Well here I sit. Watching. Lurking. Seeing things others have trouble seeing. I dare say, no one even sees me. I crouch and hunker down in a way that is to my advantage.

There one goes. And another. But which do I leap at? It has to be perfect. A misstep and the opportunity will be lost. Patience and calm with a hint of anxiousness. Clearly it’s a confusing thing. The heart is racing.

As I get older, these activities are harder. I can’t help it, I want to do it. There goes another. I should relocate to another location to get a better angle. I’ll rotate around hoping no one sees me.

Wow they are fast, but I must be faster. There goes another and I leap using every ounce of my existence. I reach with all extension of my body. Forearms fully extended out in front, making me bigger than I am. My back feet release from the branch also fully extended, disconnecting from the mount point only when the last push of muscle and energy uses the leverage to push.

I’m in midair. I can reach it. The world around me slows down. The breeze cools my underbelly as I drift through the air. This is not my first time. I’ve caught birds before, in flight. The capture is satisfying.

Almost to my surprise, contact is made. Front paws reach the destination. The flutter. The initial contact is smooth. Then chaos. My surprise as well as his. He clearly was not expecting me to be there, meeting him in flight. Changing his direction. Ending his glorious drift through the trees.

The chaos as we tumbled. We spun through the air, which seemed like eternity. Only a few feet above the ground seemed to take forever to reach the ground. While we fell, he was at the advantage because I had no traction, nothing to push on. No leverage. I held on to what I could grab careful not to adjust my grip until we reached the ground. At that point I’d have the advantage. The tide would turn to my favor.

Thud. Didn’t matter what landed first. I’m used to pain that comes with landing abruptly, but with the prize of the capture, it is worth it. Usually I’ll still land on at least one back foot.

Fussle. Flapping. Chaos. Rolling like a whirlwind of wrestling between advisories.Don’t let go. And we stop! A moment of silence. We have reached a pause in our struggle as we both collect ourselves. Heavy breathing. A moment with all the initial urges and anxiety catches up to the moment.

Now what? Do we continue? Will he give up the struggle and I win? Do I walk across the yard with my prize bird in possession for everyone else to envy?

I did it. All mine. Look at me. Strut. Loud noise behind me? What was that? I pause and glance. I’ve done nothing wrong. They will be proud of me. They will congratulate me. I won. I leaped and fought. Here they come. What now? Run and hide. Uh oh. They see me. I’ll hide. Let go of me. Why are you holding me down? My tail? I’m losing grip. It’s flapping wildly now. I’m gonna lose it and it’s gone.

Ugh. All that time and energy and struggle to be released in a brief moment and gone.

If only I had wings. Hmmmm.

Oct 7, 2020
Rain on your parade
senior
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