Why today?

Why today, of all days, am I finally giving in to the impulse to start a blog?

I've started a new job which takes me away from the minute to minute life of the organization to which I belong-- Arise for Social Justice-- and I'm finding I need a way to share what I see in the everyday life of this city and this country.

I went out today-- Sunday-- to buy food and shades for my windows and as I was driving through Six Corners, I saw in the sky ahead of me what I thought was a bald eagle. I pulled to the curb to watch and soon I could see his white head and and broad black wings. Two guys were walking by, one young and one not so young, and I opened my car door and said, "Hey, you guys, that's a bald eagle!" and pointed up. After a split second of hesitation (Hey, who is this woman?), they looked up and we all watched for a few seconds. "Is that the one nesting on the Memorial Bridge that I saw on TV?" Then he corrected himself. "No, that's a falcon."
I drove on, they walked on, in my rearview mirrow I saw them look up another time.

I've seen three bald eagles in my life, all in the last two years-- one at the Arise office on Rifle St., across from the Mill River, one a quarter mile away on Allen St., and the one today.

I guess Six Corners would be considered one of the "bad" sections of the city. The people who live in Six Corners struggle to live decent lives and are the same people mocked and stereotyped by posters on MassLive who hide behind made-up names.

Under the circling arc of the eagle
we are all free to look up.