I should never answer the phone when I'm working late. Just as I was leaving work I got a particularly unpleasant call, the kind that manages to depress that feeling of lightness I often get at the end of a long work day (especially now, the hours of remaining daylight still seem like such a gift). I slouched toward the car in a dour mood when I just happened to glance up. A great blue heron flapped across the still-blue sky, right over my head--the first one I've seen this year. As I drove home, my eyes followed the big bird slowly winging its way down river, then bearing east over the rocky ridge of Mount Battie. A moment resonant with ancient beauty, just when I needed it.

Watching the heron's
slow seaward flight erases
unease from my mind.