Sad for No Reason ebookI have returned from visiting my parents in the pacific northwest. I want to share with you a fun little miracle story from my trip. I vowed to myself to not leave my parents house without a picture of a quail. I have never seen a town like this one, where people decorate their houses and mailboxes with images of quail. In fact, I’d never seen quail until I visited my parents house for the first time about ten years ago when they bought it. These birds are so common to the area that you see them in front yards of residential neighborhoods just hanging out. But I had never been ready with a camera at the moment I came across one of these birds during my previous visits.
One morning I decided to walk the dog for exercise instead of working out with my Gilad DVD. I walked her around the neighborhood carrying nothing but her leash. Unfortunately, she decided to poop on a neighbor’s manicured lawn. I wanted to be a good neighbor and clean up after her, but I had no bag. It was trash and recycle day and everybody had bins out on the curbs. Sneakily I took some newspaper from a recycle bin nearby and scooped up her mess, then I looked both ways and deposited the whole thing in another neighbor’s trash bin, hoping no one saw. This isn’t the miracle part of the story. This detail is simply here to show I didn’t bring anything on the walk.
When I arrived back at my parents house there was a single quail standing motionless on their driveway. I made a wide girth around it. The dog and I snuck into the house without disturbing it. I grabbed my camera, prepped it up and went outside to find the male bird still standing there, evidently posing for me. I shot two photos while slowly stepping towards it. Before I could get the third shot it flew away. But what a gorgeous shot the last one was! It was a miracle that I did get those two photos. Imagine that, there were enough batteries in the digital camera for just those photos. The batteries died the next time I tried to take a picture. Ant the handsome quail seemed to know it had a job to do: stand still long enough for me to get the camera and click it. I did give thanks to God for that.
Below is a detail from this photo, a close up of the beautiful plumage of the male quail’s head. I adjusted the color quality on the close up and I wish I had done the same thing for the above full body shot, but that’s okay. I’m leaving the color as it is.
The next day I saw this fella again, hanging out at a nearby house. I caught him on camera as he strutted away from me.
I’ve never seen one of these birds in Colorado, or Maryland, or Virginia, or in New England, or Hawaii, or Seattle. They are right at home and almost domesticated here in the tri-city area of Washington, beyond the cascade mountains, on the nearly desert flatland.
Some would say this story fits with the Law of Attraction. Make a clear statement to the universe and watch miracles happen as the universe bends over backwards to make it happen for you. I did make a clear internal statement that I was going to get a photo of a male quail before I left. I see little miracles like this happen all around me all the time.
