With illness and recovery from surgery comes lots of firsts, including a car trip over 30 minutes for the first time in three years.  My friends took me to the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary in British Columbia.  The most amazing natural beauty is complemented by those creatures who use the delta as their stop on the way to other lands.   We saw dozens of bald eagles, swans, two great horned owls, a variety of ducks, finches and one tree filled with nine cranes.  My euphoria of being out in the world, in this most beautiful corner, could only be matched by the visual metaphor of the birds provided. The world is a beautiful place.