The headline read “Eagles Become a Nuisance”. “How could that be?” I immediately asked myself. Not eagles! Those soaring, majestic wonders! The article explained that eagles, once on the brink of extinction, have come back full force. That’s the good news. The complaint however is that they rummage in garbage dumps and drop what they end up not being interested in whilst flying over residential neighborhoods, sometimes poncy ones. Just to put “garbage” in the same sentence as “eagle” seems sacrilegious to me.
I remember one fourth of July I was in Jackson Hole with my family. We had opted that beautiful morning to raft down a stretch of the picaresque Snake River. Looking skyward from the raft during one lazy stretch I spotted the regal symbol of America perched in his/her tree eyeing us as we floated by beneath him. I could swear s/he was looking directly at me as if to remind me through his/her knowing and powerful gaze of all that is grand about America. In the moment, it felt like a benediction from on high.
On another occasion I was sailing in the Northwest when a whale suddenly breached in front of us jutting straight up out of the water enjoying his afternoon snack of a school or three of fish. Hundreds of shrieking eagles swooped and sailed in to the capture what the whale did not eat. The precision and power on display was operatic and humbling.
I learn from google that the eagle is “a symbol of great significance.” That because s/he flies higher than any other bird, s/he is “believed to be the creature with the closest relationship with the creator and thus as conduit, conveys the powers and messages of the spirit.” Further that the eagle is “ symbolic of the importance of honesty and truthful principles, perspicacity, courage, strength and immortality.” Not bad for a bird.
On record for the heaviest load to be carried by any flying bird, was one mighty flapper who hauled in flight a 15 lb mule deer fawn. Now that would be something to find dropped from on high in your back yard. I also learned that female eagles are as a rule more powerful than the males and tend to be the ones to take charge. OK, cool. Food for thought.
So how, I wondered reading this article, could so majestic a creature be reduced to being a nuisance? But maybe s/he’s not…what if as a spirit guide s/he’s giving us a message? A message to wise up about dealing with our garbage. A message along the lines “clean up the mess you’re making” or “waste not want not.” A message to pay attention to the planet while we still can.
I’m going to go with that, pledge to do better with my recycling and hold onto that beautiful gaze from that beautiful bird in the tree in Jackson Hole once upon a fourth of July morning.
Blue Pearl
Blue Pearl 