I’ve been spending the weekend on Martha’s Vineyard, enjoying a little time to myself and catching up on a few writing and publishing projects. Between tackling items on my “to do list,” I decided to head out to the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. It felt good to get out of the house and the drive to Edgartown is always pleasant (except when there are a zillion cars and tourists milling around Jaws Beach).

Today, there were no tourists and almost no cars. It was beautiful. The sun had just broken through the iron gray clouds, revealing a blue sky that had been hidden by rain clouds for a few days.

And then it fell from the sky.

The crab came crashing down from the heavens to smash itself upon the pavement in front of me. I was about 100 feet away and slowed down afraid that the sky was about to open up. Who knows what other crustaceans might be practicing extreme sports like skydiving without parachutes.

Image by Donald Groff

And then there was a seagull.

He swooped down in front of my car to pick up the crab and carry it off for a private dinner along the seashore. It was one of those surreal events that you always hear about when you live in a seaside town–seagulls dropping clams, mussels, etc. from the sky to crack open the shell. However, it’s pretty rare to actually see it.

Part of me felt a little sad for the crab. No one wants to be dropped from the sky by a seagull. It’s just not what anyone has on their “bucket list” or their “to do list” or any other list. Still, it’s a part of life. A natural event. Animals living in the way that animals have always lived. Thus crabs falling from the sky.

In that moment, I truly appreciated my own life and all of the wonderful people in it because you never know when a seagull may pluck you from the sea.