Glimpses

      9 Comments on Glimpses

I live in a beautiful place.  I have access to water, to mountains, to scenic vistas, and to all manner of outdoor recreation.  I see things every day that some people go a lifetime without experiencing.

I do not take it for granted.

I also do not take it for photo ops.  I tend to be too much in the moment, and into the person/people I am with, to remember to take a picture.

Mostly, I consider that to be a Good Thing.  Life – my life – was not meant to be lived through a lens.

But there are times I wish I had captured my moments on film.  That I had remembered to not only bring my camera (or my phone, which has a camera built in) but to use it.  Because sometimes mementos are important.  And sometimes sharing experiences with those who couldn’t be there is much more effective through visuals.

Yesterday, I went canoeing with my husband.  It was the first time we’ve had it out in at least two years, partly due to the fact that lifting and pulling are not recommended activities post-surgery, and partly because we have simply been focused on other things.  But we cleaned off the cobwebs (literally – spiders, blech!) yesterday and dusted off our rusty rowing skills and headed for fresh water.

And I remembered to take pictures!

So I thought I’d share some here.

Because sometimes it’s nice to get a glimpse of something unexpected.

🙂

water view through foilage

This lake is about a 45 minute drive from my house and takes roughly an hour to paddle.

view from water of trees in near distance, with streak of sunlight

About 2/3 of the way around the perimeter, we saw something in the trees. Unfortunately, the streak of sunlight obscures our awesome find.

eagle sitting on evergreen branch with sunlight behind

We paddled closer to get a better shot. Look carefully. There, on the bottom right, sitting on a branch. Do you see?

eagle in flight over lake

He came closer, landing momentarily on a a partially submerged log. Then, just as I was readying to click my pic, he flew away.

These photos were taken with my phone, so the quality is not great.  But the quality of the experience was AMAZING.

It is not unusual to come face-to-face with wildness here, tamed wilderness or no.  I have seen eagles many times.  But never so close.  (At one point we were mere yards away.)  And I’ve never before bothered to visually record my sightings.  I’m always too there.  Too in the moment, too caught up in the excitement of seeing, of being privy to the amazements of nature.  And it’s nearly always a fleeting thing.

But yesterday I managed more than just a momentary glimpse.

And I also managed to catch it on camera.

So I thought I’d share.

Enjoy!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

NOTE:  Bald eagles get their white feathers (on head and tail) between ages four and five.  The size of this bird makes it likely that s/he is a juvenile, though the telltale feathers make it at least five years of age.  The lifespan of a bald eagle is approximately 20 years.  Eagles range significantly in size and weight, which is often relevant to age.  This may be the smallest eagle I have seen locally.  The largest I’ve ever seen was in Alaska.  It was, quite literally, larger than me.  I was thankful it was not interested in having Feve for dinner.

9 thoughts on “Glimpses

  1. Barry K Rosen

    I have seen bald eagles a few times but have never gotten a photo. Yes, they are magnificent (even as pimply adolescents). BTW, U might get a pleasant surprise if U crop a phone’s photo aggressively. (Free software like Nikon’s ViewNX 2 is plenty good enough.) Cropping pix taken by my cheapo digital camera imitates use of a telephoto lens much better than I would have guessed. Now the bag with my old 35mm analog camera and several lenses has more cobwebs than your canoe had.
    Barry K Rosen recently posted…Amazing Photos Out ThereMy Profile

    Reply
    1. Mrs Fever Post author

      Heh. Pimply adolescents. 😛

      I usually email pics to myself then open and crop them in Paint. It works well for still photos, but both the bird and the boat were moving in this set, so they aren’t too crisp. I don’t mind though – I was thrilled to get them! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Tom

    I often tell friends who have been places that I don’t want to see their pictures, I want to hear their stories. Sometimes it’s nice to get both.

    Reply
    1. Mrs Fever Post author

      I get that. When it comes to relationships, I’m very much a “Don’t tell me – show me” kind of person. Because with *feelings* the telling makes no difference unless it matches the action.

      Sharing experiences is different. Paint me a picture with words. Illustrations are unnecessary. Tell me about it.

      Part of it is just my personality. I want to engage, not be fobbed off with photos that make no sense without additional input. But also – and I think you’ll appreciate this – it has to do with being a reader. I *like* imagining things as they are described. I’ve been doing that with all manner of stories since I was very young.

      Reply
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