A Fall Ride- Prior Planning Produces Pie Pleasure

What joy- to get out and bike the Root River Trail in the fall. Colors, golden corn, clear water, and more colors.

Enjoy.

Near the start (and end) was this wonderful bench placed in memory of a friend or family member. A good remembrance of the need for "sabbath" times in our lives.

The ride started with the majesty soaring above the trail...

And, thanks to my planning, ended with the pleasure of pie!

Since It Is the 4th of July

For the week of July 4 I stopped by my neighbors, the Bald Eagles over by the Zumbro River. They were both at home and posed well for some pictures. So, for the 4th, here they are, from my own neighborhood.

Good Neighbors

June 2013

 Last year I posted about the Bald Eagles who nested along the Zumbro River on the northern edge of Rochester, MN. This was one of the pics I posted at the time.

Well, last fall, storms did some damage to the nest so I was worried about the condition of the nest for the future.

Well, I guess I didn't need to worry!

Sunday I got on my bike and headed the short distance to the nest- and they were there again this year. You can see that the nest itself is a little disheveled.  But they are still there, taking care of this year's hatchlings.

Not to mention watching over their domain.

It was good to see that the neighborhood is still their home.

It's Gone

Earlier this year I posted about the wonderful sight of Bald Eagles along the Zumbro River here in NW Rochester. This was one of the pictures I took of the nest and its occupants.

Well, we had some heavy weather a week ago today and by last Saturday the nest was down.

Many have commented about the joy of seeing these magnificent birds right here in our own yard.  I hope they rebuild nearby and stay around.

A Short New Video

I have been playing around with my "new" Mac Book with editing video using iMovie. I have used Corel Video Pro for a number of years and find it intuitive and comfortable. iMovie isn't nearly as sophisticated. But I wanted to see how it works. One afternoon a few months ago I went over to the river and took some short video of the Bald Eagle nest there. I have used that to get things in place for the Mac. I did like using Garage Band to make a soundtrack, though.

Anyway, for what it's worth, here is the video. Not up to some of my usual quality, but enjoy.

Never Enough

Rochester, MN

June 23, 2013

Me (to myself): Don't I have enough pictures of eagles?

Me (in response to myself): You can never have enough pictures of eagles.

Three Eagles

It has become a standard stop when I bicycle for fun in that direction. Saturday I came around the corner and then saw two eagles by the nest.

I crossed the street to get some pictures and looked a little to the left and down and I realized there was another eagle sitting there watching.

So I got one of all three.

Christmas Eagle

Driving to the Cities on Christmas morning, I saw the unmistakeable silhouette and a patch of white to the west of the highway.

"Eagle!" I called to my wife as he soared at tree-top level to our left.

The white was clear on the head and tail. A majestic bird.

Surprisingly this was the first one I have seen in quite a while. I didn't get as many bike rides on the trails this past summer where I usually get the chance to see one of these birds several times. We also have not had the great view of a small lake like we used to have at an earlier apartment.

I am not superstitious, but I find these sightings of this great bird as positive signs. In some Native cultures, the Bald Eagle is seen as a messenger between the gods and humans. There is also the great quote from Isaiah that

they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

I saw my first Bald Eagle in the wild almost 25 years ago now. I had just gotten sober the autumn before. I was at church camp and looked up to see a Bald Eagle soaring not far from where we were standing. As a symbol of power and strength, I saw that as a message that I have not forgotten.

Thanks to the incredible resurgence of the Bald Eagle population in these past 25 years I have seen many of these majestic birds. I always take them as a sign. Sometimes just a reminder that the strength is real and available to do what I need to do each day. My Higher Power is real and present.

Sometimes it is a reminder of memories or people or situations. That's what happened on Tuesday. A reminder of the theme for the day in the mindfulness course I am involved in- Compassion. The news was still carrying the stories from Newtown, CT; another story from western New York of a killing of firemen; memories of people I know who have died or who, today, are going through difficulties and trials.

Behind all of this, I was reminded by the Christmas morning Eagle, there is a power greater than ourselves who can restore us to sanity. We, too, can soar, spiritually, with wings like eagles. We, too, can find the ways ahead of us by looking with the sharp eye of faith and trust.

Mindfulness is simply to be open to the moment and the signs that are always around us. The signs may mean something different to me than they do to you, but that is because we are each in different places. When I see one of these signs, on Christmas, the Bald Eagle, I can know that there is more to this than meets the eye.

They Continue to Show Up

It has become standard for me to look out the front window of our apartment each morning to check for the Bald Eagles. There they were again on Tuesday. I suppose if I lived somewhere like that place in Alaska where they are everywhere, it might become a little much to see them. But since I saw my first one in the wild about 22 years ago, they never fail to inspire me.


