Me and the Wildlife

The Feather

On a bright and sunny summer day, later in the afternoon, we were sitting in lawn chairs on the large open lawn.  A flock of gulls flew over and I noticed that one bird had shed a feather, and it was lazily drifting down to earth.  I had never seen anything like this before, so it seemed to me that the feather was something special.  It was an even more special situation because the location where we sat had no trees nearby to obstruct the flight of the feather on its journey to earth. If I could catch it before it touched the ground, the feather would be even more special.  I jumped out of my chair and ran across the lawn with the feather in my sights.  I  managed to catch it!
  There was another aspect of the situation that made it even more memorable.  I had recently met a young lady, and we had gotten together at her parent's place to get to know each other.  I am not sure what assessment her parents made of the young man who bolted from his lawn chair to race across the lawn to catch a feather in flight.  My wife cannot recall any comments made by her parents about the incident.  It brings to mind a saying her mother had: "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all."  Fortunately my future bride was not put off by the incident.