lauryn e marino

By: lemarino

Jan 30 2011

Category: Uncategorized

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Quite a Fantastic Sight of Flight

Journal 1/30/11

Yesterday, as I drove north on I-5 to Birch Bay, I saw three beautiful bald eagles flying southeast alongside the freeway. I taught a class to four people and then saw another eagle when I walked back across the parking lot to my car.  Although my regular return route to Bellingham does not require that I drive through the State Park, on this particular morning it beckoned me. I saw another bald eagle once I entered the park, flying between the road and the river. To my right on this bleak and dreary rainy day sat the Bay, calm and gray. The birds never seem to mind the weather. They simply float atop the drifting currents peacefully with each other, occasionally disappearing beneath the surface for some fishing.

Approximately halfway through the park, I spied an enormous bird resting on a branch near the top of a tall, lone-standing evergreen tree. Her feathers were colored dark brown and copper from head to tail. A golden eagle, the ultimate rare sighting felt like the reason I drove the extra distance. I parked my car in the nearest spot I could find. Even though hardly any people walked the shores that morning, the number of vehicles in the lot surprised me. Taking only my keys and my cell phone, I walked over to the base of the tree. I remembered signs I have seen posted in a bald eagle sanctuary near my grandpa’s house in Sequim that advised visitors to not linger for too long under the trees as to give the eagles the space to keep them comfortable. I stood up tall with my arms stretched up towards the sky, attempting to honor her beauty and grace and to give thanks for allowing me to share her space.

I walked all the way around the tree and beneath the branches, attempting to catch a view at every angle possible. I climbed down the driftwood onto the sandy beach and she looked at me a few times but for the most part seemed content to mind her own business. She seemed unaffected by my presence although I carefully resisted the urge to touch the base of the tree, the foundation of her support. My first viewing location gave the best perspective and I lingered there a moment longer before getting into my car once more. Bowing deeply with my palms and fingers pressed together in front of my heart, I thanked her once more for giving me inspiration and guidance to follow my intuition, to have the courage and perseverance to believe in my own success and for gracing me with such a majestically wonder of nature.