Over the last two weeks my dog has stopped at the same place on our morning walk to stare into the top of one of the tall trees. She is not scanning the horizon or sniffing for scent, just looking intensely into the upper branches of the old leafless trees. She stops and sits and gazes at the young eagle staring down at her.
She will not walk forward or turn around, or even break her connection with the winged predator above her. If I manage to move her forward, she walks haltingly and looks back over her shoulder at the eagle. The same happens if I turn her around and head home. She moves a bit more quickly, but still looks back at the wild bird of prey.
I have no idea what she is thinking, and am reticent to attribute emotions or spiritual meaning to these encounters. While it seems that she is communing with the wild bird, I am unwilling to interpret her actions by anthropomorphizing her behaviors. And yet, there is clearly some reason for her choice to gaze upward. I wonder, was she an eagle in a past life?
Is this a message for her, or perhaps one she is trying to teach me? The eagle teaches us to follow our heart, to open to opportunities that are more than we could have dreamed. Is this a message for both of us and our partnership? I have to answer, but do know that the next time she stops and gazes upward into the wild eyes of freedom, I will join her.