A day of satisfaction for a red-tailed hawk

A red-tailed hawk could not have been happier with this late-summer day.

 Fear is a constant companion of most creatures in nature.

Nietzsche said that one of mankind's greatest achievements was the elimination of the terror humans felt of many wild animals. We go outside without a second thought, without the fear something might rip us to pieces with a sudden attack.

That's not the case with most creatures.

It helps if you happen to be a predator, like this beautiful red-tailed hawk, but as a human try to get close to one and you'll find he feels terror, too.

So it was strange when at the park this morning that I drove right below this hawk on my way out and stopped to photograph her.

She couldn't have cared less.

I managed to take over fifty pictures of this lovely creature from twenty feet away without as much as a twitch from her.

She looked down, looked to the side and looked right at me.

It didn't matter.

This red-tailed hawk must have spotted a
mouse or other prey below. It didn't matter.
She might have been full or just enjoying
the sunny day.

What a rare thing it is to be able to relax, for birds or for us.

Nietzsche might have been right about our eliminating our fear of wild animals, but we unleash a thousand other terrors when inside alone surrounded by four walls and locked windows and doors.

It's as though we're conditioned by nature to fear, and if we can't find our fears outside, we create them inside ourselves and inside our houses.

Why can't we relax? Do we need terror to survive?

I suppose our minds are our greatest enemies at times.

But there is no greater terror than the terror of the self.

This hawk could relax because she didn't have that fear of self. She wasn't human.

For her, a fine summer day was just that.

Without anxiety, we can live in the moment.

Take a lesson from a hawk. Relax.