FRIDAYEXTRA !
The Daily Astorian
Friday, June 10, 2016
Weekend Edition
ANONYMOUS
BEAUTIFUL
HUMANITY
Author shares an encounter with a family
By MATT LOVE
Special to The Daily Astorian
S
everal months ago, I stood atop a sand
dune on a misty morning and from a
perpendicular vantage point, watched
the ocean. No one but Sonny the ancient husky
and I were present on the South Jetty at Fort
Stevens State Park if you didn’t count the bald
eagle not more than 30 yards away, perched on
the remains of a trestle, surveying the water,
seemingly a sentinel for democracy.
He was as regal-looking a bald eagle as I
had ever seen in my life. I could have cast a
ballot right there for this bird to become the
next p resident of the United States. Maybe I’ll
write her in.
The Pacifi c appeared torpid and gray. The
waves seemed listless, as if they didn’t want
to come ashore, but they had no choice. It was
their antediluvian role to roll and never stop
rolling.
Nothing intrigues me more than watching
the sea when it barely moves. I fi nd the appar-
ent stasis of the greatest force on the planet
utterly transfi xing, and on this misty morning,
I was transfi xed.
A noise broke the spell. I looked up and
noticed a man and two women approaching
me. I watched them as they came into view.
He was in his 80s and sporting a SLR cam-
era with a long lens around his neck. His wore
a fedora with a little feather in the band and
wore the hat well. The women looked around
50 and had the appearance of being develop-
mentally disabled twins. They too, had SLRs
with telephotos slung like the man. They were
all old-school fi lm cameras, I could tell that.
Sonny was blocking the trail so I held her
collar, and let the trio go around us. The man
and I exchanged greetings and I eavesdropped
while watching them pass.
The man was leading the women, his daugh-
ters I presumed, to the bald eagle to take pho-
tographs. He gave gentle, precise instructions
and they responded by wordlessly preparing
their cameras to shoot. They closed in on the
bald eagle and the noble creature didn’t move.
The family crept within 10 yards and then shut-
ters started clicking. Five seconds later, the bird
lifted off toward the ocean and each member of
the family clapped their hands together. They
all applauded the bald eagle.
A few seconds later, the man and his daugh-
ters continued on their way down the trail and
they disappeared from view. I was bit surprised
to discover that I had tears in my eyes.
I would have paid $1,000 for one of the
family’s eagle shots, not because of the likely
beautiful image, but for the story behind it,
the story I alone witnessed, that I recount here
because it was the best glimpse of anonymous
beautiful humanity I’ve observed in a long,
long time, and believe me, I look all the time.
We’re not done yet.
Matt Love is author and editor of 14 books,
including his debut novel, “The Great Birth-
right.” They are available at coastal book-
stores, through www.nestuccaspitpress.com
and local libraries.
The small moments in life are often the most rewarding.
Matt Love/Submitted Photo
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