Bird Flaps Its Wings (March 1995)

Barbara Joy, New York, NY

Recently I was doing my T’ai Chi Chih practice at the seashore on Monhegan Island in Maine.

There were several sea gulls standing maybe fifteen feet away. As I began doing “Bird Flaps Its Wings,” one sea gull turned and “studied” me – gradually walking closer and closer.

I occasionally stopped Bird Flaps Its Wings and began Around The Platter. My friend the sea gull would turn around and begin to walk away.

Each time I shifted back to Bird Flaps Its Wings, he would return to me.

This continued for perhaps half an hour – until I had to go to breakfast. I gained a new appreciation of this movement – partly from doing it so many times and partly from my experience with my new friend.