taking flight

Not to belabor the glories of early summer but…one of the things that I love to watch at this time of the year is a mother bird teaching her young to fly.

Today while walking the dog, I had the pleasure of watching a red tail hawk in flight with two of her little ones. Actually the youngsters were sailing along just fine without her help. They’d obviously been up and away before. Still…every so often Mother would swoop beneath the chicks, boost them up, and circle around them protectively…rather like I did when the kids were learning to ride two-wheelers. Even if they were pedaling along without difficulty, every so often I’d feel the need to get a hand on the back of the seat to steady them.

Isn’t it great to get a little boost like that every so often? Isn’t it reassuring to know that somebody will be there to steady us when the going gets rough? To keep a protective eye on us when we try something new or take a chance? So that next time we can give them a hand? A word of encouragement? A round of applause? Someone to lean on?

This morning I watched the sibling hawks fly off on their own, leaving their mother to circle alone.

BIRDWINGS

Your grief for what you want lifts a mirror up to where you’re bravely working.

Expecting the worst, you look, and instead,

here’s the joyful face you’ve been wanting to see.

Your hand opens and closes, opens and closes.

If it were always a fist

or always stretched open,

you would be paralyzed.

Your deepest presence is in every small contracting and expanding,

the two as beautifully balanced and coordinated

as birdwings.

--Rumi--

Be still,

jan