An eagle waits out winter on the first day of spring

Waiting out the last hours till spring in winter's weak morning light.

 Maybe she had no clue, but I think this bald eagle was well-aware that today is the first day of spring. For seemingly no reason, she's perched facing the morning sun, when the creek and the fish are behind and just below her. Why would she face the way she is, deliberately ignoring breakfast, unless she's celebrating some sort of eagle equinox?

Birds have to sense when spring is coming, they just have to. Their lives depend on it. Sometimes humans are so thick-skulled that they are unaware that knowledge comes in many forms. The stirring of instinct is just as vital to birds as any reminder on your phone that today winter is over, perhaps more so. Imagine what it would be like, how exciting it would be, if your entire being tingled on the day of the equinox. Imagine if you became more alive today with instinct.

That's what a real knowledge of life would be, I think. It's far more vital, clearer, more clever and more exhilarating, than listening to your phone buzz.

That's why I think this eagle is facing winter's last morning sun. It's her joy and her reason to live. The fish below can wait.

She just has to sit there and fly on folded wings toward the season of rebirth.