On another morning I’m sitting on the deck with books—reading, pausing to be present, and reading some more. A noisy bird down on the ridge behind the trees distracts me. I watch and wait to catch a glimpse of the quiet-stealer.
It turns out to be not one, but two, hawks, and of them has a snake in its talons. They swoop and glide together across the sky, and I can’t tell which one is making all the noise.
Maybe the snakeless hawk is taunting the other, attempting to trick him into dropping his lunch. Or perhaps the successful hunter is telling the tormentor he might as well move on because this snake is his. Either way, it’s fascinating.
I put down my book, stand up, and watch them soar—worrying, just a bit, that the hawk will drop the snake and it will land on top of me. Before long, they disappear from my sight and I’m left with a lingering wonder.
I sit down, pick up my book, and return to a place where I find more.
Forgive me for “spamming” you, but reading your wise words I remembered the fable of the tortoise and the geese, a re-enactment (sort of) of your latest reflection:http://marianbeaman.com/2014/08/30/im-all-ears/
Ha! Just popped over and read your post. I liked, what I assume is, Cliff’s illustration of the fable. Also appreciated the Marian-and-Cliff vignette. It reminded me of many—MANY!—similar Linda-and-Gerry moments.
Years ago, I found the illustration on another blog, noted with an attribution but not a link, which I would probably provide now that I know better. Glad you liked this, Linda. Happy weekend!
Linda, I enjoyed your post this morning. For a few summers, we were blessed (?) by a family of what we believe to be Kestrel hawks. One year they nested in a tree in our backyard, and the next moved on to a neighbor’s trees, and so on. And then they suddenly disappeared. We miss their antics, especially the babies. Fortunately, no one came bearing snakes!
Marian’s bit of spam made me curious so I popped over to read it too. I found Bob and Sherrey in the “misunderstanding” vignette.