When I try to introduce the idea of the magical, I tell my story of an army of yellow butterflies. But first, I start with the woodpecker story. Likely because I think in chronological order, as if that would somehow help me get to the bottom of the question, the beginning of the story or really, and ultimately the truth of what I’m trying to convey and to understand.

So the story of the woodpecker….

When my dad died,