The Eagles have landed

January of this year, 2013, the weather stayed so cold in Hinckley, Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie & Rocky River that the bald eagles were cruising over houses in hopes of a quick meal.  They could not access fish that were at the bottom of the river and had gathered together.

Some kind souls decided to feed the eagles so they would survive the cold spell.  They gathered fish and started feeding the group of eagles huddled on the shore.

The photos below show what happened.  The photographer's former colleague took these photos in front of his home.  Incredible!



1.  A beautiful morning feeding the eagles, Jan. 2013



2.  Once the fish were thrown, the eagles did not seem to fear the good Samaritans and 
word spread fast!  


3.  Eagles vying for the fish.  January, 2013.



4.  No zoom lens used here!  The photographer was this close!  




5.  Closer yet!

6.  Here are the men who were feeding them.  So close!!

As you know, it was not too long ago that the American Bald Eagle was 
an endangered species.  A fascinating new day for us all.

Note to Self: Breathe, Just Breathe

The Maryland house goes to closing at 1630 EST today.  Paperwork all signed, notarized, covered in our blood/sweat/aggravation, then overnighted to the title company.  Two weeks of pure hell are about to end, no thanks to the money-lending vampires called mortgage lenders.  Enough said, we'll be down to one house and, like one wife, that's enough for any guy!

"Life is like an hourglass, glued to the table." (from a song by Anna Nalick).  Ours has been glued to our foreheads, so now we devolve ourselves downward into the trivalities of life, like watching a full-grown badger jaunting down the field with a  ground squirrel in its mouth - wow.  And turning on our sprinkler system for the first time since winter and hoping it works as advertised.  Or, further reorganizing our garage so we find things!  I love seeing all the free floor space - concrete never looked so sexy.

We breathe, just breathe, and move onward.  Into a glorious sunny day.  We're off to dig up 25 rose bushes being donated to us, then to our friends' home to share stories, eat good specially-prepared stuff Michele did up, and tomorrow take pix of their alpacas for posting on their biz' website.  Maybe go fishing?  And to ponder the decision we made to buy two or three of their alpacas for ourselves - time to introduce ourselves to them!  Life just never gets boring around here...  My best to all of you, my friends, and stay on-board this springtime for more neat happenings (and plz share yours with me).

A Tree falls – and we heard it

Strange how country life can change you, or at least bring you back to the center, one I whirly-dervishly screamed past while in DC.  By the way, I laud, applaud and congratulate those of you who thrive there!  Seriously, but it's just not for me. 

We’re trying to hammer out, one drop of sweat and pain per moment outdoors, what to do with five acres.  Today, we attempted to transplant two trees, with a 50% pass rate – we stripped the bark off the locust tree when trying to pull it out w/truck.  Sigh.  But our too-nearby leach field must win, sorry to say.  We still took a moment to mourn the tree we were trying to rehome.  Just because some dummy planted her too close to the field…

Shout-outs for today:

• Friend Holly, who bought her own digs and whose church family helped her with the move!  Her spiritual support, and too-kind words and strength, have helped me understand this Next Life Plateau!
• Friend Heather, whose feline companion of 17 beautiful years left her for the next adventure.  I tear up thinking of that feeling, we who had to leave behind five cats of our own.  In the silence, I hope she hears the songs of yesterday, and is comforted by the love her friend left her across their homes together.
• Our son Jonathan, who is completing the first week of work at Walmart.  I thank them for trusting to employ him, now let’s hope for he sees the bigger picture -- and his own potential.
• Friend Manya, who has left the company we met at, and embarked on a daunting adventure into the consulting world.  I know she can blow them away, so I hope they hear the insightful words she’s sharing with them.
• My sister Corinna, one of the most beautiful people God ever graced Earth with.  I am proud to be her big brother and hope I can live up to her expectations.  When I think of her, I always smile, and melt a bit too…
• My wife Michele, who constantly leaves me speechless (since meeting her at 17) with new thoughts, an endless bounty of ideas and excitement, and brings me an inner Smile that just is too much for one guy to deserve!  

You hold me with a Touch (a poem)

You hold me with a touch,

And keep me in the moment.

But I’m on to you,

on to your complexity

of emotion, delusion, careening.

You ping me for awhile,

But know that I’m a bit wise.

Enfold me or entreat me, 

but I’m here on the ground.

Crash, bam, lay it out.

And with a rueful smile, I

collect, absorb and endure.

This love is what it is, my son, 

Just for you.

You rush toward moments that cannot

change what Just Is.  

The straight line is,

The jagged edges are,

Unconditional Love.

The Eggs of Easter

It’s fitting to turn my mind to the uplifting celebration that’s Easter.  With its religious messages and fountains of hope, it’s hard to top that with anything secular or worldly, so I won’t even try.  I’m not Catholic (sorry, Lee!), but I can respect the new Pope’s embrace of some of the unseen people in our world, like imprisoned girls in Italy.  That man embodies so much in the way of simple goodness, and I hope the politics of organized religion don’t wear him out. 

The fields and fallow pastures of my own life are full of eggs, as surely are yours.  Looking at my own life, and seeing the eggs of success, not-such-success and those not yet hatched.  Wow, and I’m not even old yet.  To coin a Neil Young lyric, maybe my bonny outlook is because I have someone to love me the whole day through?

So, love yourself this day and this good start may open the doors to other unsought gems.  Or not.  But if you don’t give it a shot, that door don’t open!  I’m no Pollyananna,  just a voice from a contented sunny afternoon…