Distinguished Circumstances

"I once had a sparrow alight upon my shoulder for a moment,

while I was hoeing in a village garden,
and I felt that I was more distinguished by that circumstance
that I should have been by any epaulet I could have worn."

~ Henry David Thoreau ~

I had a little glimpse of what Thoreau meant when I was standing in front of my kitchen window, washing dishes. In my peripheral vision something flew into our maple tree and knowing that we often get black-capped chickadees, I only glanced up for a second, not really noticing what had flown by.

Well, to my surprise, it wasn't what I expected and I quickly called for my husband, our 'resident bird expert' to come quick and tell me what they were.

A pair of downy woodpeckers, twittering and flitting here and there in a courtship dance. How blessed I felt to be here and well enough to stand at the window and witness such an amazing moment in God's great creation :o)