Fly Like an Eagle

Sunday was the nephew's birthday, so the DH and I drove from our place in Seattle to the nephew's place in Redmond. We went over Lake Washington via the SR520 bridge. On a Sunday afternoon, it's usually a breeze (unlike my commute, which is never a breeze). This time was different. I've had a lot of experience in how SR520 backs up and we had the oddest slow-down. On a Sunday afternoon you wouldn't expect any slowing at all, in the first place. In the second place, it doesn't usually happen when you're already two thirds of the way across the bridge.

As the traffic slowed, the DH and I commented on what a strange place it was for traffic to slow. We could see out ahead and there were no accidents and it didn't look like there was anything in the road that people had to drive around. Nothing. Until we got even closer. It looked like a big seagull at first, but as we got near, it was a young bald eagle. The eagle was riding the wind right above the bridge and it was breathtaking. Traffic slowed considerably in both directions to view the amazing bird just hovering not more that fifteen feet from where we were in our cars.

The most astounding thing to me is that this eagle spotting was in the middle of a rather large city. It was the same feeling as seeing a flower growing out of a crack in the concrete. So beautiful and so unexpected that it just makes you feel privileged to see it.