WHERE EAGLES FLY

 

 We have a friend who grew up in the house across the street

Laci is the name she goes by…

We watched her from the time she could walk

until the day she learned to fly.

I suppose if there is one wish we have for our children

all children everywhere…from New York to Singapore…

It’s not only that they learn to fly…

but one day…they will soar.

Laci made her way to the Alaska Raptor Center in Sitka

where she helps birds who are hurt and have forgotten how to fly

she nurses them back to health…then returns them to the sky.

It is Laci’s and the Alaska Raptor Center’s plan

to take in any bird that’s been injured…

whether in nature or by the hands of man

 

Eagles, owls, every bird regardless of their color, shape or size

who’ve been hurt or injured in any way

and nurse them back to health…then watch them fly away.

It’s amazing to see the pride written on their faces

as they watch birds they have cared for fly off to new and unknown spaces

When I think about Laci and the Raptor center…

sometimes I’m at a loss for words….

to describe my admiration for the ones who save the birds.

When I look around the world at human behavior…

often finding it absurd…

it makes me wish humans treated their fellow humans 

the way Laci and her colleagues treat the birds

Think of how many of our children 

would be soaring in the sky…

if we treated everyone like Laci and her colleagues do 

in the place where eagles fly

MORNING FOG

 

 I love rising in the morning a little before the sun

when everything is painted in shades of black and grey…

and being mesmerized as the daylight 

reveals what nature has in store for me this day.

Today as the light of day began to break…

what was a mountain valley yesterday

this morning was a mountain lake.

A fitting beginning to this new day’s travelogue…

as the lake that lay before me was created out of fog!

As I watched the sun rise higher…before I had time to think

this beautiful lake of fog slowly began to sink.

It sunk as nature had intended…

no need to be concerned

until the lake had disappeared 

and the valley had returned.

And I felt fortunate to be immersed in nature

at the onset of this day…

fortunate to have witnessed the creation of a foggy mountain lake

and watch her slowly fade away

SEA OTTERS

 

 When it comes to creating the kind of world we’d like our world to be

Is it possible one answer could be

swimming…

with the otters of the sea..

Sea otters are keystone species…meaning as through the ocean they glide 

they help to maintain balance in the kelp forests where they reside.

As they live their life in harmony with the ocean deep

one thing I find enchanting is the way sea otters sleep.

Since the ocean is their home…you could say it is their Mother

they link paws when they sleep 

so they won’t drift away from one another.

They sleep in groups together…a large otter raft they form…

where you can even see them cuddling to keep each other safe and warm

 

Which makes me wonder…could this be one solution 

for stopping hate and poverty and war…

If every human maintained balance by linking together,

cuddling and holding hands a little more.

Another lesson from our Earth…

who we also call our Mother…

One way to ensure we as humans 

don’t drift away from one another…

KATYDID

 

 A katydid stopped by this morning…landing on the porch next to me.

I decided to name her Katy…after all…what else should her name be?

When she joined me in the silence and as we sat among the trees.

I was glad for this small reminder of all the beauty surrounding me.

And I thought as I greeted this insect I had never met before…

How I will never tire of the surprises life and nature have in store.

I will never tire of sunrises and sunsets…

of a valley or a mountainous terrain

of a morning fog, of clouds, of rainbows

or of the aroma that lingers after a rain.

I will never tire of watching the flowers bloom in Spring,

how the Summer sunshine makes the ocean glow,

how the leaves change colors in the Fall 

or a blanket of Winter snow.

I will never tire of seeing deer, raccoons and turkeys, 

the sunlight peeking through the trees

the birds that whistle and warble and sing all day long…

ladybugs, butterflies or bees.

I will never tire of walking by a river, watching a baby crawl

counting the stars that dot the evening sky…a cascading waterfall.

I will never tire of traveling…visiting people in far off places

hearing the voices of those I love…seeing the smiles on their faces.

I sat on our porch this morning…

smiling at all these things I started thinking of…

All the things that bring me joy

All things I love.

And I stopped to thank that little green insect

as off the porch she slid….

because when it came to reminding me of the beauty of life

This morning…

that’s exactly what Katy did.

FREDDY'S QUILT

 

When you reach a certain age…after turning out the lights

for one reason or another you find you wake up in the middle 0f the night. 

So each night on our couch before we retire…

you can find us placing

A quilt to comfort us in case we want to read when we get up

or for those nights our mind is racing.

Deborah’s parents, Fred and Diane built this cabin

in the mountains among the deer, turkey and bears…

Their essence permeates these walls…

This cabin will always be theirs.

 

But as we make their cabin our home…

adding our furniture, artwork…potting our own flowers

we’re doing our best to keep their dream alive

as we make their cabin ours.

While searching through the cabin…we found this quilt.

It was one in the hospital her father had…

on which Deborah had printed

this quilt belongs to her dad.

This is the quilt that now sits on our couch when we turn out the lights

waiting for whomever wakes up during the night.

There is something very soothing

knowing when we wake up in the middle of the night…

we can find comfort under this quilt…

safe and warm within the walls of the cabin 

Diane and Freddy built.

A FAMILY OF RACCOONS

 

With our move into the country…simplifying is what it’s all about

We look critically at those things we need…and those we can do without.

From furniture and household items to clothes we find at the bottom of a drawer 

So many items we’ve discovered we don’t use or wear them anymore.

So we’ve been piling  and stacking these items on our porch

since in our life we no longer choose them…

to be given away, hopefully, to other families who will use them.

Well, word must have spread on the mountain…

because this morning what did we see

rummaging through these items but a raccoon family.

A mommy and her three babies…easy to spot by their distinctive masks and tails

Testing out our goods…like shoppers at a rummage sale.

Normally they come for food…looking to see if we’ve left them a surprise…

but this morning it was the items on the porch that caught those raccoon eyes.

I greeted them from the window…and when Mom looked up at me…

I told her to take whatever she wanted…that everything was free.

I said you’re welcome to the Dirt Devil…if it would fit into the hollow of your tree…

She smile saying, Thanks, but It’s much too big…and we have no electricity.

I tried to interest her in some pots and pans…She said raccoons don’t cook…

If’ it’s okay with you, she said…I think the children just want to look.

So I eased off the sales pitch…allowing them browse…as the night turned into dawn.

and the next time I looked out…the raccoon family was gone.

I’m not sure if they took anything…because in their life there is nothing that they lack

But by the way she lusted over that Dirt Devil…I imagine this evening…they’ll be back.