Last night, I dreamed about a bird. I was standing outside on the deck on the third floor of our home. Our home is located high in the sky on the side of an Appalachian mountain.

A dark gray falcon that I had seen before flew to a nearby tree. It was small, but fierce, trim, vital and beautiful in its humble gray feathers. I could see its hooked beak and its yellow eye. It flew nearer, to a branch I could almost touch….