White Buzzard

I often used to see a brown Buzzard in a tree in the field opposite my front door. When I saw him, I would happily cheer, "Hi, Buzz-buzz", and he wouldn't do much, just looked my way. One day, I had the honour of watching the brown Buzzard eat. I specially bought back scraps from the butcher, a rib. As I was driving through my gate, I saw Buzz-buzz in the tree. Getting out of the car, I proudly showed him the treasure I had bought and placed the rib on the grass in sight of the tree, but also not too close to the house. I turned to go inside and closed the door, as it was still wintertime. I proceeded to carry on with my day.

At one point, as I walked past the front door, I saw from the corner of my eye that Buzz-buzz was eating the rib. Buzz-buzz knew I was watching him. Initially, he had his back to me, and I saw him turn his head 180 degrees to keep an eye on me. I backed away from the window and stood carefully behind the door, out of sight, so I could still quietly observe. I saw his wings spread to balance himself while knawing on the meat stuck to the ribs, wobbling as he tried to thrust lose the pieces of meat to swallow before moving calmly to the next. I could see he was still conscious of my eyes, so he turned to face me, which meant I could watch the whole experience, front row seat, as he ate. It was spectacular. Of course, animals have magic senses, and Buzz-buzz knows when I am returning from the butcher.

One morning, I woke up, and drew the curtains to peek out the window. Perched on the bird feeder house, I saw a beautiful young buzzard, watching, scanning for food. It became conscious of my peering excited eyes, even though I was hiding behind the curtain and flew off. I had never seen a white Buzzard before and had to confirm it was actually a Buzzard.

After that initial sighting, I often see the white Buzzard on the shed in the back garden, on the TV Arial or in the tree I used to see the brown Buzzard. I am always friendly, so upon seeing the white Buzzard, I chirp, "Hi, white Buzz-buzz". Initially, he would fly off, but now, just looks in my direction.

This morning, it was grey and quite windy. I stepped out my front door and saw the white Buzzard in the tree. I stopped and stood there, still, gently observing its beauty, when suddenly the Buzzard lifted off, opened its wings and began flying upwards. It was mesmerising to watch as it flew the wind circuits.

I watched as the Buzzard flapped its wings, lifting itself up not high, about 50 feet from the height of average trees, then it would stop flapping and float, gliding in the current, tilting left and then tilting its body right. The current would end or change, and the Buzzard would begin to flap its wings again, moving forward or circular towards another circuit. As it reached the new circuit, it would relax, spread its wings, and glide again, soaring in the air. Sometimes, in the midst of gliding, the wind would disappear, poof, and the Buzzard would drop, falling in the sky, although it didn't look tense or stressed, but completely relaxed, wings stretched, and with absolute trust that the wind would catch it, and gliding would commence.

I could almost feel it in my body, the drifting, gliding, swooping and catching as the wind took the Buzzard through the air. It was a meditative experience.

In a moment of realisation, I saw the white Buzzard soaring in the wind could symbolise life - the working, the relaxing, the dropping, the trusting and the waiting. Often in life, we expect immediate results, but actually, the life lesson is the space between doing and receiving. What could be called the trust space.

I am very thankful for the white Buzzard for giving me this experience and realisation.

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