Birds of a together feather

Formation flight
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It’s Family Day in Ontario, where the government gives us the day off so we can hang with our favourite peeps.

It’s made me reflect on the definition of family, and whether we appreciate its significance as much as we should.

A few days back, I stood on a beach and watched these half-dozen birds float overhead. A few things occurred to me as I took in the starkly beautiful scene:

• They work together, even amid strong, shifting winds.
• They help each other, reducing resistance for those behind, and watching out for those ahead.
• They move only as fast as their slowest member.
• They may be genetically related. Or not. Family takes many forms. Family can be those you choose to be - or fly - with.
• They may bicker here and there over a random potato chip in the sand, but soon enough they figure it out and get back to the business of surviving and thriving.

As my feet sank into the wet sand underneath the pounding surf, I saw these gulls not as bird brains to be dismissed, but as examples we’d do well to follow.

They’ve already figured it out. So can we.

Happy Family Day wherever you are. Because we all need family in some form, and our lives are enriched because of it.

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