FRIDAY THOUGHTS: INSPIRED

I went out to get the newspaper. 

It's very cold out. 

I'd only grabbed a shawl, so I was moving more quickly than usual.

On the way back from the box, something compelled me to look up. 

It's gray out. 

The sky is dreary this morning, and the Sun is there, but it just seems to be laying back. 

The scene has all of the characteristics of depression and blah. 

The trees are bare, and nothing looks bright.

What encouraged me, and made me forget the scene and the cold, was a lone bird, perched atop the highest branch of one of the trees in the back yard. There it was. Just sitting there, surveying; not afraid; not shivering; just being.

That bird made me smile. I wanted to applaud it. The kind of screaming I would be doing at that height, without the comfort of some kind of vehicle would have been tremendous. 
The bird was confident, proud, content, and where it belonged. It didn't settle for the lower branches. It chose the tip top, where the best view could be appreciated. It was high up, AND looking up. 

I was glad I had my phone. I wanted to remember that bird with it's bad self. It didn't care if I was looking, and didn't need my approval. 

I loved it.

I came into the house and thought I could catch a glimpse of it again from the back windows. I looked out and up. The bird was gone. 

I don't know what caused it to fly away. Maybe it was done doing what it was supposed to, or wanted to do. Maybe it got the rest it needed. Maybe it was just loving being itself; capable of being perched that high, feeling no pain, and in no danger.

I sure hope it saw what it needed to see--and finds a warmer place to be.