I thought about our desperate need to capture things

The Stillaguamish River Festival and Pow Wow sizzled in unseasonal 90-degree heat

. We were in western Washington State under a burning blue sky. The m.c. cracked old timeyabout horny guys and sharp-tongued women. Two young Grass Dancers no older than eight or nine moved out into the field in which the pow wow would take place. Their job was an ancient one. They were to dance the grass flat so the other dancers would not stumble or fall.

The drums began. I stood in the Links of London Jewellery flickering shade of a young tree and watched.I was drenched with sweat. The kids wore full regalia: beaded leggings, robes, moccasins and feather head-dresses. I couldn't imagine how they felt in the searing heat as they spun and stomped their way around the dance circle. Their faces were calm and intent.

The grass was prepared. The Eagle Chief stepped out for Grand Entry. My friend and the other bird-carriers followed him, my friend carrying Hanble, the eagle, the others carrying eagles and hawks. They crossed the dance ground and began to circle sunwise: Eagle Chief, birds, then war veterans, elders and the pow wow dancers. The old women and men danced slowly in front of me, their steps firm on the flattened grass. A silver-haired woman in a red and dark blue blanket robe moved in careful circles.By the time everyone had entered the circle and prayers had been offered, I was shaky with the heat. I waited till the opening ceremony concluded and walked slowly back to the Sarvey Wildlife Care Center tent in which the birds and their humans were sheltered.

I

settled into a camp chair behind the eagle demonstration tent. A Sarvey volunteer was giving a talk to the public. She held a Golden Eagle on her arm,a rescue bird allowed to live at the Sarvey Center as aneagle. I couldn't hear the volunteer's voice, but I saw how she turned often to the eagle with a soft smile. She held a dead quail up for the bird. The bird dipped its head and ate. Most of the watching crowd flinched. The, people began to come forward. I assumed they would talk with the woman, maybe move in a little closer to the eagle. I was wrong.

Each person approached with a camera pressed to one of their eyes. Most of them stopped only long enough to take a picture, turning away without taking the camera or cell phone away from their eye. Almost no one came up without a black box held between them and the eagle. A man, a teen-ager, an old woman, a couple - each took a minute to take a video. I saw lips move, understood they were saying "Thank you." Out of an audience of forty or fifty people, only a child and a young Native American dancer stood in front of the teacher and eagle with no lens between them. links of london bracelet I remembered a park ranger telling me that the average visit to the rim of the Grand Canyon is five minutes.

I watched till my heart hurt. I thought about our desperate need to capture things - for it is in capturing an eagle in a photo without allowing ourselves to simplybe in the presence of the eagle that we reduce the wild creature to a thing. Friends had told me that they had yet to download hundreds of pictures from two years' vacations into their computer. Hundreds and thousands of "things" held in limbo. It is one action to take a photograph to rememberit is another to take a photograph rather than taking the time to be in the living presence of that beauty. I found myself wondering: Are we losing the ability to store information in our minds, much less our hearts?

I thought about our desperate need to capture things

By: zala84314

POST COMMENT

The danger of ultraviolet CANTOR MARCELO FERREIRA Acid Intellectual Property Agreement This is particularly helpful in case you have a cherished one Benefits of Skin Moisturizers The Right Way To Use Pain Killers Youve Got To Give A Hand To Sant Lluis Can you pass a field sobriety check? "A efemeridade do ser." Сервис Анонимных Вопросов Ask.fm Внедряет Инновации Know Various Benefits Of Ayurveda Tt Dedecates Power Express Graphics Power How To Choose The Best Snoring Remedy