an Eagle! in a tree in my front yard!
with white head showing among the branches
of the tree that looked like a good landing spot,
a place to rest until . . .

as I looked at the scene before me, I saw,
behind the back of that majestic Eagle,
there was a Crow watching intently, suspiciously . . .

Two members of the “bird family”
who are natural enemies,
who fight over territory, food, and nesting rights –
seemingly, both felt it was impossible
to exist in the same space or
to allow the other one to live in “their” space . . .
why?

As I watched the scene unfolding before my eyes,
I suddenly heard the loud battle cries of more crows
who were quickly flying into the area,
I assume they came to help their scout who had
spotted the Eagle and apparently raised the alarm!

The crows began circling around the tree and
the Eagle chose to fly across the road to another tree –
but, as the Eagle landed in another tree,
the crows began diving one after another to
attempt to drive the Eagle out of “their” territory

as the attacks by the crows continued,
the Eagle seemed to just sit there awaiting an end
to their attacks — being outnumbered by a “mob”
attacking from different directions made it impossible
to defend successfully –
now the Eagle is a larger bird and
certainly stronger than those crows, BUT,
the Eagle chose not to fight and at first simply went
to a space on a tree further away
from the group of crows while
keeping an eye on them, and eventually
the Eagle flew away at a time
of the Eagle’s choosing
— the odds were not in favor of a “fair” fight,
so it seems the Eagle made a wise choice
—-
MY Observations as I watched this scene:

there was
1 – MOB MENTALITY
crows gathered those like them to attack one
NOT like them – their nature seems to be
it is always a “mob” attack
against a perceived threat from any who
were “different than them”

• belonging is based on being alike –
being born into the right “family” in the right place

• bottom line was
protect MY money, MY food, MY rights, MY territory –
others do not deserve any of MY stuff –
NO sharing what is MINE

and there was
2 – LOUD CHAOS
loud battle cries and three or more against one
is a strategy that works –
yelling PLUS a mob creates distractions
and makes it hard to fight against

• all communication is based in fear and anger,
self protection blinds the “mob” to all but
protecting the mob

and each participant
seemed to believe it was
3 – ALL ABOUT ME
NO compromise considered,
NO sharing of resources,
NO peace for either crows (mobs)
or Eagles (individuals)
requires constant vigilance by all
NO ONE matters but ME

I have experienced being a “crow” and
being part of a group that had identified
some “others’ as threats and, therefore,
those “others’ deserved
harassment to drive them away
AND
I have experienced being the one
like the “eagle’ who is “different” and,
therefore,
unacceptable to some

. . . I think,
after observing the battle yesterday,
I would want to be the Eagle,
standing silent when attacked and
then
choosing to be somewhere away from
all the chaos and loud yelling
hoping to find others
who want to share Life
without judging someone
for being “different” –
leave the “mob” to feel they “won”
BUT
I feel sorry for the “mob” and their
self-centeredness that keeps them
from welcoming “others” who
might share what they have
and the “mob” would end up with more
as the “mob” and the “others” share
what they have and live together
in peace with no need to “protect”
anything . . .
BUT, it is, of course,
their choice . . .
every day