Dreams. Often full of cryptic info that can take a while to percolate down to our conscious perception.
In reality, the swift - superficially similar to a swallow - cannot take off from the ground. It has no legs as such, just tiny feet good for gripping the face of a cliff or some other temporary shelter in times of inclement weather – but walking or jumping, it can’t do it.

The swift is my favorite bird, it may stay aloft for many months at a time and traverses continents and oceans with ease.

Where we live there are many corellas, a white parrot about the size of a jackdaw. They visit us in flocks sometimes as many as 80 or so birds and consume a large amount of wild bird seed mix that we give them. Sometimes they bring their young fledglings and sometimes they leave them at our place while the adults go and do whatever they do elsewhere, returning later to pick up their young.

Sadly one of this year’s young corellas had paralyzed legs. It was a very sorry sight. The poor bird could only crash land onto our deck and could hardly move once landed. We did our best to throw seed to where it could reach it and hoped for the best – and it’s parents never gave up on it either, they always stayed with it and never left it in our care.

Over time our hopes progressed to prayer – and little by little the birds legs that were at first useless appendages began to improve, first by one foot having some movement and then the other.

Still crash landing the young bird at least had some ability to shift about on the deck. Eventually it was able to hobble around after crash-down and much to our delight was ultimately able to accomplish a legs-down landing like the other corellas and soon after that even overcame its characteristic limp.

We name some of the birds that visit us and this one is called ‘Miracle’ for obvious reasons. What at first looked hopelessly sad evolved into an uplifting example of positive and compassionate intent by those involved, both birds and people.