Wonderstruck
Walking in the forest is always magical for me. But every once in a while nature performs a magic act that leaves me wonderstruck.
It’s a few days before Christmas. Ryder, my shaggy-beast Bouvier, is loping ahead at a distance roughly the length of a school bus. All at once, he stops and looks over his shoulder, his bearded face asking a question. He returns to me and places himself in a heel position. Need I say this is not typical? He repeatedly glances ahead and to the left of the path, then up at me. I follow his gaze, ask him what he sees, and scan the area. I see nothing amiss and hypothesize that a squirrel is rummaging in the brush or a tree branch is out of place (dogs tune into “different�). I resume walking and Ryder resumes worrying. Based on wisdom acquired from another Bouvier (The Lukas & Bear Incident), I should be heeding signals from my dog. His auditory and olfactory skills far exceed mine. But I slip up, as we humans do.
I hear a sound that’s new—not quite a squirrel chattering, not exactly normal bird chirping. Louder. More piercing. My brows knit. What is it? In a flash of movement the mystery is solved. There, on a fallen bough, not ten feet away, are two adult bald eagles engaged in battle. I am awestruck. I’ve seen bald eagles circling against a blue sky or perched far away in a zoo enclosure, but never this close and so actively engaged. Whiter-than-white heads, vivid yellow beaks curved to perfection, rich brown feathers. Big! Magnificently Big! Powerful! I am wonderstruck.
I wish to prolong the experience, absorb the beauty, but the eagles are discombobulated by our sudden appearance. One flaps over us, gaining height with a wingspan that puts us briefly in the shade, then is gone. The other seems dazed or confused and I wonder if he is injured. But when Ryder decides to approach, I determine that doing so is not in his best interest nor in the best interest of the eagle. I shout, “No! Stop!� and this has the effect of pausing Bouvier mid-step and jump-starting eagle. The mega-bird rises in slow and powerful wing beats that take him out of my sight too soon. With Ryder at my side, I stand as dazed as that eagle had been.
This was a moment I will never forget, a surprise Christmas present I didn’t ask for, never dreamed of. The very best kind.
Ìý
