Today, as we begin another cold January in the Midwest, I took a photo journey to August, 2013, in Northern Minnesota. The family was staying on Pelican Lake, only about 50 miles from the boundary waters with Canada. We were staying in the cabins at Grey Wolf Lodge, where visitors always feel welcome and at home.
Early one morning, as I accompanied the boys out to the docks for fishing, it became apparent that something awesome was going on – the birds were waking up on the docks. Watching the gulls and pelicans wake up, groom, stretch, fly and swim quickly became my obsession. The classic text Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach came quickly to mind. My first reading of that book was in 1983, and I now read it regularly each year.
Every detail of that book, and the story of Jonathan, rushed through my consciousness over and over as I watched the birds awake to another day of flight. I couldn’t help but remember the basic premise of flight, and those birds which fly not for food but for flight itself.
Standing on the shore of the best fishing in North America, all I could think about was the sunrise, the birds, and the flight paths each of them were preparing for that day.
I have added a gallery with some of my photo memories from that morning, and will forever be grateful for the birds, the sunrise, and those like Jonathan whose flight paths alway follow their hearts.
