Smiling Happy – Smiling Proud
fumi-tome ohta, High Desert Branch
I was at a monthly plant gathering in Anaheim, looking at plants here and there. After I made the rounds once, twice, I paused to look around at all the activity in the parking lot. There were many more participants and visitors than usual, the largest attendance in the history of this community’ organization. As I was surveying the activity, I happened to be standing next to a gentleman who was engrossed in the beauty of the morning sky. I looked up and around to the sky above. I, too, stood there captivated by the aerial canvas. We stood there looking skyward even though the sky was somewhat overcast but still, the clouds and the natural lighting were awesome.
“See that, she’s teaching her fledglings to fly,” he said without averting his eyes. I looked up to the sky but did not see what he was talking about. “See that! Over there!” he said as he pointed skyward. I searched and looked about and then I saw it! A hawk or falcon, with two smaller ones flying beautifully in front of her. There we stood. Mesmerized. It was one of the most beautiful sights of nature! I had never seen a mother (or father) teaching their young to fly, and there they were, up in the sky, flying in perfect and serene unison. I could “feel” the mother’s and fledglings’ confidence and pride as they flew in a harmonious straight line to the welcoming horizon and future before them. Such a scene, basically a one-in-a-million scene, to stand there with a fellow enthusiast looking up to the sky to one of the most beautiful and captivating sights in nature. I looked over to my friend. Without embarrassment, I saw tears streaming down his face. I too was feeling as he was feeling, a certain kind of happiness, a certain kind of proud. I imagined the mother as she watched her brood flying before her as they flapped their wings, keeping a straight and confident cadence. She must be feeling so proud, because we were feeling the same. Our hearts held a certain pride as our lips gave way to a soft tautness and tell-tale flicker of our lips, Smiling Happy – Smiling Proud.
“Smiling Happy – Smiling Proud” first appeared in the July 2023 edition of
The Inkslinger, newsletter of the High Desert Branch.