Today on my morning bike ride, as I was coming around the edge of a cliff, I came up on a large red-tailed hawk perched on the ground, on the cliff's edge. I came to an abrupt halt about 8 feet from him, and he gave me a long, appraising look. I kept perfectly still, and after a couple minutes of eyeing me he went back to watching the beach and the surf below.
Somewhat surprised that he did not immediately fly away, I began to edge slowly toward him. I actually got to within 4 feet of him, and then he suddenly fixed me with a look and ruffled his feathers a bit, as if to say, "That's close enough, buster." So I stopped. Just to emphasize his point, he then suddenly lifted up all his tail feathers and dropped a big load of crap, and then looked at me.
I took the hint and stopped trying to get any closer. We contemplated each other for a while... he was really quite beautiful, and surprisingly big. And, I might add, totally unafraid of me. After a while, when it became clear I would respect his space, we each shifted our gaze to the ocean.
It was a beautiful morning in HMB; the surf was coming in high, and there were a bunch of surfers out there taking advantage. There was the occasional person, usually with a dog, walking down on the sand. It was quite warm, for HMB anyway, and the breeze was quite cool. There was quite a bit of haze; not pollution haze, but rather the haze that comes when the temperature is just above the point where the giant fog banks form. That is, the air _wants_ to form a giant fog bank really, really badly, but it's just a little bit too warm and so all you get is a general haze.
All in all, a beautiful day to stand on the edge of a cliff next to Hawk and contemplate life. We probably spent a good 10 minutes together doing just that. Then, he looked back at me, as if to say, "It's been real- see you around," and then he ruffled up his feathers and took off in a long graceful arc, heading north along the cliffs.
And so I headed home, feeling as centered as I have in a while.
I love love love this place.
1 comment:
"There was the occasional person, usually with a dog, walking down on the sand." That's going to be me and Kona in about nine days.
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