Pelicans

During the summer of 1989, I took my two young daughters camping along the southern California coast.  I was amazed to watch the various flocks of pelicans flying along the shore out over the water. 

I witnessed one particular group that was spectacularly beautiful.   Every pelican in the group was perfectly synchronized with all the others.  They were flying close to the surface of the ocean and would rise and fall in perfect time with the waves that formed and disappeared beneath them.

I designed the song, Pelicans, to express they way they flew together and to celebrate the desire they planted in me to find other people with whom I could create similar beauty.  

Pelicans also has a special meaning for me as it was the last song I sang to my father before he passed a year and a half ago.  

“… Come and fly up high with me

Feel the joy of synchrony

Feel your wingtips touch the sky

Feel the joy of knowing why 

We fly together

We fly in rhythm..”

After I left the nursing home that afternoon I stopped to spend time with some dear friends.  As we sat outside in their beautiful garden, a bird flew above us and spread its wings in a way I had never, ever seen before.   I felt like it was my father letting me know that he was flying free at last.