Free flight

I was doing an onsite visit this past week for one of my freelance writing accounts. This particular site visit was one of those borderline surreal experiences, as it was a wedding venue straight out of a fairytale. Picture a sweeping estate harkening back to the days of the Old South era, complete with winding drive, rolling hills with manicured and professionally landscaped grounds, a vineyard, various pavilions, gazebos, gracious circular drive and triple-tiered fountain, all leading to a stately manor atop the highest point of the property. It was enough to make any feminine heart sigh in delight, picturing her wedding in this lovely setting.

The day itself was what I call a soft, gray day. Most people find this type of weather a nuisance, but I love soft gray days. They are similar to snowy days in that they soften the edges of the world, dampen the sounds around us and slow the pace a wee bit. We had unseasonably warm weather for January that day, which caused winds to whip up and provide a brisk outdoor viewing of the estate. Since my job is to write glowing reviews and descriptions of this property, I walked around extensively, drinking in the wide expanse of the grounds. For some reason, I glanced skyward and spotted four hawks. I don't know if you've ever had the opportunity to watch birds gliding the winds on a blustery day, but it's something I have always enjoyed. I stood there, at the top of that highest bluff and just watched them.

They were loving the weather, their wings outstretched as they glided about, carving lazy, elegant wheeling loops across the sky. I found myself just smiling at the sight, something deep inside of me touched and brought to a very bright moment of peace. The soft gray light of day, the whipping winds tangling my hair and bringing rosy color to my cheeks, the lovely backdrop of this incredible estate....and those beautiful hawks up in the sky, playing and skating the winds for the simple joy of it all. All of these individual details combined to create one diamond sharp instant in time for me and I doubt that I shall ever forget it. For that moment, I breathed in damp, fresh air and watched a performance thrown by nature, and I simply soared along with it all.

Does this sound overly dramatic? Absurd for a grown woman to suggest it possible to step into this dance of nature and become an element of it all? I don't see it as either - this is how I view the world.  Magic does exist and I will not be convinced otherwise. To me, moments such as these are meant to be embraced with all our senses, and that's exactly what I did. It was glorious. Even the trees surrounding the estate were doing their own gentle, elegant waltz as the winds shifted them to and fro.

I stood there, living in that moment for what felt like a separate eternity. Eventually, the four hawks moved on across the sky and disappeared. I am sure they will return to that stretch of sky and take full advantage of the wind patterns, and if I'm lucky, I'll be there occasionally to witness the beauty of it all again. This one day, however, this soft gray day of mine, will never exist again. I have it in my mind's eye and I am now attempting to paint it with words for you to share. My written efforts fall quite short of accurately describing the sheer bliss of the moment I experienced, that free flight of those four hawks.

My day continued and I was pulled back into the real world of cell phones jangling, clients wanting to schedule appointments, traffic snarling its way around the city and deadlines looming. I tucked that day away in my heart because the deep, lasting sense of peace continued to radiate inside me. I feel it even now, as I write these words. The energy of it pulses inside me and I recognize that I was sent a very profound message that afternoon - I felt a divine presence embracing me with a palpable touch.

For whatever reason, I was given that incredible moment, a nod, an encouraging touch, a thundering whisper that brushed against me and said,

"Listen...be still...this is your moment...your free flight.  All things are possible."

My throat tightens now, and chills touch my arms from the memory. The message was clear in some ways, inscrutable and cryptic in others. The example of those four hawks swooping and gliding for the pure enjoyment of the experience reminds me to embrace doing what I love with equal abandon. Their eventual progress into the distant sky also reminds me that there is more to do, experience and explore.

If we're lucky, we might have a handful of these experiences in our lives. I am like most people, sometimes wondering if I'm making the right choices, wondering at the outcome of actions set into place. Witnessing this free flight in the sky scrubbed away some of those worries and concerns and lightened my heart. I will remember this lesson, this dance on the wind, and continue my own free flight into the vast expanse of the future.

And I will remember....all things are possible.