Monday, April 11, 2005

Year of the Eagle



Finished taking all the beach-at-sunset pictures we could manage, husband, dog, and I turned and retraced our footprints back toward camp. A huge dark bird hove into sight ahead of us. The eagle soared right over us, its bright head and tail feathers tea-stained by the failing light. A second bird, the same size and silhouette, but lacking the coloring, soared several yards behind it. And that one was trailed by some yards by another adult bird. An eagle family returning to its evening roost, even as we were heading back to ours?

This year, the year I will be marking the passage of my first half-century on the planet, eagles seem to have become my guardian spirits. Normally I could count an entire year’s eagle sightings on one hand, and half of those I would have to go out looking for. But this year….walking the dog through the neighborhood, driving back from town along the Multnomah Channel, strolling on the beach scanning the sky for seabirds, I have encountered the great birds at least a dozen times just in these first few months of 2005. And not so high above my head that I could barely make out their signature coloring against a bright sky. But close by, just skimming the treetops…or sitting on a branch tossing nervous glances over a feathered shoulder as I stood below and gushed, like the hopeless seventies hippie I am, about its beauty and…major coolness.

It appears that the Great Spirit has chosen to send the escort I could not have hoped to ask for, to guide me into the second half of my life. Some naturalists disparage bald eagles as nothing but thieving fish hawks; Benjamin Franklin thought them so lowly that he preferred exalting the turkey over the bald eagle as the national bird. What do they know? I’ll take John Denver’s opinion over theirs any day. Eagles have always meant wildness and freedom and nature’s majesty to me. I will never cease to feel a thrill of discovery, the sense that I have witnessed something rare and untamed, when I spot an eagle wheeling overhead or sitting sentinel on a towering snag. I don’t know what I’ve done, nor what it means, that I have, at least for the moment, such a noble guide. I’m sure it means something. Something beyond my poor, nearsighted dreams. I’m so looking forward to discovering what that may be.

12 comments:

  1. Hi Lisa,
    I am in total agreement with you on this one....again. I love eagles as you know! Remember the one flying around my house last summer that I wrote about? There is something very spiritual and devine about them and I feel as much as you do.

    Absolutely beautiful pictures on this entry, great job!

    Gayla

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  2. Lisa, how exciting to have so many eagles cross your path, and I think you're right that it's a sign and a guide to new things.

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  3. I would feel the same way.  They are such majestic birds and sightings are an "event".  I would love to think that such a creature was watching over me...guiding my life.  Let your spirit soar with them.

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  4. This is a beautiful entry.  And what a powerful escort into the second half (I'm assuming a VERY long life for you).

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  5. How could anyone not be impressed with these beautiful birds?  They are indeed "majorly cool".  (If ever there was a word that's indicative of a person's late adolescent time-frame, "cool" is it.  I use it constantly.  It's just so, well, cool!)  I imagine we have eagles around here somewhere but what I see mostly are red-tailed hawks and they never cease to give me a thrill.

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  6. I've never actually seen an eagle in the wild, but I feel the same when I see the red-tailed hawks wheeling overhead... I always stop what I'm doing and watch:)

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  7. The eagle near the tree is mind blowing shot. Beautiful.

    Jackie

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  8. I agree that it is a sign. I will always remember the first time I saw my first eagle in the wild. He was sitting on a fence post when I stopped my car at an intersection of a gravel road and a highway. He just sat there soaking in the fact that I was in such of awe of him. He and his family became regular morning vistors at my parents lake side home and regardless of how often I saw him, he always left me in awe. You're lucky to have an eagle guardian. : )
    Candace

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  9. what an adventure you have ahead of you!
    Marti

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  10. I liked your essay today. What a great symbol for your big year. I don't think I have ever seen an eagle. I'm lucky to spot the owl that hoots each night in our woods!

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  11. Hope you have a great year.

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  12. I'll bet you're going to love your 50's!
                           *** Coy ***


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