Day 15 - Anything but Lonely

Today was an unusual day for me in that I had zero obligations. Days like this are rare, and when they come around, I look forward to them ahead of time, thinking of all the things I'll get done. Although when the day actually arrives, I often feel restless and lonely. As someone who is rarely alone, I have difficulty seizing the day without a companion.

I finally convinced myself to leave the house and do something that I've been wanting to do for ages: find and photograph animals in Golden Gate Park. I grabbed my camera, and headed out the door, deciding to leave my bike; I always see more when I'm walking.

As I made my way through the park, I came across other photographers. One couple had their cameras pointed at the trees overhead.

"Is there a bird up there?" I asked.

"Yeah," said the woman. "An owl and her babies."

I looked up, and sure enough, at the top of the tree was a mother owl grooming one of her three fledglings.

"Wow." I sighed audibly.

The three of us stood and watched as the mother continued to tend to her children, occasionally stopping to look in our direction.

I commented on the superiority of the lens on the man's camera. He laughed, "I know it's a little ridiculous, but it gets good shots." I looked down at the screen on my camera. "Mine are OK," I said. "I think if I zoom in, I can see the owls."

"There's also a hawk nest just down the path," The woman said. "You can see two hawk babies"

"Oh, where?" I asked.

"We'll show you," she said, as she started to walk down the path. "Over here."

I followed them to a lookout where I could see the hawk in the distance, sitting on a tree. I was a little disappointed; it was much too far away for me to get a good picture.

"Oh!" she exclaimed, while looking through her binoculars. "She's feeding the babies."

"Cool!" I said. "Can't see much through my lens...but thanks for showing me."

"Here," she handed me her binoculars.

I took a look, and saw the majestic mother standing over the fluffy eyas (apparently the word for baby hawk) in the nest. After watching them for a bit, I gave her back the binoculars and thanked her and her boyfriend. "I should head home," I said. "But it was nice to meet you." They smiled and said goodbye.

I passed Stow Lake on my way out, walking tentatively by a gaggle of Canadian geese. The geese didn't seem to mind me, so I stayed and watched the turtles, ducks and a double-crested cormorant for a while.

I don't know if it was all of the animals I encountered today, or the nice couple watching the owls, but I felt anything but lonely on my walk back.

 "Cheeeeeese"

"Oh hello"

Baby owls or ewoks?

"Come at me, bro"