Hawk rise

Red-tailed hawk took a tour of our neighborhood this morning.  I was out on the front porch having coffee, facing west.  The hawk flew up from the east, appearing from the fields behind our house.  Because of the angle of the morning sun, above and behind it, its shadow arrived well ahead of it.  A large shadow that darkened the roof of our car in the driveway, then spanned the crown of the tallest maple in our neighbor's yard across the way.  The shadow flapped its wings once on the neighbor's roof, covered the whole of one dormer, ran over the shingles, and vanished in the shade of another tree, and that's when the hawk itself appeared, looking smallish in comparison to its expansive shadow-self but as it glides in at treetop level forcing my eye to recalibrate and my mind to acknowledge, That's a big bird.

The hawk circled that tall maple, followed the line of the neighbor's roof, then chased after its now-gone shadow and disappeared after it behind the trees.

Pretty morning here.  Heat's broken.  Zip humidity.  You might need a jacket.  There's a stiff breeze that keeps the branches of the trees fidgeting between gusts and there's a constant hissing in the leaves as they dance and the neighbor's laundry, white and yellow towels and pillow cases, bounce on the line.

Hope it's as nice where you are.

Comments

[Dan Leo]

When I was taking a walk on an empty road in Cape May Court House last week I saw a big old hawk sitting on top of a road sign. He flew up and around and he was so goddam big he gave this city boy a thrill. That dude was the master of his domain.

[Vir Modestus]

I was hiking in a state park near my home a few weeks ago when I heard a hawk call. (NOT a red-tailed hawk, for it sounded nothing like a hawk in the movies and I have it on good authority the usually use a red-tailed hawk's call for that.) Any way, I hear the call and then the hawk's shadow passes over me. I enjoyed a delightful shiver and thought about what it must be like for the mouse seeing that shadow.

Then the hawk called a second time, just to let me know she was letting me go ... this time.