I’m back in the pattern of waking up way too early, regardless of what time I go to bed. Last night it was 11:00, which is typical. The first time I checked the clock this morning it was 5:15. I didn’t get out of bed for another hour, but I didn’t really get much sleep after that. It’s a little frustrating.
My husband didn’t do any better, so we tried to make the best of the situation by going for a walk around the lake. About fifteen minutes in, we were rewarded by the sight of an American Bald Eagle perched high in a tree. A blue jay was darting around it, screeching like mad. The eagle was unimpressed.
Our second major wildlife sighting was a Great Blue Heron. It was stalking along the edge of the lake, hunting for fish. We watched it for a few minutes, hoping to see it catch one, but no luck. Of course the only reason we see things like this when we are out walking is that I’m not carrying bird repellant, aka my camera.
Unfortunately, in addition to the wildlife, there were way more people than I expected to see out at 6:45 am. Apparently there are a whole lot of running clubs who are out at the crack of dawn on a Saturday. Roving gangs of people huffing and puffing and sweating kept disturbing the peaceful morning. While I’m sure they were getting great exercise, I’m also sure they didn’t see the eagle or the heron. There’s something to be said for exercising at a leisurely pace.