WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 align:middle line:90%


00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:05.740 align:middle line:84%
"My fourth eagle was
a gathering of them

00:00:05.740 --> 00:00:08.920 align:middle line:84%
at the Conowingo
Dam near the spot

00:00:08.920 --> 00:00:11.560 align:middle line:84%
where the Susquehanna River
empties into the Chesapeake

00:00:11.560 --> 00:00:13.450 align:middle line:90%
Bay.

00:00:13.450 --> 00:00:17.800 align:middle line:84%
While I didn't see nests,
I assume they were there.

00:00:17.800 --> 00:00:21.670 align:middle line:84%
December is prime nest-building
period for eagles, huge ones

00:00:21.670 --> 00:00:26.980 align:middle line:84%
up to 13 feet deep and 8 feet
wide, weighing more than a ton.

00:00:26.980 --> 00:00:28.780 align:middle line:84%
That's the size
in my neighborhood

00:00:28.780 --> 00:00:32.860 align:middle line:84%
of an average garden
shed filled with stuff.

00:00:32.860 --> 00:00:36.160 align:middle line:84%
Instead, I saw more
than a dozen eagles

00:00:36.160 --> 00:00:39.550 align:middle line:84%
hanging out on rocks in the
water, settling in trees,

00:00:39.550 --> 00:00:42.160 align:middle line:84%
stretching their wings,
resting and sunning themselves

00:00:42.160 --> 00:00:45.130 align:middle line:84%
on transmission towers
sunk into the river,

00:00:45.130 --> 00:00:48.040 align:middle line:84%
not at all the singular
creatures I've always

00:00:48.040 --> 00:00:51.520 align:middle line:84%
known them to be,
pictured flat as they are

00:00:51.520 --> 00:00:54.250 align:middle line:90%
in so many heraldic portraits.

00:00:54.250 --> 00:00:56.320 align:middle line:84%
Poland's double-headed
eagle always

00:00:56.320 --> 00:00:58.840 align:middle line:84%
looked like a flayed
market chicken.

00:00:58.840 --> 00:01:02.110 align:middle line:84%
And pinioned on the
quarter, our eagle's legs

00:01:02.110 --> 00:01:03.940 align:middle line:90%
are strangely squat.

00:01:03.940 --> 00:01:07.970 align:middle line:84%
Its broad chest pectoraled
and unnervingly human.

00:01:07.970 --> 00:01:10.840 align:middle line:84%
In fact, if you cover its
wings with your thumbs,

00:01:10.840 --> 00:01:15.460 align:middle line:84%
the bird looks like a
tiny cartoon prizefighter.

00:01:15.460 --> 00:01:18.400 align:middle line:84%
Unlike the black
vultures, elegant flyers

00:01:18.400 --> 00:01:22.150 align:middle line:84%
who coast on thermals, eagles
flap a lot and land heavily

00:01:22.150 --> 00:01:24.370 align:middle line:90%
on sturdy branches.

00:01:24.370 --> 00:01:27.730 align:middle line:84%
A few times a day, fish
get caught in the turbines

00:01:27.730 --> 00:01:29.240 align:middle line:90%
and sucked through the dam.

00:01:29.240 --> 00:01:31.840 align:middle line:84%
So the eagles pluck all
they want from the water

00:01:31.840 --> 00:01:35.140 align:middle line:84%
and hardly have to
leave their rocks.

00:01:35.140 --> 00:01:38.860 align:middle line:90%
They were, to me, many things--

00:01:38.860 --> 00:01:43.060 align:middle line:84%
bigger than I remembered,
more wary than the vultures

00:01:43.060 --> 00:01:48.190 align:middle line:84%
who perched on low branches
and regarded us mildly.

00:01:48.190 --> 00:01:51.100 align:middle line:84%
Mostly though, they
weren't ferocious, just

00:01:51.100 --> 00:01:56.560 align:middle line:84%
quietly waiting in the sun,
that unseasonably warm day.

00:01:56.560 --> 00:01:58.540 align:middle line:84%
Close up, their beaks
were more rounded

00:01:58.540 --> 00:02:01.690 align:middle line:84%
than hooked, their legs
tufted and softer, their brows

00:02:01.690 --> 00:02:06.400 align:middle line:84%
less heavy, and mussed
rather than stern.

