Witness to a Sacred Event
View from My Window
This morning I was a fortunate witness to a very atypical view from my window. I happened to notice a very large bird in flight that landed in a tree quite a distance from me in the valley below. I quickly retrieved my binoculars in an attempt to find and identify it.
What I found was absolutely astounding to these untrained eyes of an urbanite. I saw a large white tail which is what first had caught my eye for my friends the buzzards had no such tail. As I watched through the aid of the lenses of the binoculars, I saw what I soon realized were tufts of hair being torn from the bird’s prey. It was busy gorging itself on whatever poor creature happened to be its morning meal and with such force that its entire body which was very large was bobbing up and down. I could see neither the front part of the bird nor its prey; only the rhythmic bobbling accompanied by wind driven balls of hair. Other smaller birds including a buzzard approached only to quickly exit at the sight of the event.
I was captivated by this natural occurrence. Never in my sheltered urban life had I witnessed the devouring of one creature by another. I felt somewhat voyeuristic, primitive and maybe even a little ashamed at the excitement I was experiencing over this event. At this point, however, it was mostly curiosity to see who the owner of the white tail might be. I had my expectations, but waited final verification from a glimpse of the bird’s head. My patience paid off as it rested from its vociferous activity to raise its majestic head and turn its engorged body to face the sun and with an involuntary intake of breath, I was stunned. I had just witnessed a rare event, for here and definitely for me, of seeing a bald eagle performing one of its
natural functions: hunting and eating prey.
How did this raw event of nature make me feel? Humble, for I had just witnessed a sacred event: a Being doing what it was supposed to do. Nothing more; nothing less.
This morning I was a fortunate witness to a very atypical view from my window. I happened to notice a very large bird in flight that landed in a tree quite a distance from me in the valley below. I quickly retrieved my binoculars in an attempt to find and identify it.
What I found was absolutely astounding to these untrained eyes of an urbanite. I saw a large white tail which is what first had caught my eye for my friends the buzzards had no such tail. As I watched through the aid of the lenses of the binoculars, I saw what I soon realized were tufts of hair being torn from the bird’s prey. It was busy gorging itself on whatever poor creature happened to be its morning meal and with such force that its entire body which was very large was bobbing up and down. I could see neither the front part of the bird nor its prey; only the rhythmic bobbling accompanied by wind driven balls of hair. Other smaller birds including a buzzard approached only to quickly exit at the sight of the event.
I was captivated by this natural occurrence. Never in my sheltered urban life had I witnessed the devouring of one creature by another. I felt somewhat voyeuristic, primitive and maybe even a little ashamed at the excitement I was experiencing over this event. At this point, however, it was mostly curiosity to see who the owner of the white tail might be. I had my expectations, but waited final verification from a glimpse of the bird’s head. My patience paid off as it rested from its vociferous activity to raise its majestic head and turn its engorged body to face the sun and with an involuntary intake of breath, I was stunned. I had just witnessed a rare event, for here and definitely for me, of seeing a bald eagle performing one of its
natural functions: hunting and eating prey.
How did this raw event of nature make me feel? Humble, for I had just witnessed a sacred event: a Being doing what it was supposed to do. Nothing more; nothing less.
posted by Sandra | 10:28 PM
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