Heart's Content

"May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young."
- Bob Dylan, Forever Young

It was a day full of meetings, with hardly time to catch my breath, but I managed to fit in a few minutes by the duck pond on campus between commitments, enjoying the ducklings, the turtles, and the lovely, genteel gardens around the alumni center.

I had seen mallard families with many duckling babies the day before, and I also spotted this very little family, of just two: mama and baby. The afternoon before, they were out walking around nibbling on whatever snacks they could find in the green grass, the baby following its mama and trying to act just like her. I don't know why I have been surprised to discover what good mothers birds make; I guess I just never knew.

On this afternoon, however, it was apparently sleepytime when I showed up, and the tiny family was not marching around conducting searches for food. Instead, they were napping, curled up snugly together. They looked very happy, and the words that came to mind were "heart's content." Perhaps you know it: that feeling you get when someone you love best of all is in your arms and you are together and happy and it feels like life just couldn't get any better than it is at this very moment.

The tune to accompany this sweet scene is one of my favorites, and coincidentally, I just heard it on the radio this morning. The song is Bob Dylan's Forever Young, and it reflects the wishes many parents have toward their children, for a happy and fulfilling life (and even those of us without children have this wish for those we love). The version I've selected features Bob Dylan and another favorite: Bruce Springsteen. Enjoy!