00:02:06.400 --> 00:02:08.259 align:middle line:84%
Maybe because it
was so warm that day

00:02:08.259 --> 00:02:10.509 align:middle line:84%
and the breezes so
gentle, their eyes

00:02:10.509 --> 00:02:13.480 align:middle line:90%
were a sunny polleny yellow.

00:02:13.480 --> 00:02:16.480 align:middle line:84%
With my binoculars, I could
see the scales on their talons.

00:02:16.480 --> 00:02:21.010 align:middle line:84%
Some muddy or brown with fish
guts, some wet and shining.

00:02:21.010 --> 00:02:23.170 align:middle line:84%
If I went in closer
still, I'd see

00:02:23.170 --> 00:02:26.260 align:middle line:84%
the mites that gather
under their wings,

00:02:26.260 --> 00:02:29.680 align:middle line:84%
commensal scavengers
feeding on scaly skin debris

00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:33.520 align:middle line:84%
and bits of feather,
fungi, and algae.

00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.600 align:middle line:84%
In whatever way, eagles
have seemed stand-offish--

00:02:37.600 --> 00:02:39.490 align:middle line:90%
these were changed.

00:02:39.490 --> 00:02:43.900 align:middle line:84%
These stretched and
scratched and breathed.

00:02:43.900 --> 00:02:47.440 align:middle line:84%
Proximity can turn a
symbol into a bird again.

00:02:47.440 --> 00:02:51.160 align:middle line:90%


00:02:51.160 --> 00:02:55.540 align:middle line:84%
When I look at a bird, any bird,
grackle, robin, the dailies,

00:02:55.540 --> 00:02:59.260 align:middle line:84%
the crowd birds, dun
sparrows, gulls, cardinals.

00:02:59.260 --> 00:03:02.710 align:middle line:84%
I feel the weight in my hands
as if given a lump of clay,

00:03:02.710 --> 00:03:06.550 align:middle line:84%
the pull toward the pointed
beak and the tapering tail,

00:03:06.550 --> 00:03:10.780 align:middle line:84%
the rounded head, the fat
dip of belly, the lines

00:03:10.780 --> 00:03:13.900 align:middle line:84%
of younger birds--
lighter, leaner.

00:03:13.900 --> 00:03:17.320 align:middle line:84%
Sandpipers are the lightest
of all, outrunning the waves,

00:03:17.320 --> 00:03:19.300 align:middle line:84%
then fast-turning
back as the water

00:03:19.300 --> 00:03:21.610 align:middle line:90%
recedes, their legs a blur.

00:03:21.610 --> 00:03:25.660 align:middle line:84%
Bodies, the gray white of an
incandescent bulb, a modeling

00:03:25.660 --> 00:03:29.500 align:middle line:84%
of shore and clouds
before rain, lighter even

00:03:29.500 --> 00:03:31.300 align:middle line:90%
than a hummingbird.

00:03:31.300 --> 00:03:36.130 align:middle line:84%
Though the ruby-throated hovers
and stills in midair, 50 wing

00:03:36.130 --> 00:03:38.980 align:middle line:84%
beats a second, its
crown of emeralds,

00:03:38.980 --> 00:03:43.810 align:middle line:84%
its bright, gemmed necklace
weighted with extravagance

00:03:43.810 --> 00:03:45.370 align:middle line:90%
to Earth.

00:03:45.370 --> 00:03:48.790 align:middle line:84%
But these are my impressions,
not necessarily what

00:03:48.790 --> 00:03:50.560 align:middle line:84%
you'd choose if
you were sculpting

00:03:50.560 --> 00:03:55.390 align:middle line:84%
state motto birds, birds for
stamps and banners and seals.

00:03:55.390 --> 00:03:59.470 align:middle line:84%
Anyway, neither one--
the skittery, the bobbly,

00:03:59.470 --> 00:04:04.750 align:middle line:84%
ever had a shot at
representing our country.

00:04:04.750 --> 00:04:11.200 align:middle line:84%
My final eagle began as a
blank, as no eagle at all.

