The Free Radical

As the skies become more compelling each day– that change has dawned upon and through us, incrementally– I must remember to breathe;

we are resuscitating mountains, after all… It’s all coming to Life again!

And as I wish upon a shooting star, I already know that everything is at my feet– the beauty of understanding.

Hawk calls to us daily now, just like last spring. That distinctive cry stretches through the Forest silence as an assurance… greeting… kinship. Hawk flies far off, barely visible in the sky, but still it’s good to know he’s there.

The pair of eagles to the north, across the river, played peekaboo with me and my camera, ducking behind mountains every time I fixed my telescopic gaze. Why this new shyness, this sudden reticence? I later found out that they were just making room.

Time Now is whatever I want it to be; for it is I who brings new meaning to the world of familiars. This caterpillar was as oblivious of me and my giant feet as he was of the time-warp just three steps ahead.

The butterflies look like they’d glow in the dark…

…even standing beside these daytime beacons. It is Dandelion above all others who signals the bounty of spring has come. They are the first flower I forage alongside my friend Black Bear– who lives upon their covert sustenance for weeks at a time. I eat them every day.

It wasn’t until we got down to the river however, that we discovered for whom Eagle had been making room. As usual, it was Sitka– my little skywatcher– who spotted them first.

Turkey Vulture occupies a strange niche in human awareness, usually thought of as disgusting or even evil.

I, however, think they’re magnificent. Their silence, their effortless mastery of flight, their sense of community and co-operation, their vital function in nearly every ecosystem– perhaps they are my favourites among all the raptors!

Beside the Purple Cliff, I climbed atop Kevin’s Watch overlooking the river, and sat in a long excited silence, taking whatever pictures I could.

I counted five– although I could only get four into frame at a time. Five is the number of magic, imagination and adventure.

I couldn’t locate the source of carrion anywhere on the far bank, but assuredly it was there, tucked away among the trees and rocks.

It seemed, in that moment, that they were there for me.

They ‘spoke’ of esoteric tasks taken up now in earnest; as what is immediately to come must overlay and obliterate the stench of a rotten era of unsustainable nonsense. Turkey Vulture is the absolute master of clearing away the dangerous, toxic past. Their keen eyesight sees with a New Vision… one that has been on the horizon for lifetimes spent.

I loved my time spent with Vulture. This is the most memorable presence they’ve yet endured… and their overall message seemed clear to me: “It’s not much longer now… It’s do-or-die time!”