Patience

When it comes to bird watching, you have to have patience. You have to be able to move slowly in the shadows, to stand perfectly still, to hold your position for the longest of time. It is a test of wills. You against the silence of the woods. And sometimes you get lucky. Sometimes you get to see a glimpse of the magic which birds of prey adds to the world. Moments like that will haunt you forever. A moment like that can be the beginning of the strangest of journeys, or simply change your life.

"They were above a stand of pines, right there. And then they were gone. One minute my pair of goshawks was describing lines from physics textbooks in the sky, and then nothing at all. I don't remember looking down, or away. Perhaps I blinked. Perhaps it was as simple as that. And in that tiny black gap which the brain disguises they'd dived into the wood."

"H is for Hawk" by Helen Macdonald, p. 9

This book is the story of how Helen Macdonald became the owner of a hawk. Of her struggle to train it. In between the pages you will find beautiful descriptions of the nature surrounding her, and she will enlighten you about falcons and hawks. Her words will make you long to get out there, to see the wildness for yourself and, perhaps, to be a part of it all.

Sticky toffee pudding and my book - loving quiet days at work.