Amber

“The Incorporeal Messenger”. My rendition of an alpine chough, compressed charcoal on grey toned paper.

You had asked the clouds to part, just for a minute, at the summit. Your wish was granted immediately in a way that I can only describe as holy. A spiritual moment by itself, but nature surprised us with another gift. The crow silently descended to land atop the sign pointing us forward and observed us carefully with some sort of mutual understanding. We were all out there for the same reason; a truly divine intersection between the physical and something we don’t quite understand.

Fun facts about the alpine chough: a bird of the crow family being one of only two subspecies that thrive in high mountains from Spain all the way to Nepal. They’re thought to be the highest altitude nesters out of any bird and mate for life! They are also quite smart.