On a recent Sunday morning, I was strolling down one of the open walkways that surround the courtyard at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church. I almost didn’t notice that something was odd about the water fountain as I walked by it. There was a “duck” floating at the edge of the lower pool — a decoy painted like a Mallard.

Later that same week I saw the same decoy, which had moved on up to the elevated part of the fountain. I keep meaning to ask someone if there’s a story behind this fowl sight. But that doesn’t matter because it surprised me and made me smile.

Perhaps you have been, when you least expected it, surprised by joy or a visit by an old friend, confused by oddity, even overwhelmed by holiness. Stumbling onto something that you really didn’t expect to see or to feel can be our haiku theme this week. Translate that experience into one verse with five syllables in the first line, seven syllables in the second line, and five syllables in the third line. Here’s mine:

Walked past the fountain,
and a Mallard — mute — called out
to me, smiling back.