Earring 0041 - Exclamation!

Terrible photo but the earrings make a statement for the day.

Don't they look like an exclamation mark, only upside down? Bet they really looked great on Donna with her long hair.

Today was another great day. Birds flying caught my eye while I was in my bedroom this morning. Couldn't believe what I saw...eagles flying! I quit counting after 50 and quickly left the house to go on a road trip. However, it had to wait a little until I was done with church. Oh, the temptation was strong just to go eagle watching especially since there were so many in the air. Then I decided that it was temptation in a pure form and that I needed to choose what was right. I went to church and am very happy that I did that. The Lenten sermon was on letting go of something that you needed to let go of. So my morning started off to a good start.

Only about half of the sandhill cranes were at the same spot as yesterday. They were still making the noise that my one brother cannot imitate. Even though my sister wasn't with me, I still made the noise and chuckled at it too.

The eagles where everywhere today in the sky. Only saw a few on the ice and maybe one or two in the trees. Quite a difference from yesterday. After I crossed the river is when I hit the jackpot. Within a nine-mile drive from one small city to another, I counted 146 eagles. So many adult eagles were doing the talon lock. Today the eagles were noisy whereas yesterday, I don't think I heard any of the eagles making any sounds. I quit counting because there were so many eagles. When you can stand alongside a round and count 50+ eagles soaring above you, it is a wondrous thing. It took my breath away. They really enjoyed the thermals today and it was a beautiful sight to behold.

When I watch the eagles, an inner peace comes over me. Any worries that I might have disappear (not much of a worrier but we all have our times). If I could carry a tune, I would sing out loud when I'm in the eagles' presence. Not sure if I would sing "On Eagles Wings" or "The Sound of Music (http://www.metrolyrics.com/the-sound-of-music-maria-lyrics-the-sound-of-music.html)."

The hills are alive with the sound of music
With songs they have sung for a thousand years
The hills fill my heart with the sound of music
My heart wants to sing every song it hears

My heart wants to beat like the wings of the birds
That rise from the lake to the trees
My heart wants to sigh like a chime
That flies from a church on a breeze

To laugh like a brook when it trips
And falls over stones on its way
To sing through the night
Like a lark who is learning to pray

I go to the hills when my heart is lonely
I know I will hear what I've heard before
My heart will be blessed with the sound of music
And I'll sing once more

 

On Eagles Wings (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Eagle%27s_Wings) was written by Father Jan Michael Joncas. I just learned that Father Joncas teaches at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul MN. I wonder if I have ever met him.

 

 

You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord,
Who abide in His shadow for life,
Say to the Lord, "My Refuge,
My Rock in Whom I trust."
CHORUS:
And He will raise you up on eagle's wings,
Bear you on the breath of dawn,
Make you to shine like the sun,
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
The snare of the fowler will never capture you,
And famine will bring you no fear;
Under His Wings your refuge,
His faithfulness your shield.
CHORUS
You need not fear the terror of the night,
Nor the arrow that flies by day,
Though thousands fall about you,
Near you it shall not come.
CHORUS
For to His angels He's given a command,
To guard you in all of your ways,
Upon their hands they will bear you up,
Lest you dash your foot against a stone.
CHORUS
And hold you in the palm of His Hand.
After rereading the lyrics for both songs and singing them in my head, both songs are so appropriate.

I've been eagle watching for many years and love to see the numbers have increased so much. It's unbelievable from seeing an eagle occasionally 30 years ago to seeing the eagles that we see now. Obviously some protected animals can succeed. The following is a poem I wrote years ago. I used to travel weekly to see a nest and watch as the eagles came and left (did this for a few years). We had a bad storm one year and the next blew down. Prior to the storm, the nest was occupied. This poem got published in a book a few years back but I never bought the book in order to have a copy of it. It's simple poem with no rhyme just reason. We all face changes in life and our life depends on how we look at those changes and what we do in the future.

To My Friend

 

Flying high in the skies

Soaring with your mate

Teaching your babies

So they may be on their own

That is what you were meant to do

 

Mother Nature has had other plans

For you and for yours

Who knows why the winds of change

Blow the way they do

But they’ve changed things forever

 

And now you’ve left behind

Your companions…

Your mate and I

Together we shall remember you

Truly you will be missed

 

For a short while after the storm, I would see a single eagle near where the nest was. There hasn't been a nest there now since 2001.