00:04:11.200 --> 00:04:15.400 align:middle line:84%
Visiting the county dump where
I thought I might find some

00:04:15.400 --> 00:04:18.070 align:middle line:84%
turned up instead
a lot of hawks.

00:04:18.070 --> 00:04:21.459 align:middle line:84%
I drove in and passed the lines
for garden trash, bulk trash,

00:04:21.459 --> 00:04:24.250 align:middle line:84%
and household items and
parked near the dump sites

00:04:24.250 --> 00:04:26.470 align:middle line:84%
where I got out
and walked around.

00:04:26.470 --> 00:04:29.620 align:middle line:84%
I saw no eagles, but
could hold the hawks

00:04:29.620 --> 00:04:32.350 align:middle line:84%
in the tondo of my
binocular's lens

00:04:32.350 --> 00:04:35.800 align:middle line:84%
and follow their flight
against a very blue sky

00:04:35.800 --> 00:04:39.160 align:middle line:84%
with high, firm, white
clouds, until they

00:04:39.160 --> 00:04:44.380 align:middle line:84%
turn to dark v's, back lit
by bright sun in the west.

00:04:44.380 --> 00:04:48.130 align:middle line:84%
The buzzards who so gently tip
into wind while looking down,

00:04:48.130 --> 00:04:51.670 align:middle line:84%
the swallows skimming the dunes,
the mockingbirds, grackles,

00:04:51.670 --> 00:04:56.230 align:middle line:84%
red-winged blackbirds, all
moved in and out of sight.

00:04:56.230 --> 00:05:00.370 align:middle line:84%
It was quiet up on the hill
where the big bulldozers were

00:05:00.370 --> 00:05:04.530 align:middle line:84%
parked and the County keeps
cement barriers and linings

00:05:04.530 --> 00:05:08.940 align:middle line:84%
for sewers and pyramids
of pipes and barrels.

00:05:08.940 --> 00:05:12.690 align:middle line:84%
I could see the quarry
and mulch pit from there.

00:05:12.690 --> 00:05:15.780 align:middle line:84%
And all around the pear
trees were in bloom.

00:05:15.780 --> 00:05:18.870 align:middle line:84%
In the grass, not
yet high, I surprised

00:05:18.870 --> 00:05:23.490 align:middle line:84%
a woodchuck who, in turn,
surprised me and exploded

00:05:23.490 --> 00:05:26.850 align:middle line:84%
like a brown geyser,
and then ran off fast,

00:05:26.850 --> 00:05:30.810 align:middle line:84%
its heavy, loose pelt
sliding over its back.

00:05:30.810 --> 00:05:35.250 align:middle line:84%
Pelt-- the word surprised
me, just as much.

00:05:35.250 --> 00:05:39.060 align:middle line:84%
Not a word I find occasion
to use, but thinking it

00:05:39.060 --> 00:05:42.660 align:middle line:84%
suggested a body's
architecture, the way

00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:46.170 align:middle line:84%
a friend described his
experience of Lascaux,

00:05:46.170 --> 00:05:50.700 align:middle line:84%
as if the animals were drawn by
one who understood as a hunter

00:05:50.700 --> 00:05:54.390 align:middle line:84%
or creator would how
bones hinged and moved

00:05:54.390 --> 00:05:57.810 align:middle line:90%
inside the animals.

00:05:57.810 --> 00:06:01.440 align:middle line:84%
There is a peace to the far
clanking and grinding below,

00:06:01.440 --> 00:06:05.730 align:middle line:84%
muffled by low, grassy
hills and flocks singing.

00:06:05.730 --> 00:06:08.490 align:middle line:84%
And when the machines
rested, a summery

00:06:08.490 --> 00:06:12.960 align:middle line:84%
quiet rising, reinstating for
a few seconds, rich and warm

00:06:12.960 --> 00:06:18.510 align:middle line:84%
and buzzing, until things
powered up and roared again.

00:06:18.510 --> 00:06:20.040 align:middle line:90%
No eagles.

00:06:20.040 --> 00:06:23.550 align:middle line:84%
But now that I've seen
some, the thought of one,

00:06:23.550 --> 00:06:27.030 align:middle line:84%
where it might have been, the
thought of it whole and unto

00:06:27.030 --> 00:06:35.550 align:middle line:84%
itself made for me a ghost bird,
an after-image or a presaging.

