One Flew Over the …

By Mark David Blum, Esq.

If at times it seems my life is going to the birds, it is because my avian friends are starting to play a larger role in my life.

There is a large bird of prey that has been inhabiting the trees and woods around here. Every now and then one of us spies him flying around or perched on a branch in a nearby tree. The wife swears it’s an eagle. I am fairly confident it is a hawk. The bird has about a 4-5 foot wingspan, with light tan feathers on its head and brown/black/dirty white feathers on the rest of him. The lines on his face and around his beak bespeak an old and wise bird. The hook of his beak and the length of his talons make me respect him and keep a safe distance. (Which, btw, raises an interesting question ... are we really at the top of the food chain when a human being is intimidated by a bird?)

So, yesterday while the kid and a friend were beeboppin around in the ceement pond, I came out to join them. But, distracting me was my bird friend sitting perched in a tree near the pool. Meandering on over as close as I could, I sat there watching him hunt for food. We made eye contact a few times and it was understood that we would stay out of each other’s way.

This poor old warrior bird never really got to hunt in peace. All the little birds … robins, starlings, and especially bluejays … will fly up near the Hawk and chirp and screech … probably as a warning … until the old hunter realizes the futility of his perch and he flies off.

Several robins started buzzing the hawk. He took a giant crap that shot out 40 feet from his ass, flapped his giant wings twice, and he was gone.

So was I.

“Kersplash”

Into the pool I went and the game of me drowning my kid and her friend began. This went on for a little while, when suddenly the friend was frozen in fear and pointing. I turned and looked and saw the hawk resting on the fencing around the pool. From me, he was about 10 feet away. The girls moved to the far side of the pool. I inched forward as close as possible.

The kids were already nervous. It probably did not help that I told them the reason the hawk was perched so close was because in his eyes, the two girls looked like a giant fish. One kid was on the verge of tears. I suggested both girls dive down to the bottom of the pool and wait there until he left. Alas, but they did not listen.

Meanwhile the bird and I just sat there watching each other. That was when I noticed a feather coming loose from one of his wings. It was sticking out sideways. When he first landed on the fence and when I first saw him, the feather was not sticking out. He was working the feather out of his wing slowly … though he was doing so without movement. It just seemed to be happening.

I declared out loud that the feather was going to fall out and that it was mine. The wife and the kids both challenged me on that point. I said they had better be prepared to fight me for it cuz the feather, when it fell, was MINE MINE MINE.

Anyway, the bird sat there and though not moving, the feather was obviously coming dislodged. Me and my OCD would not let it go and soon I started encouraging the bird to drop his load. As if he understood, the great winged one spread his wings wide and gave them a good shake. The feather did not fall but it came out more. Fucking tease! He dug at it with his beak but the feather stayed in place … remember when you were losing your teeth … how they would hang on by a strand of skin and you had to yank it out. Oh how I wanted to yank out that feather.

Then, the bird gave a loud long screech … fascinating to see up close … and then took flight. As he left the fence, the feather gave way, got caught in the breeze, and sailed slowly to earth in the middle of the brush at the property edge. Flying out of the pool and over the fence, I hunted that feather as though my life depended on it.

Success.

I captured my prey. The hunt was worth it. I have a perfect unblemished HAWK feather.

My question though is thus:

What message were the Gods sending me when they sent a hawk to get my attention to go out of his way to give me a perfect feather?

Back to the MarkBlum Report

It is always a far better thing
to have peace than to be right.
But, when it is not,
or when all else fails

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