Bald Eagles

By February 2024, I had found spirituality but hadn’t yet realized my deep connection with nature and animals. A new neighbor had mentioned hearing about bald eagles in the area, so for my birthday I set out looking for a bird I had never seen in a location I had never visited. When I actually get to the location, the lighting sucks and I have no real idea what I was looking for. Then, after aimlessly waiting in essentially the same spot for about 5 minutes, an eagle flies in and perches on the only sunlit branch in sight. I photographed it again the next day and came to fall in love with the location. I went back on almost a weekly basis but couldn’t find the eagle again.

Over a year later on a Monday morning, the thought showed up—“You dreamed of photographing eagles at Schwan Lake last night.” I don’t typically remember my dreams, or the memory disappears before I can share it. This time, though, the thought just sat there. My work calendar was surprisingly empty, so I decided to spend a few minutes in nature before tackling emails. Sure enough, I get to the location and the same eagle is sitting on the exact same branch