May 4, 2006

Lola (l) just returned to her nest. Palemale is about to fly off to Linda #6

Palemale on Linda #6

Palemale Jr over Central Park South

Palemale Jr

Charlotte

Junior

Babies

You can watch them for hours

All images above photographed Thursday May 4, 2006

Going Home He ate his last walnut and decided that either he was full enough or it was too late in the evening to be still out, and so he turned and made his way southwest of the Hawk Bench. I watched his every move as he hopped through the low grass just behind the bench. He cautiously approached the narrow asphalt path leading to the East Drive and when all was well he merrily crossed it with not more than three or four hops. On the other side of the path he paused and addressed an itch on his right shoulder. Some clouds had moved in earlier and subdued the late evening sun, but at the time of his scratching they thinned out enough to paint the Eastside skyline with a pleasant orange hue. Some of this merry orange light filtered through most of New Jersey, the Hudson, the Westside buildings, Strawberry Fields, Bethesda Fountain, hundreds of Lindens, Pin Oaks, and finally a few gentle rays made it onto my little friend’s whiskers. He put his face into the soft light and continued on his way home. Whether there was someone waiting for him there or not I shall never know, but I imagine it was home regardless with a meandering path leading to it. He veered to the right when a light breeze swept a few leaves and dust across his way and he disappeared from my view somewhere behind an old leaning tree which name I must try to get a hold of sometime. My little friend’s image remained with me still as I tried to imagine what his home looked like. I felt on my face the same breeze that swept the dust across his path and I closed my eyes and saw him approach an old tree that had no name. I believe the tree smiled when it saw her little child coming home to her--trees can smile when you close your eyes really tight to see them. With my eyes still closed I saw him ascend the tree stopping just short of his destination to have one last scratch for the evening. There are too many moments in the Universe to be counted but I felt like in one of those moments the breeze, the leaves, the Sun, and the tree had all conspired to bring my little friend home safely after his long busy day to lay snug in his cozy home in that old tree and close his eyes and gently fall asleep beneath the popping stars in the clear sky over New York City.