Reflections: Affirming Direction
September 6, 2016
Summer is winding down as the first week of September has brought a preview of the colors of fall to the banks of the Merrimack River and beyond. The other evening after attending the wake of an old friend from high school, I decided to drive down to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge as I had the camera in the car.
Before I even got to the Refuge, I was struck by the late day light on the west facing wall of the iconic Pink House on the Plum Island Turnpike. I quickly veered off the side of the road, parked my car and grabbed the camera. I took numerous shots with both a 70 – 300 mm zoom and a 10 – 24 mm wide angle (both Nikon).
The light was breathtaking. The wall was illuminated with a golden glow that mingled sweetly with the fall tones of the marsh grasses and brush around the house. As I walked back and forth along the roadside with the camera taking shots from different angles with my two lens I suddenly realized there was a Red-tailed Hawk sitting on the chimney of the house. My spirit bird had come to visit.
Always tuned to the energy of the wild creatures and other forces of nature, I was grateful for the visit of my messenger, the Red-tailed. Life’s journey takes on so many different roads. As keenly observant as I am I am always grateful for the reminder to look beyond a situation and see it through a different lens. That is one of the many messages that Red-tailed Hawk reminds me of, each time I see him.
Feeling the ground beneath me, yet soaring to new heights has always been part of journey. I live to learn new things. I exist to be part of the whole and yet I fly solo through life with great tenacity. The light on the Pink House illuminated the love in my heart, the grace in my soul and willingness to share the beauty of the world through that which I see, when I am behind the lens. Red-tailed Hawk affirmed in me, yet again, that my direction was true and if it isn’t there is always the freedom to change direction.
