Fly like an eagle...

My birthday was last Wednesday, and I kept meaning to write something about that—especially after the wonderful day I had—but I seem to get derailed much more easily these days, and here it is a week and day later.

I had a lovely day. Several months ago, my dearly beloved asked me if I wanted to go to Rockbridge for lunch on my birthday. Rockbridge is rainbow trout and game ranch and is probably my favorite place to eat.

We rarely go though because he really dislikes driving there, and I don’t blame him for that. The drive takes a while. It’s 40 miles and change on a narrow two-lane road through the Ozark Hills. It is not a relaxing drive for the person who is driving. There are lots of unexpected twists and turns and hills, and turns on the hills – like the blueprint for a theme park roller coaster.

The woods are beautiful this time of year. The trout is delicious.

The river is wonderful.

But before we got there, we had an errand to run first. As we drove down the highway, just as we came even with our house, a bald eagle flew right over the car. We don’t see eagles very often, so that was a great visual gift.

Memories of birthdays tend to mush together as the years add up.  I know I couldn’t tell you what I did last year for my birthday… but I do remember very vividly the birthday I celebrated 10 years ago in Los Angeles. It was the last birthday that I celebrated with my mom.

I already wrote about it here so I won’t go over it again.

But I was looking at the pictures I took on that vacation, remembering my mom and the laughter and good time we had with the family, and the one of my dad putting together my birthday dessert really hit home. He frequently went around without a shirt, so I doubt a day went by that I didn’t see the “screaming eagle” tattoo that was so popular during WWII.

Seeing the eagle last Wednesday was a lovely reminder of him.