Flying Free

My oldest daughter was home for a visit between two stints with the Peace Corps in Zambia. We decided to visit my sister in Vermont for the weekend. She lives in a town on the Connecticut River, which creates a natural border between Vermont and New Hampshire, so we were able to visit museums and attractions on both sides of the river.

We spent the first day of our visit at the Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site in Cornish, New Hampshire. Augustus Saint-Gaudens was a well-known American sculptor who created massive bronze sculptures and bas reliefs. The mountaintop site is comprised of his summer home and studio, gardens and a hike along a small rushing stream. A casting of the Shaw Memorial, one of his most famous works, is on view in its own outdoor garden room. Visitors can bring a lunch and picnic on the grounds and there are often music and sculpture events on site in the summer.

The next morning, we drove to visit a wonderful farmer’s market in Barre, Vermont and had lunch there, sitting cross legged on the ground with one of my daughter’s Peace Corps friends who lived nearby. When we returned to my sister’s house, she asked if we’d like to visit the raptor center.

VINS, the Vermont Institute of Natural Science was established by a few local residents in the 1970’s who were concerned about the environment. The focus has always been on education, and they are involved with many of the school systems in the area. At first, the emphasis was primarily on bird banding, but because so many people were bringing injured birds, the raptor center was opened in 2004. The center treats as many as 400 injured birds a year, about 100 of which are raptors such as hawks, owls, falcons and eagles. Birds which have been hit by cars, poisoned or have been involved in other mishaps are brought to the center. Those that can be rehabilitated are eventually released near the site where they were found. Those that will never fly again become part of a truly amazing up close learning center for visitors.

I had been fortunate to see a few falconers in action prior to this trip and bald eagle sightings have become common along the Hudson River near my hometown, but I had never seen one up close before. They are huge, strong and majestic. It’s no wonder they won the contest to become our nation’s symbol. As I stood in front of this particular eagle’s enclosure, a bird which will never fly again, it began preening and it occurred to me that the cage wires would create an interesting commentary on its plight. I stood there taking photos of it with my phone camera trying to get its head placed just right in the wire frame and the photo above is the one I choose to share with people whenever I feel the need to remember the great privileges of freedom we were born with.

When I was in 6th grade, I wrote a poem about an eagle soaring in the sky. I think it was patriotic. My teacher was excited about it and asked if she could send it to a poetry competition. Off it went. Either she told me, and I neglected her advice, or she didn’t know how those things work, but I didn’t make a copy. It was never returned and when I asked for it back at the end of the school year, I think it made her feel awful. We both learned and I’ve always wondered what I wrote for that assignment. But, I think if something you photograph, or write, or create touches someone else and makes them think, feel something and maybe change a little, even if it is for a moment, the effects of it will ripple and soar upward and outward, released from confinement.

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If you would like to know more about VINS, donate or plan a visit, their website is:

https://vinsweb.org

The Saint-Gaudens National Historic Site website is:

https://www.nps.gov/saga/index.htm