148

On my way to a meeting at noon today, I passed by the front window of the hospital lobby. There, in the small rock garden directly in front of the window, I saw what seemed to be a new statue.

But then the statue moved.

Upon closer inspection, I realized that what I originally thought was a new decoration was in fact a peacock. Sensing more movement, I turned to the right and discovered three more were slowly walking around the front garden.

Now where in the heck did 4 peacocks come from?!

Can peacocks fly?

Do they live in the wild?

Do you think they escaped from somewhere?

These were all questions that floated around the hospital throughout the day, as the peacocks became quite the hot topic. The wife of our open heart surgery patient showed us pics on her phone that she had taken. One of the cardiologists hurried down the stairs to take pics as well. Staff and visitors alike clustered throughout the day to ponder over these four majestic birds.

When I left today around 4:30, the peacocks were still there. They seemed content and undisturbed by having humans so close by. It seemed to be two males and two females, and the females were laying in the shade while the males pranced around. People had even filled their empty styrofoam cafeteria containers with water and placed them out there. 

I smiled as I snapped pics for my blog, and a complete stranger started a conversation with me about them. There were two kids pulling their mon's hand to go over and look at them. And I thought of the patient's wife who got a few moments of distraction from what was probably one of the longest waits of her life.

Who knows how those peacocks got there. But it sure was neat. They were almost surreal, or magical, with their feathery tiaras and bold colored feathers. 

So today's pic represents how sometimes unexpected visitors can be a blessing, and the mysterious ways of Mother Nature.