home with me, I noticed a red tailed hawk, peering down from the football goalpost. It flew away before I could get a good photo myself, but I still felt graced, somehow, just being near this fierce bird. And hopeful - after all the insults we threw at this bird (guns and DDT primary among them), given the slightest chance, it came back. Not everyone, or every animal, can take advantage of second chances. Today's National Geographic announced that the fungus which may be responsible for extinction of many frogs is becoming better understood, and offering a twinge of hope; but still, I will never see a live model of the golden toad from Monteverde, which my cousin Brigid has a photo of from the year of my birth.
My wish today is for people to soak up some of the fierceness, focus, and resiliency of this gorgeous bird, and put all of that energy into giving as many second chances as we can. That way, the hawk can stay focussed on catching the mice I scare out of the grass in the school's field.
