Something About Montana Eagles, Worry, And Resilience
Montana ranch life renews in the spring. Pastures green. Snowmelt sets the river roaring. Muskrats refresh nests. Fawns take unsteady steps.
Yet through it all, our family has worried about a neighboring feathered family. Last winter, 70-mph winds toppled the eagle nesting tree.
The loss seemed like yet another of 2020’s dark tally — a wider series of inconceivable disappointments.
We tried to put it into perspective. “Nature will prevail…”
But that scattered nest seemed symbolic; a backdrop for incalculable losses across America.
We worried they wouldn’t return; they’d build elsewhere; their mating rhythms were thrown; they were too old.
Our concerns were mixed with “real world” news from across the nation. It all combined to rock us back and forth.
Yet, as pioneer wisdom goes: “Worry is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.”
Then one day a nest appeared, 100 yards from the old tree. Resilience.
Then we watch their mating ritual on a ridge. Optimism.
Then Momma was sitting on eggs. Love.
Last week we spied two eaglets flapping their wings.
Of late, across America, storms of varied sorts have unsettled families. Yet, like those two eagles…
We are a people of resilience.
We are a people of optimism.
We are a people taught that love will prevail.
We rebuild.
Special thanks to photographer Deb Drain of Absarokee, Montana, for her permission to use her © 2021 nesting momma and eaglet photo.
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