It may have been late winter...or it may have been early spring. It depends - you see - on from where it is that you're counting.

She arrived - believing that it was here that she might disappear...get lost in the crowd....blend in with the geese and the ducks and the others. She had no way of knowing. Her beauty..her strength..her grace.

And then it was - one early morning. The sun had just shown its face above the distant horizon. It was quiet. It was still. There was nothing and no one - but she.

She heard her breath. Long and slow and steady. She stretched her neck. She spread her wings. On one big inhale she reached up and filled her lungs..and on the exhale she dove herself forwards.

It was then and there - and perhaps for the very first time - she saw what everyone else was seeing. She saw elegance and grace. She saw softness and strength. She saw lightness and laughter and joy. It was just one moment..and just a flash.

But there and in the mirror that reflected back - she got her first glimpse of she.