Thinking Through Landscape

I find it extremely difficult to face up to the ways of the world sometimes.

Recently, for example, I had to turn away when a pine marten came to steal the eggs of an osprey. All that work gone in the blink of an eye; the osprey had been tending them so carefully.

There was also a hawk that flew into a robins’ nest.

The nest had three baby robins in it. Their beaks opened wide when the hawk arrived. Why wouldn’t they trust it? Every other adult bird they knew brought food. But this time it was not their parents. The hawk took two babies into its claws and flew off with them. The third baby robin jumped out of the nest, perhaps to try and escape.

Both these situations above were recorded. But once, I saw something similar up close. I was leaving the hospital after a rather difficult experience. I was alone, and as I walked into the hot parking lot, I saw a hawk fly by with a bird in its mouth. It perched on a post right in front of me, so close I felt I should reach out to help. It was a…