The sky this morning was beautiful, the clear azure blue of September. Nothing but a half moon and a large luminous feather shaped cloud were pinned in the sky. I stood and looked at the feather cloud in amazement. I was too dumbfounded to run and get my camera to take a photo. It looked just like a bird feather floating to the ground. The details were perfectly drawn from the shaft with the tiny down feathers to the top where the feathers are tightly woven. I spent an hour on the internet looking at cloud photos shaped like feathers but none of the photos came close to the exquisiteness of the one I saw. I’ve decided it was an angel wing feather. Can’t explain it another way. I’ll always remember how beautiful it was with great regret for not capturing it on film. I know I’ll never see something like this again.

Bird feathers are symbols of flight and freedom. They have a connection to spiritual realms. Bird feathers are considered gifts from the sky. Psalms 91:4 says, “He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.” This beautiful feather, or we can call it a feather cloud, has really moved me today. I’ve sat on the porch pondering what the significance of it could be. Is it a sign from heaven from Chief, is it a sign from an angel, or just a gift for me drawn by Father Sky on his blue sky canvas. I don’t know but it’s intriguing. I’m so sorry I didn’t get a photo to document it. I’ve heard a phrase before that says, “Feathers appear when angels are near.” There had to be one close by today.

My yard is deathly quiet after the lawn mowing crew has left the street. The brown water oak’s leaves of fall are slowly spiraling down from the tree branches, landing gently on the newly cut grass. The wind chimes are softly pinging and the occasional bird song breaks the silence. The wood thrushes always visit when the yard is freshly cut so I’m watching for them. I sat in the swing for a long time watching a yellow butterfly in my rusty wheelbarrow of million bells. I’m trying to learn the names of all the Alabama butterflies but I’m too cheap to pay $31 for the Alabama butterfly field guide. I’m taking photos and studying them. This little yellow creature was pirouetting and flirting with the colorful blooms, dancing a ballet of butterfly joyfulness, daintily drinking the flowers’ nectar. I finally captured his photo. He’s a Sleepy Orange butterfly. Got its name from the tiny dark spot on its upper wings that look like a pair of closed or sleeping eyes. So captivating to watch him frolic all over the yard. He was tripping the light fantastic.

I had two large blue jays come and visit in my large oak tree today. Blue jays almost never come in my yard space, preferring the trees across the street. I hear them loudly squawking their “jeer, jeer” everyday but today they were sitting in my oak tree talking. They makes great watch dogs for other birds, too. Their alarm is loud enough to be heard all over the street.

They are wondrously colored in their feathered coats of blue and black and gray and white. They have black beaks and black legs and a black line of feathers around their necks that resembles a necklace. A pert crest of blue feathers rest on their heads and when their crests stand up they look like soldiers ready for war. Truly handsome birds.

Went back outside to the porch after the sun left the swings and the blue jays were still in my big oak tree. I could see them disturbing the branches and I watched one of them fly away with an acorn in his mouth. I didn’t even know they ate acorns. They harvest the smaller acorns off the oak trees. I did a little research and found out they can carry up to five acorns at a time in their mouth — three in their throat, one in their mouth, and one in their beak. The blue jays travel a mile or so away from the oak trees, pile the acorns up and proceed to bury them. A blue jay will hide 3,000 to 5,000 acorns in a single season. They can remember where they bury them and dig up 95% of them. They do better than the squirrels with remembering.

Many people think blue jays are a sign from heaven and a harbinger of good luck. Blue jays are persistent with their squawking, reminding us to be persistent in our difficult situations. In Christianity, research reads blue jays symbolize protection, divinity, selflessness, honesty, and kindness.

We need to be like the blue jay and cultivate their work ethic. They don’t give up and work diligently harvesting their acorns and traveling to bury them. I’m not sure my work ethic is on a comparable level. Anything worthwhile requires patience and dedication. When you fall down you get right back up. There is no substitute for hard work. I’m sitting here trying to think of the first time in my life that hard work and persistence paid off and the first thing that popped in my mind was learning to ride a unicycle. I never gave up and was determined to learn to ride. I practiced every day holding on to the limbs of the chestnut trees lining our yard. Once I got enough courage to let go of the limbs and trust myself, off I went happily peddling down the street. Perseverance had paid off!

Well, I missed the sunset. Mother Nature was putting the golden rayed yellow sun to bed on a turquoise, purple clouded horizon and the perimeter clouds were just beginning to painted in their pink hues when I looked up on the bannister and saw a raccoon sitting there looking back at me. Can’t believe Penelope didn’t sound the alarm. Dagnammit! Thought all of the raccoons had gone with the wind. Came in the house and sat back down at my desk.

Never thought much about persistence till today. Persistence is so important as we travel through life. Anything worthwhile has to be achieved through dedication and hard work. Being persistent will give you opportunities to achieve your goals. Perseverance helps you make progress even when the going gets rough. Being persistent in our faith helps us to trust God to fulfill his promises. Despite the difficulties or delays we face, we can trust God understands our situations and through faithful prayer we can realize our rewards.

“Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish.” — John Quincy Adams