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.

🙂

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

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

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

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!

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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.