Every time I notice them in our yard trying to gobble up the suet cakes or scaring away smaller birds from the bird feeder loaded with seeds, I do one of two things. I either open up a door to clap my hands and shout at them or I pound on a window to frighten them away.
They are crows – black ol’ ugly crows that seem to be in abundance in our neck of the woods.
Last month while Papa and I were traveling in Arizona, we visited the Grand Canyon. If you’re a regular reader of Mama’s Empty Nest, you’ll remember my previous posts about the foggy conditions that prevented us from seeing this natural wonder and then miraculously, the rain stopped, the sun appeared, and the fog lifted.
At the lookout point where that occurred, I was camera happy – shooting photo after photo trying to capture as much of the magnificent sight as I could. As we were walking back to our rental car, however, another sight stopped me in my tracks.
A raven. Not a black crow, but a jet black, hooked-beak huge raven. He was just sitting on a tree branch alongside the paved path to the parking lot. Close, and I do mean close. So close, I could have touched him.
A bit startled to see such a large wild bird up close and personal, I stopped and thought my presence would surely make him fly away or at least move away from me.
Nope. He wasn’t skittish at all but instead just peered at me with those coal black eyes, cocking his head back and forth. I imagine he might have thought I was going to throw him something to eat but I wasn’t.
And he just kept staring at me. I raised my camera thinking “Now, he’ll move away.” Instead, he posed for me and I took a couple of photos. Finally, just a bit unnerved by his nerves of steel and thinking I really didn’t want to get pecked by that long, hooked beak, I walked away.
As we continued our drive along Desert View Drive, the fog began to reappear. Once more, it settled itself down into the craggy rocks and began to obliterate our view of the canyon.
I couldn’t stop thinking about that raven and marveling over its behavior and obvious lack of fear around humans. And I just couldn’t get over the way that raven peered at me so closely. So what would anyone with an age-old college degree in English think?
Of course, Edgar Allan Poe’s famous poem, “The Raven”, came to my mind. Was that huge black bird trying to tell me something? Was that the last glimpse of the Grand Canyon I would get to view? Was it even worth continuing on in hopes we would get another chance to set eyes on it again?
After all, in the poem the famous line is “Quoth the Raven “Nevermore.”
I’m happy to report the raven was dead wrong. The fog did continue but as we neared the end of that section of the national park, clouds shifted away, the sun made its appearance once more, and the fog dissipated.
We were gifted with yet more scenic views of the grandest canyon on earth. And I was reminded of something my mother used to tell me, “Never say never.”
It’s a good reminder for life. Never give up. Don’t wake up in the morning with regrets because you didn’t keep going. If you get a chance, take it. If that chance changes your life, so be it.
“Take a chance and go for it. It’s that simple! Don’t say, ‘No.’ Saying, ‘No,’ may result in ‘never,’ and you don’t ever want to subscribe to a philosophy of ‘never.’ ~ Charles Sullivan
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