Everywhere I look, there are flecks of eggshell – evidence of robins and blackbirds and other songbirds who have come to life. The blue stands out among the rocks and helicopters and new spring grass.

In late high school, I painted my bedroom robin’s egg blue. I imagined chipping away at the eggshell of my life, almost ready to launch. And even though I was a pretty worried kid, I loved the launching. When I see robin eggshells now, just the color of my high school bedroom, I imagine those baby birds stretching out their wings for the first time, astonished at the vast beauty of the unfamiliar world. I hope they are amazed by all the possibility. I’m reminded of it, too.