The Eagle Has Landed ... And Other Sky Watching

The eagle has landed. But he didn't stay long.

Our prolific July rains were good for fall crops. The downside? The rain generated a bumper crop of weeds. Randy swathed down some weeds in a pasture south of the farmstead last week. A few days later, he noticed the vultures were circling the makeshift "buffet," a collection of small animals that didn't scamper out of the way of the swather quickly enough.

But then he saw a different predator - a bald eagle. Thankfully, it stayed perched on a fence post long enough for me to arrive and snap a few photos.

Then, it soared away and its next perch was in a big old cottonwood tree too far away for my little camera to reach.

We don't often see eagles around the farmstead, and if they do pass through, it's usually during the fall or wintertime. A pair builds its nest at nearby Quivira National Wildlife Refuge each winter, but it, too, is too far away from a roadway for me to capture a photo.

Both Randy and I have kept our eyes to the sky to catch another glimpse of our majestic visitor. But we haven't been lucky enough to see him again. However, I keep thinking about that eagle and all that he sees as he's soaring through the air over our Kansas plains.

I found this quote:

Don't be a parrot in life.

Be an eagle.

A parrot talks way too much but can't fly high.

An eagle is silent and has the power to touch the sky.

--Author Unknown

It seems the world is mighty loud these days. For weeks, our landline rang from morning to night, touting one candidate and denigrating the next. On the occasions when I watched live TV rather than recorded programming, I rolled my eyes at the political ads. How stupid do these political action committees think we are, I wondered?

But, honestly, my Facebook feed some days is no better.

One person is convinced masks will save us all from Covid.

Another person is sure masks are at the center of a conspiracy to take away our freedoms and, by the way, all this craziness will all be over after the general election.

And vaccines? Oh my! That's a whole other can of worms!

One person wants kids back in school immediately.

Another thinks it will be a disaster.

The talk is endless. It's loud.

And some of us are just weary of the fighting.

We long for some listening - some indication there may be room to examine multi-faceted sides to issues.

So maybe I'll be like the eagle and "touch" the sky. These trips to nature seem to sooth the soul.

The summer skies have given us plenty of reasons to get outside - from daybreak to mid-day to dusk.

Last week, one of my email devotionals - New Every Morning - featured a book by Christopher Maricle, "Deeply Rooted: Knowing Self, Growing in God." Here was the message one day:

The entire spectrum of color is always present in the light all around us. Rain doesn't create rainbows. Rain reveals the colors that are already present in the atmosphere. This color spectrum is usually hidden from our sight and only revealed under special conditions. In the same way, we may have moments of insight and revelation that reveal to us - or at least suggest to us - the presence of the Divine that is often hidden but no less real.

--Christopher Maricle

There's just a hint of a rainbow at the bottom of the clouds.

It went on to ask:

How might you gain new insight into the presence of the Divine today?

Peace Creek lives up to its name!

Maybe the eagle has the answer in its silence and its soaring.

My sunrise tree

Prayer for the Week:

Give me the humility to know that I am a growing work in progress

and the grace and understanding to see the growth in those around me.

Ninnescah River at our Sylvia pasture

***

Note: I've taken these sky photos throughout the summer. They may have ended up on Instagram or in Facebook posts, but they hadn't been featured on the blog until today.