I went looking for the moon. I found an angel, a hawk, a woodpecker, late flowers, and Gary.

Bird Droppings October 2, 2026

I went looking for the moon. I found an angel, a hawk, a woodpecker, late flowers, and Gary.

Sometimes what we don’t find makes room for what we weren’t looking for. That statement may not seem very sensible to many. I go out most mornings to photograph wildlife, sunrises, and nature. Most mornings, I see anywhere from two or three deer to twenty or more. Several times a week, a red-tailed hawk crosses my path as I travel. Most often, it flies across the road and lands in a tree or on a telephone pole. Since we moved into this house, a pair of hawks have hunted the fields and hedgerows behind our house. For some, each sighting of a specific animal has significance. I have had an affinity for red-tailed hawks for many years. By my desk at home is a framed tail feather, and even my daily meanderings, Bird Droppings, are based on the idea that not all bird droppings are bad; a red-tailed hawk feather is an example. Today, I went looking for the moon. I found an angel, a hawk, a woodpecker, late flowers, and Gary.

Some folks would say that, if you drive around enough, you will see a hawk or a woodpecker. However, there’s a point about being in the right place at the right time: synchronicity. I can tell you about most of my memorable wildlife experiences. I started later than usual this morning. Fridays are different because three of my grandchildren are here, and breakfast and getting everyone off to school come before sunrise wandering. I stepped outside for a minute and saw the moon overhead, thinking I might get a few photographs. By the time I finally headed out, however, the clouds had grown so thick that from some of my usual vantage points I couldn’t even see the lake.

I was disappointed, so I drove in a different direction.

The other day I passed a cement angel and missed getting a photograph. There was too much traffic that morning, but today I managed to sneak one in. A short distance farther down the road stood a patch of dead trees, apparently flooded below. I assume a beaver dam caused it.

Then I caught a black-and-white flutter dropping toward the ground. At first, I thought it might be a pileated woodpecker; several of the dead trunks had large holes. I backed up for another look.

High in one of the trees sat a red-tailed hawk, watching intently.

I took several photographs. Then, looking back toward the dead trees, I caught another flash of black and white—this time with a brilliant patch of red. A red-headed woodpecker was perched there, seemingly watching the hawk. And then a possibility occurred to me. Perhaps young woodpeckers had fledged and were somewhere near the ground, while the hawk was contemplating breakfast. The adult woodpecker flew toward the hawk, but a car was coming, and I had to move on. I never got to see how the story ended.

On the way home, flowers were blooming everywhere, squeezing in that last bit of color before fall and the first freeze. And back at the house, another new character was waiting for a photograph. Last evening, my grandson named our new big Joro Gary, so naturally Gary and his cousins had to pose for a few pictures too.

I went looking for the moon. I found an angel, a hawk, a woodpecker, late flowers, and Gary.

It has been nearly twenty-five summers since I had the privilege of teaching in our summer school program. They later changed from a two-week session to a two-day class schedule, from actual learning to worksheets, and the fun is gone. It was a lot of fun back then, surveying the campus flora and fauna. On day one of class, I asked how many plants were on the campus, meaning actual different kinds of plants. The answers ranged from ten to fifty. We investigated and found as many plants on campus as we could. We pressed them and labeled them. Most of my summer school was hands-on, and I had a near 100% pass rate on the biology or physical science final.

 “Truth does not become more true by virtue of the fact that the entire world agrees with it, nor less so even if the whole world disagrees with it.” Maimonides

That statement is significant in education and politics today. As the summer school session went on, we pressed and labeled over 100 different kinds of plants, trees, and shrubs directly on the school campus, and still had many more to go. So, what is the significance of a red-tailed hawk? Really, it is only one of several raptor species in Georgia, and it is not uncommon to see it sitting along the roadside, often waiting for prey in cleared areas of easements and fields. However, it has been nearly a month since I saw one, which is significant because I look for them. Much like my students, until they looked, they really did not know how many plants were so close at hand.

I am also always amazed: when we look too hard, we miss what is in front of us. Yesterday, I was not directly looking for a hawk, and it appeared. A single second or two later, and I would have missed it. Life is much like this. I spent many hours looking for something simple, only to find that I had looked where I began and still didn’t see it.

I don’t normally save an editorial page, but today I found one from many, many years ago that I had filed away. I happened to glance through the pages of the AJC (Atlanta Journal-Constitution), and several editorials on one page caught my attention. One opinion was about the sin tax the governor proposed on cigarettes and alcohol, and how legislators now look for other ways to cut the budget instead of doing good things like purchasing green space for the state, laying off employees in the university system, and cutting TANF. It was basically finding $400 million in other ways to cut rather than tax cigarettes. It’s interesting how we think.

Across the page, teenagers consume alcohol, a short article on underage drinking, and how teenagers consume 25% of alcohol, and interestingly, alcohol tax and cigarette tax were both indirectly conceived as a means of cutting down teen consumption. It has been a few years since the state flag issue, and it ran for an eighth of a page and included several letters to the editor, including one from a man in Griffin, Georgia, quoting Gandhi. 

“Any country would prefer its own despot over a foreign-controlled system, no matter how benevolent that government might be,” Mahatma Gandhi.

This letter was about our taking over Iraq, and the Gandhi quote was in reference to Britain’s takeover of India so many years ago. Now I recall why I saved these pages nearly eighteen years ago. There was also an interesting letter concerning France. “France might be the voice of reason”. Another headline read to the effect, “US States IRAQ compliance not the issue, we will go to war, it is only a matter of when”. I am rambling, looking for red-tailed hawks and reading eighteen-year-old AJC editorials all in one sitting, and still only three quotes for today.

I am concerned: are we rational as we wake each morning and go about our days? We have been watching a war unfold, and now, depending on the moment, it is a war, or it is not a war, which is, for most of us, simply on the news, although numerous deaths have been hitting home daily. Even though many of us know friends and family who are indirectly involved in ICE raids and National Guard mobilizations, it still feels like somewhere else. Several days ago, as I looked for a red-tailed hawk and was frustrated because no matter how hard I looked, I could not find one, my son would see one and say, “Dad, a hawk,” and I would miss it. The hawks were there, but for some reason I didn’t see them; I didn’t turn quickly enough, or maybe they flew by and were gone. It was not until I stopped forcing the issue that the hawk appeared. We can set lofty goals and seek to fulfill them, but so many times we miss the accomplishments along the way.

Going back to that old newspaper, Rose Kennedy had a quote about moments versus milestones.  A few days ago, I used a phrase from a former professor at Eastern College, Dr. Tony Campolo: “CARPE DIEM.” It is the title of one of his books and is Latin for “seize the day.” I was skeptical about using a quote with a religious tinge, but C. S. Lewis is not a typical theologian, so I may borrow a quote from Mr. Lewis.

“Relying on God has to begin all over again every day as if nothing had yet been done.” C.S. Lewis 

It is about the moment right now: seize the day, put aside the milestones, and seize the moment as I reread Lewis’s quote each time with a different view or understanding. Perhaps as I was looking for a hawk, I missed the point until I stopped looking and, in his words, found the answer. Each day is a chance again to start anew, fresh as if we can begin again and ponder, think, or seize the day, repeatedly. So, for today, CARPE DIEM, and as always, please keep all in harm’s way on your mind and in your hearts, and please always give thanks, namaste.

My family and friends, I do not say this lightly,

Mitakuye Oyasin

(We are all related)

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