“I just can’t resist them”: B.C. woman spends decades finding beauty in discarded peacock feathers

Adam meets a Victoria woman who has gone on a daily quest for more than two decades—and not for fame or fortune.

Rebecca is walking through the park on a quest of sorts. One that began more than 20 years ago, and continues almost every day.

“There’s always something there,” Rebecca smiles. “It’s never the same day twice.”

It’s a search for beauty, beyond the flowers in the spring and leaves in the fall, for Rebecca’s favourite find of all — feathers.

Specifically peacock feathers.

Rebecca pulls out her camera to show the pictures she’s taken of peacock moms caring for their chicks in the spring and dads displaying their plumage in the winter.

No matter the season, she says, there are always feathers to be found.

“I just can’t resist them,” Rebecca smiles while picking up a fluffy one and then an iridescent one. “They are so pretty.”

And there are a lot to choose from here — because a few minutes before Rebecca arrived — almost a dozen peacocks had gathered to groom.

“I call them a perusal of peacocks,” Rebecca laughs.

Because there are so many peacocks to peruse, so many colours to consider, and so many behaviours to observe.

“They groom each other,” Rebecca smiles. “So that’s nice.”

She’s noticed that even after the birds disagree, the peacocks are nice.

“They hang out with each other afterwards,” Rebecca laughs. “So, they don’t carry a grudge.”

But they do discard a lot of feathers, which is even better than nice.

“I have a whole collection of them,” Rebecca laughs. “You can never have too many!”

While Rebecca will use the feathers to create all sorts of crafts back home, she takes a moment to arrange them here, into a blissful bouquet.

“It offsets all the bad things that happen,” Rebecca smiles. “Because you weigh it against all the beauty.”

Which is why Rebecca’s been on this quest for decades - ahe’s learned that if you take the time to look for beauty, you will always find it.