00:06:35.550 --> 00:06:37.920 align:middle line:84%
How can I know what
might come to fill

00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:41.160 align:middle line:90%
this space once I'm gone?

00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:45.120 align:middle line:84%
A very real bird
there, somewhere, not

00:06:45.120 --> 00:06:46.590 align:middle line:90%
threaten-- protected.

00:06:46.590 --> 00:06:49.140 align:middle line:84%
Not dosed out in
parts, not embossed,

00:06:49.140 --> 00:06:51.570 align:middle line:84%
not marked on a
personal checklist,

00:06:51.570 --> 00:06:54.630 align:middle line:84%
not derided or
rescued, not laden,

00:06:54.630 --> 00:06:57.900 align:middle line:84%
not burdened with the
burdens of a nation.

00:06:57.900 --> 00:07:01.650 align:middle line:84%
Just yesterday, after reading
about two eagles tangled

00:07:01.650 --> 00:07:05.400 align:middle line:84%
in combat and crashing to Earth
at an airport in Minnesota,

00:07:05.400 --> 00:07:07.980 align:middle line:90%
I walked out, expecting-- what?

00:07:07.980 --> 00:07:09.570 align:middle line:90%
A sign?

00:07:09.570 --> 00:07:12.240 align:middle line:84%
There wasn't an eagle on
our block that morning.

00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:15.270 align:middle line:84%
And likely, there won't
be here in Baltimore.

00:07:15.270 --> 00:07:21.000 align:middle line:84%
But a sensation, a space
in the air, in eagle form.

00:07:21.000 --> 00:07:23.550 align:middle line:84%
It's hard to explain
what it felt like--

00:07:23.550 --> 00:07:26.520 align:middle line:90%
lit, present, ripe.

00:07:26.520 --> 00:07:27.465 align:middle line:90%
What was that?

00:07:27.465 --> 00:07:30.660 align:middle line:90%


00:07:30.660 --> 00:07:33.930 align:middle line:84%
Consider the shape of
a thought, unbound,

00:07:33.930 --> 00:07:39.120 align:middle line:84%
bound for a moment in the shape
of a bird framed as an eagle.

00:07:39.120 --> 00:07:41.730 align:middle line:90%
Then, let it mean--

00:07:41.730 --> 00:07:44.850 align:middle line:84%
not rain, not luck,
or luck's opposite,

00:07:44.850 --> 00:07:48.720 align:middle line:84%
not a stranger's arrival
or the promise of riches.

00:07:48.720 --> 00:07:53.070 align:middle line:84%
To see an eagle
and not a symbol,

00:07:53.070 --> 00:07:57.990 align:middle line:84%
you'd have to stop
wanting the bird to mean.

00:07:57.990 --> 00:08:01.200 align:middle line:84%
Such an empty, bright,
high-domed sky--

00:08:01.200 --> 00:08:06.630 align:middle line:84%
put an eagle in it, a
scrap, a dot, a spot on sun,

00:08:06.630 --> 00:08:09.720 align:middle line:84%
smudge in air moving
fast out of sight,

00:08:09.720 --> 00:08:13.770 align:middle line:84%
or looping in close,
its sharp black

00:08:13.770 --> 00:08:18.870 align:middle line:84%
and sharp white returning, gone
behind trees and back again.

00:08:18.870 --> 00:08:21.570 align:middle line:90%
Give it desires, its own.

00:08:21.570 --> 00:08:23.640 align:middle line:90%
What are they?

00:08:23.640 --> 00:08:26.445 align:middle line:84%
Would an eagle want
most from a day?"

00:08:26.445 --> 00:08:31.420 align:middle line:90%


00:08:31.420 --> 00:08:32.660 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:08:32.660 --> 00:08:33.260 align:middle line:90%
First line.

00:08:33.260 --> 00:08:33.760 align:middle line:90%
Thanks.

00:08:33.760 --> 00:08:37.510 align:middle line:90%
[APPLAUSE]

00:08:37.510 --> 00:08:40.000 align:middle line:90%