21 Winters
Coming-of-Age with a Lesson in Falconery
An afternoon in Scotland heralds the approach of a would-be falconer’s 21st winter season. A lesson in falconry highlighting a startling truth: “a bird does not fly of its own free will.”
Why would a creature of wing designed for aero-dynamic lift, resist the call of flight? Would this not be an anomaly of creation itself?
The falconry trainer posits the idea of staying in a safe-house. “Would you forsake familiar environs to venture into uncharted territory?” he asks. “Should a bird not then question the dangers of soaring to unknown skies?”
Evolution has schooled the raptor in survival skills. Today it knows that resisting flight will provide it the best chance for survival. Out in the wild, it stands to face adversity, starvation, and multiple unseen threats. It clings fast then to its perch, resisting the opportunity to flap its wings beyond the guarded distance of a landing pole. It returns instead to the leathered glove of the young would-be falconer who somewhat trepidatiously eyes the winged creature from inches away, as it preys upon food particles caught in the fingers of his glove. The would-be falconer is an apprentice, his own journey not too far off from that of his feathered companion. He too apprehends an impending flight beyond the diminishing days of boyhood.