Wow. I got NOTHING to write that’s remotely “fantabulous.” Or maybe everything is so fantabulous that it is just part of the daily parade of wonder (I suspect the second).
It seems like everybody is struggling with the present moment and striving to know the future. This morning, as I made my coffee, I thought that if Trump wins, my friend’s plan that we all go to Patagonia (I would love that) isn’t very practical for me because of my family and the fact that I can only get a 3 month visa. So, I’ve decided to ignore the whole thing and focus on the fantabulous stuff that’s not going anywhere.
24 Tao Te Ching
He who stands on tiptoe is not steady
He who strides cannot maintain the pace.
He who makes a show is not enlightened.
He who is self-righteous is not respected.
He who boasts achieves nothing.
He who brags will not endure.
According to followers of the Tao,
“These are extra food and unnecessary baggage.”
They do not bring happiness.
Therefore followers of the Tao avoid them.
Lao Tzu
The other evening I took Bear to the Refuge. There were people with dogs (leashed dogs, bless their owners) so Bear and I turned to take a different road. Just as we turned, a Northern Harrier hawk flew low over us and landed in some willow trees along the trail we were about to take. We hadn’t walked far before I smelled dead animal and soon the hawk, disturbed by us, took flight in front of me. He joined his mate who was perched in a dead tree beside an abandoned homestead across the highway (well, it’s called a highway…). Bear and I soon passed the smell.
Storms were coming over the San Juans and from the trail we were on, we were close to the mountains, nothing between us. I thought to take a photo but I felt more like looking at it than photographing it. The hawks waited in the tree, knowing, I guess, that Bear and I would have to turn around. We got back to Bella and onto the highway just as the storm broke loose, washing my windows and my car.
https://ragtagcommunity.wordpress.com/2020/08/31/rdp-monday-fantabulous/
Women's Wilderness Legend “Summer is the season of inferior sledding” - Inuit proverb 
We have Northern Harriers at the beach. I’ve learned a lot trying to photograph them. They nest in the dunes and if you get too close they dive-bomb you. I get so caught up in watching them I forget the camera is around my neck.
We didn’t have them in California where I hiked for so many years, so this is a real thrill.
I think you are right – there is wonder everywhere if we allow ourselves to be awed! I bet those hawks were magnificent. I so rarely wash my car that I rely on a good storm to do the trick!!
I almost never wash my car. Living so long in drought ridden California I grew to think car washing was almost immoral and we’re in a drought here, too, now. 😦
That hawk is fantabulous!
I didn’t take the photo — but yeah. He’s a beautiful thing. One of them left me a feather a couple of months ago and it’s unbelievable.
Wow, I get the odd kestrel feather. I see MR Buzzard quite often but none area s magic as the one you showed us.
What kind of buzzard?
Just a Common Buzzard in Norfolk Uk.
I love those guys. Some my best friends are red tail hawks (US version and very common) and red-shouldered hawks (none in Colorado). Americans confuse buzzard with vulture so we call them hawks, but they aren’t. Really, they’re just magnificent.
Redtail’s are magnificent. They have them at the zoo here.
It drifts away.
And all your money won’t another minute buy.
What a beautiful way to spend the day (no sense worrying about if Trump wins – other countries won’t let us in anyway…at this point. It’s also too depressing). I saw an eagle yesterday perched way up in a tree. A first for me. So cool.
That’s something to live for ! ❤
Very true ❤️
That’s just it Martha, so many fantabulous things in the here and now, we just have to pay attention!
🐾❤️🍃❄️🌈🏔