From Wikipedia:

The Bald Eagle is a sacred bird in some North American cultures, and its feathers, like those of the Golden Eagle, are central to many religious and spiritual customs among Native Americans. Eagles are considered spiritual messengers between gods and humans by some cultures.... The Lakota, for instance, give an eagle feather as a symbol of honor to person who achieves a task. ... The Pawnee considered eagles as symbols of fertility because their nests are built high off the ground and because they fiercely protect their young. The Kwakwaka'wakw scattered eagle down to welcome important guests. The Choctaw explained that the Bald Eagle, who has direct contact with the upper world of the sun, is a symbol of peace.

I do not find it spiritually insignificant that I grew up in northern Pennsylvania along the Bald Eagle Mountain. Although the Bald Eagle has returned, I never saw any as I was growing up.

Even With All The Noise

The Bald Eagle I have had along the lake near our apartment hasn't been around in a long time. I don't think I have seen him since last fall. But last Monday following a thunderstorm as the sky was clearing I looked across the lake and there he was.


The bulldozers were hard at work on the new apartment building next to the lake outside our balcony. But the Bald Eagle just sat there in all his splendor!

Who You Looking At?

A picture from our recent stay-cation. This one from along the Mississippi as this Bald Eagle just sat there watching us watching him.

First Snowfall 2009

It came too early in the season for most of us- Columbus Day is waaaayyyy to early, but there were some neat pictures that I managed to take from my window.

Well, actually the first two were taken on Sunday evening - about midnight - when I got home from the Twins final game in Minneapolis. (Pictures of that coming later in the week.) This is the apartment parking lot....


And way up in one of the street lamps was this poor old spider web just catching snowdust...


Now this one is from Monday noon looking across the lake outside our apartment. Somehow the mix of white and color is nice, but still too soon.


But to make it all worthwhile about an hour after the above picture, I looked out and there they were, our eagles. Recently a second one has joined the first that I've seen since we moved in almost two years ago. They now seem to be holding court together.


And then to zoom in from another shot, they are quite majestic and patient. They were there for over an hour. In the snow.

The Eagle is Back...

...if he ever was gone, of course.

Saturday afternoon I was sitting and listening to the radio when I saw him in the tree across the little lake. I watched and kept ready as (1) he flew from the tree (2) to skim the surface (3) made the turn and (4) headed back to the west.

It is a sure sign that all is still well in the world of Cascade Lake.

(Pictures cropped and enhanced with Paint Shop Pro.
pmPilgrim. April 2009)

Outside My WIndow

Last Sunday after church I walked in the house and looked across the small lake outside our apartment and there was the Eagle. What a great sight to see especially since the morning had been a kind of bummer. (Not in church but in other ways.)

So I ran and got the camera and started snapping pictures as I always do. Here in Rochester we have a lot of Canada geese and they were taking off and landing on the series of small lakes by us that will one day be a single lake. (There are no natural lakes in this county.) As I kept snapping away the geese from the other lake to the west started heading toward the Eagle.

The result (zoomed in and cropped) has this great look of the Eagle appearing to watch the geese.

Actually there were two Eagles in the trees as the picture below shows (one on each side).



But today was the first real snow of the season. Here is the picture outside my window today:

Another Day- Another Eagle

Spent part of this past Sunday doing the second half of the Cannon Valley Trail. This week I went from Red Wing, MN, to Welch Village and back. It was not a warm sunny day. It was cloudy and misting for about half the time. (The sun came out about 15 minutes after I got back to Red Wing.)

But it was a great day. It is always a great day when I get a chance to see an eagle.

I first saw it when it flew across the river but didn't have my camera ready- after all I was moving. So I stopped and kept looking to see if I could spot it, but couldn't. So I took a picture- and the snap of the shutter must have set him flying.



As he flew by me heading downstream I managed to get a good shot.



It is always a joy to see one of these great birds fly by.

Majesty

In honor of the USA's birthday tomorrow, here's one of the eagles from the National Eagle Center along the Mississippi in Wabasha, MN.

An Eagle - Outside My Balcony Door

A couple weeks ago I headed down to the Mississippi to get some good Bald Eagle (and river) pictures. Which I did. Here's the Eagle I saw along Lake Pepin "hiding" in the trees on the bank:


Well, a week ago yesterday I walked over to the balcony door which overlooks one of those man-made lakes and there he (or she) was circling with something in his talons.


I wonder if this is the eagle I saw last November when I came to make moving plans, the one that "welcomed" me to my new home? Back then I wrote:

I am looking forward to living across the lake from the Eagle. I will, of course, try to get pictures of him because that's one of the things I do to hold the memory. I don't try to capture it on film, I try to take an image- an icon, if you will- that can be a reminder and a window to greater awareness and peace.

Well, I have a picture now. More may come. What a wonder this world can be.