Eagle on the Railing

Yesterday an eagle landed on our balcony railing, which seems like a portent of some kind, but of what?  That we shall be asked to join the Eagles, by Don Henley himself?  Or that we shall fly like an eagle, as Steve Miller said?  Not literally of course, but metaphorically, although we would of course prefer literally, we would love to plummet to the earth to seize our enemy in our fierce talons, if we had real enemies which we don't.  Instead we have imaginary enemies, or perhaps it would be better to say pretend enemies, like Oprah Winfrey for instance.  Or perhaps it would be even more accurate yet to say that while we have real enemies they're not personal enemies, but impersonal ones like cops politicians and the like. 

And we didn't even know there were eagles in the city, perhaps this one was lost or (more likely) sent as a winged emissary to our apartment to let us know we have an eagle-like mission of extraordinary boldness to perform in our life, although what that mission would be we have no idea.  We're more pigeon than eagle, we like to walk around on the sidewalk and voyeuristically check out what's going on.  No soaring for us.  But perhaps that's about to change.  Perhaps we shall be required to perform an all-out eagle-like act of heroism, unlike the other night in the alley where we saw two rats fall out of a garbage can and fled like a little girl, dragging poor Maddie on her leash behind us. 

Are we up to the challenge?  We shall see.  We have always thought that we had a little eagle in us, but that it was buried beneath many many layers of personal cowardice.  When it comes to fight or flight we have always chosen the latter, although flight might not actually be the right word.  Better to say we have always unsuccessfully attempted to fly from the danger, the way a chicken might, in eight to ten foot flapping fiascoes.  To think that now we shall be required to meet the danger, and swoop down upon it like an eagle upon its adversary, to do battle, is quite the daunting prospect, which is why we prefer to think that the eagle was there for Mrs. UF (ex).  Let her do the eagle fighting.  We'll stand by and watch like a pigeon, on our gaudy orange feet, while hoping that somebody will toss us a crust of bread, that's more our idea of action. 

Comments

[Jan Martin Löhndorf]

The message is: Flee like an eagle.
You have misread it.

[UF MIKE]

Jan Martin, you are truly a seer and diviner of portents from beyond. I thank you, and plan to flee forthwith. It's only a fool who waits around to find out what he's fleeing from.

[Dave Mows Grass]

A turkey landed on my balcony railing. I took it as a message that I have a turkey-like mission of extraordinary futility to perform in my life. I am to struggle desperately to survive in a post-hope America where being middle class means you get to stand in the uphill side of the pigpen where the shit is not quite so deep. It's still shit. Funny, I didn't know turkeys could fly!

[Marc]

Are you sure it wasn't a chicken hawk?

[Marc]

http://tinyurl.com/767qhto

[gillian]

"It's only a fool who waits around to find out what he's fleeing from." Words to live by.

[UF MIKE]

Thanks, Gillian. I've lived by them for years, and I'm still alive. That must count for something.

[UF MIKE]

Dave, you crack me up. And Marc, I'm not sure it wasn't a chicken hawk. Or some other kind of hawk for that matter. Bottom line is I'm no ornithologist. But it didn't look like Henry. It wasn't quite so...jaunty.