.  Instead of seeing beautiful flowers and a princess in the making, it took her back to her own wedding and to the sadness that only someone who has lost a spouse can fully understand.  As we spoke she fought back tears and I reassured her that Dan was all around her...all around all of us.  She told me that just a few days earlier, she had had the windows in their flat open and a small white feather had floated in and landed on a tiny bird's nest she had sitting out as decoration.  She said she knew it was from Dan, and that the feather was still resting just where it had landed.

I also spoke to a blog friend this week via email.  She too has suffered a great loss, and we spoke about how those who leave us are never very far away.  We talked about signs, and how if you just know where to look and open your eyes, those signs are all around us.

As the sun set yesterday in a fiery ball of orange and red, I knew that I had experienced a perfect day.  The weather, the feather, the sunset, each one a sign from those we love but are no longer physically here on Earth telling us that they are shining down upon us and letting us know that they are ok.

When I had a conversation with someone in the health field a few years ago and told them that I often felt the presence of those who had left this world around me and that I have learned to listen to that little voice within me, he simply smiled.  He said, we all have that little voice, but some of us stop listening to it, so it stops speaking to us.  I will never stop listening, and I truly hope it never stops speaking to me.

When I see a sign like that little white feather yesterday, I take comfort in the knowledge that even in the darkest of times, a light shines through.  I hope that you have a wonderful weekend my friends and that you take a moment and look to the sky!