A few weeks ago, I was blessed with the rare opportunity to see a bald eagle soaring just a few yards over my head, while standing at the end of our street, overlooking the San Antonio River. What a truly majestic sight! It circled overhead once, with just a few flaps of its giant wingspan, before flying two hundred yards upstream, where it lingered for several minutes longer, apparently searching for fish, then flew out of view
UP IN THE AIR
It was a rare, and all-too brief sighting, because our national bird is seldom seen in this part of Texas. Later that day, this particular bird was officially identified by local wildlife experts as being a young male bald eagle, who speculated that it might be searching for a new nesting site. This caused quite a stir and was featured on a local TV newscast that evening, as well as in the San Antonio newspaper for the next few days.
MORE THAN BEFORE
I haven't seen the eagle since, although that's not because I haven't tried. I'd never been much of a bird watcher before, but every day since then I've scanned the skies whenever I step outdoors, hoping to see it again. For the first two days, each time I saw a large bird flying overhead my pulse leapt, hoping it was the eagle, only to find myself disappointed that it was "only" a red-tailed hawk, cattle egret or white heron. But, on that second day, in the middle of experiencing that same disappointment when what I hoped was the eagle was "only" an osprey, I found myself feeling embarrassed at my poor judgement.
LOOK AGAIN
How in the world could I be so blind to the fact that seeing an osprey, too, is a blessing - as is the opportunity to see all of the birds surrounding us on any given day? Why limit the joy of looking skyward to another eagle sighting? Why not open my vision - and my heart - in amazement at the wide variety of birds in our area? In the past two weeks alone, I've seen blue jays, scissor-tailed swallows, kingfishers, purple martins, cardinals, woodpeckers, ravens, caracara, barred owls, plovers, killdeer, Egyptian geese... the list goes on and on. Not to mention all the creatures that live on the ground around here!
Whether I ever see that bald eagle again in our neighborhood or not, I am deeply grateful for yet another lesson in staying open and receptive to the opportunities for awe and wonder that surround us, wherever we are.
With gratitude and blessings,
Rudi Harst
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