Neighbors who share their yards with peafowl on a daily basis do not always lift their voices and squawk with joy when I sing my Eastertide song celebrating the cycle of life in our yard in East Pasadena.
Nevertheless, the miracle of instinct persists. And it’s so moving to see. Year after year, peahens nest in an arbor outside our bathroom window. Sometimes predators get the eggs. As a friend wrote one year, crows have to eat, too. Yet I always wonder what the parent thinks on those dark days as she returns to utter devastation in her temporary home. This year, we are singing alleluia, because four eggs hatched. Kathy Hannigan O’Connor captured these photos of the family promenading around the front yard and resting on the stoop.
I love that they feel safe with us. Notwithstanding the word on the mean streets of Chapman Woods, a little bit of online research reveals that experts say peafowl are pretty smart. I also learned that the chicks will stay with their mother about six months. Two at most stand a good chance of surviving to adulthood. With all there is to pray about these days, pray that God will continue to count each little feather on each little head.