Magical Moment 146, "Bye Bye Blackbird, Hello Baby Peacocks!"

Once in a very great while, the planets align, the stars shine brighter, the sun glows stronger, and all is perfectly right in the universe. Today, on this last day of our piano hunt to play 60 pianos, throughout five boroughs, in two weeks, I experienced about two and a half minutes of this extraordinary phenomenon. To me, it was the definition of a "magical moment" to the core.

The Staten Island Zoo was one of our last stops on our piano journey. And of all the days and times to drive to this location, we chose Wednesday at exactly 2 pm, which coincidently is the exact day and time out of the entire week that admission is free at the zoo – Wednesday at 2 pm. Really!

We walked through the zoo searching for the piano, smiling at the children who were delighted with every living creature that surrounded them, from horses, to goats, to llamas. Eventually we found the piano. When I sat down to play, I noticed tiny little creatures scattering across the floor of the outdoor picnic pavilion. From the corner of my eye, I thought they could be mice or prairie dogs, but when I got a good look, I gasped with pleasure when I realized they were baby peacock chicks, so close I could scoop one up if I tried (and very nearly did). There were about four of the fuzzy, chirping creatures scavanging for crumbs with their mother nearby.

There, in the midst of sunshine, an outdoor piano, happy children, a beautiful day, and gorgeous peacocks and their baby chicks, I played “Bye Bye Blackbird.” Although magical moments occur everyday, I have a feeling those of this magnitude are much more rare. Enjoy the video…

To see my photos of our piano journey, click here.

To see more videos, click here.

To read other people's stories about the event, click here.

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