10.2.15 Because that's the way of it, these moments

This morning I quietly slipped out of the house early, and took the boy to the arroyo by the Connecticut, for a stroll. Noone was about, for some reason, the air chill, but nothing at all compared to what we will have soon enough.

       It is just that moment in New England, when our bodies and immune systems get the memo- that really, here we go again. And then? We struggle a bit not to be vulnerable to viruses, while our bodies shift from one season to another.  

       So I chalked it up to "Wow, why is it SO cold?" of my fellow brethren, while I bundled myself up, and took him down the path. I was tossing the ball far and wide, that trick dog people use to get the absolute most mileage out of the morning dog walk, watching the gorgeous wild phlox turn a vibrant mild pink, as the grasses all about me shared the message of the turn turning of the season, setting seed and preparing for the long sleep.

      Back in the car, on the way back, I turned a corner onto an old old side street in Hadley, and almost entered apoplectic episode, as an enormous, I mean ENORMOUS Bald Eagle swooped down near the road, flapping a gigundo wing span, and then flew off. I struggled to have enough brain to pull over, to leap out, and for the first time in awhile, tried to take a photo of a wild one, instead of just standing there and enjoying the moment. Pfft. I did just drink in the stark white of it's head and tail, it's huge body. Lo and behold, standing there awash in it all, who came along but a juvenile eagle! So sweet, smaller, but with some white appearing, and following the older one. I took a few shots, smiled up at them, then just stood there, grinning.

        Just then, along the sidewalk came a couple, my age, out for their morning stroll, so of course I had to go onnn about the beauty and size, while they nodded, grinning, happy too that we were all in such proximity to such grandeur. All of us just standing there drinking it in.

        Because that's the way of it, these moments, when something comes along that blows you away, and the older and wiser you are, the more you understand to just wait a minute, and let it sink in, so you will have it tucked in there, forever.