Feathers Hope and Yoga

Yesterday after a nice calming yoga practice I witnessed a sweet exchange between two yogini friends.Both of these yoginis are healers in their own way,one is a nurturer,healer of flora,the other a rescuer of birds in the wild urban terraine.So after mysore practice as one tended to an ill old rubber plant in the Mysore room,the other presented her with a gift of the above beautiful feathers that she found in her yard.
This small gesture between friends was notable to me as I have an old bird memory ,story that resurfaced as I saw these lovely feathers.
When I was about 5 years old ,I was in the basement of the apartment building we lived in.It was early summer,bright,sunny and warm.the basement was dark damp ,frightening to me.I was on a laundry errand and wanted to get out of the basement quickly ,so I left the door to the yard open.A bird unknowingly was lost and flew in.It was flapping its wings quickly,it began screeching,knocking into windows ,the wall,.I opened the door more ,but the bird was mired in a frenzy.The landlady who looked like the wicked witch in Hansel and Gretel who ate children burst down the stairs and in response to the chaos began swatting the air with her witch broom.by this point,I was terrified for me and the bird.the witch in her whiney squeel said to me,"birds like this can pluck your eyes out!"
I was undone,I ran out of the basement with the bird flying out to safety into the yard.That memory has haunted me all these years ,but yesterday as i looked and held these beautiful feathers and witnessed a small gesture of friendship in the gift of these feathers,I felt hopeful ,less afraid as if a frightening memory of childhood was melting just a little bit .