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After a blistering hot day, I am sitting outside in the cool evening air as a gentle breeze brings a healing balm to my over-heated body, mind and spirit. Inside the house, the temperature has come down just a bit from 86 degrees. Who in their right mind cooks a potato in a 375-degree oven after a 91-degree day? (My roommate.)
I search for the red-tail hawk nest in a nearby eucalyptus tree. I locate it and the hawk is there again this evening. I examined it through my binoculars last evening. A magnificent raptor, the offspring of occupancy in the eucalyptus trees for more than thirty years. The red tails were here before I moved in. May they live forever in the tall, wind-shaped and bent trees.
I worry about them. Their hunting grounds are being covered in asphalt, condos and houses. They must fly farther away to find food. The world, my world, is a better place because of these birds. I was afraid the new housing tract being built would require the eucalyptus trees to be cut down, but they still stand. On occasion, the hawks fly right over my backyard, blessing me as they glide quite low, allowing me a good look at their plumage of browns, tans and beige.
There are two in the nest right now. I get out the binoculars for a closer view of them. I am enchanted as they move around, stretching their wings and walking along the branches. I wonder if there are eggs or young ones in the nest. I have had the gift of watching many babies grow into adulthood and fly off to have lives of their own and continue the species.
Nature is my escape from society, from civilization and the sounds and speed of life even while living in a relatively small town. In the evening, when most people are inside occupied with family, dinner or whatever else they do, I enjoy the softness of the coming night. I breathe in the clean-smelling air and listen to the quietness after a hot, noisy day. The red tails remind me that there are always small gifts from Mother Nature. All we need to do is slow down and watch for them. They are there if we have eyes to see and take the time to just sit outside in the evening.
May you be blessed by the natural world, wherever you live.
