Not long after I get home every day, I go out to my backyard, to see how my plants are doing, to run the drip and to check the pool.
There she was. About 8 inches tall. On the top step of the pool, her legs stretched up as far as possible, her head titled back so she could breathe.
She might have been there for a minute or for hours.
I got her out of the pool with the skimmer net and placed her on the ground.
She didn’t move from that spot for over 20 minutes. Maybe her legs were sore. Or cold. Maybe she was in shock.
I approached her twice. Both times she spread her little wings completely (the pattern on the inside of her feathers was gorgeous) and opened her curved beak all the way.
Fierce little hawk.
Leave me alone, Jeffrey. I can tend to myself.
Later she flew away.
The wonders of the world are manifold and stupendous.
