For the last couple of years, a pair of eagles have appeared sporadically in the trees along a local stretch of rocky beach. Being the bird enthusiast that I am, I find this all quite exciting. And, because up until just a few years ago Vermont was actually the only state in the lower 48 that could not lay claim to a single nesting pair of bald eagles, the local populace is pretty excited too. In other words, these eagles occasionally make the front page of the paper.
Yesterday afternoon I took my camera along when I made the drive to get Mariam from school. I was planning to drive along the lakeshore, and I figured that I might catch a photo of some of the geese that have begun to return from their winter vacation lands. I pulled over to the side of the road near a small inlet, and I did manage to get some at least semi-decent geese photos, although I had been hoping to get closer. But then, as we began driving again and rounded a curve in the road, we saw it: the eagle.
Yep. The bald eagle, just sitting there, on an exposed branch above the water. And me with my camera in my lap and the telephoto lens attached. I proceeded to engage in a vociferous display of nerdy enthusiasm that I am profoundly thankful no one but my children was there to witness.
I pulled over to the side of the road again, and got out of the car to see if I could get closer to the bird. There is a set of train tracks running along a small hill between the road and the trees on the shore, so I could really only get so close. But I did manage to get a handful of pictures of the bird. The combination of the distance between us and the wind made it hard to get the sharp focus I wanted, but did I mention the part about driving by the elusive eagle while my camera happened to be sitting in my lap?
So, it all felt sort of blessed and fortuitous. And then, it became kind of funny, because as I stood in the mud, squealing and snapping photos, I looked to one side and saw another person taking pictures too. And then I realized that we knew each other.
Ah, Vermont.
