Noland Trail - Derek Bryant

In our quests to try and have a conversation with nature we truly are oblivious to most of the signs we are sent. While walking along the Noland trail I made my journey down the trail trying to keep an open mind and open ears to all that was going on around me. I was sure that as long as I kept walking deeper into the trail I would surely find something to suggest nature trying to talk to me. Sure enough I was sent a signal but it was not what I expected, as usual. What I saw was an osprey with a feather missing from its right wing. But it was flying back towards the bridge. Something about this told me that I needed to just follow the osprey and see where he led me. After walking a while back towards the bridge I had lost sight of the osprey and was wondering if I was done and should turn back around and sure enough there he was again overhead still flying towards the bridge, so I kept going. Finally I made my way to the beach beyond the bridge and found him perched in his nest on a single pier pillar left standing, with a nest built on it. I had been called back to the shore to watch as the osprey and the swallows argued over the fish. This event startled me for I was not expecting to be led back away from the trail. I felt at peace as I enjoyed my place in the scene. I sat and watched for a while but not truly paying attention to all things happening around. I simply enjoyed the soft heat of the sun and the gentle breeze off the coast and the lolling of the waves on the shore and the calls of the birds. As if nature was reminding me of what lessons I had learned before. As a surfer the first lesson is while we may control the smaller waves and can chose how we move about them, we have no control of the big waves and can do nothing but go with the flow and just keep our balance. It was like in this scene nature was reminding me of this and to keep all lessons in my mind.