Yesterday, our family visited the Gettysburg, PA area for my husband's Father's Day celebration. Having spent many a Father's Day there with my dad when he was alive, it always brings back memories...all pleasant, thankfully.
In driving by fields of tall grass, I was reminded of several occasions when dad would see a ring-necked pheasant, and try to get a picture of the bird. He'd stalk so carefully, so silently, get just to the right spot, ready his camera, and the damned bird would fly away before he could snap a picture.
Dad's been gone for 10 years now, and it's been longer than that since I saw a ring-necked pheasant in Gettysburg, even though we visit often. But yesterday, as we drove past this one field, there he was staring right at me through the timothy grass.
I didn't stop, or attempt to capture the moment on film. I just drove on without even mentioning the bird to anyone.
Maybe it was coincidence or maybe it was a message from beyond. Or maybe, just maybe it was Dad's karma to return to this world as a ring-necked pheasant, and get chased around by crazy photographers and hunters and such. Whatever...it made Father's Day a little more special.