Beautiful Weekend

What a beautiful weekend we are having here in gorgeous Northern Virginia. It's about 65 degrees outside, but the wind is blowing like crazy. The sky is as clear as can be. People are out running, riding bikes, walking dogs, doing stuff.

This morning I went to Woodlawn to pick up the piece I had entered in the needlepoint exhibit, and on the drive down GW Parkway, I saw one of the bald eagles (was it Alex or Belle?) dive down into the Potomac and come up with a fish in its talons that my husband would have been proud to catch. It was very large. And then it took off down the river toward Alexandria (which made me think it had to be either Alex or Belle). It was a fantastic sight. I know of the nest near my house (which I really don't think is being used except as a stopping point), and the now-famous one just south of Alexandria. But then, further south on GW Parkway, I saw a bunch of photographers with giant telephoto lenses checking out yet a third nest. I didn't see any eagles, but I don't think there would have been three photographers if there had not been eagles.

It is so damned exciting, having all these eagles! Bald eagles, flying over the nation's capitol...imagine that! And as I turned onto Spout Run on my return drive home, I saw a huge golden raptor flying across the road. I don't know what it was. It was SO big. At first I thought it was one of the bald eagles, but it was the wrong color: all golden. I don't think it was a red tail either, because it was a lot lighter than any red tailed hawk I've seen. Are they a different color here than they are in Texas?

This is so thrilling! So many raptors, so little time to see them!

Tomorrow a friend is coming over to paint. It's supposed to be beautiful again. I hope that we will be able to sit outside on the front porch and enjoy the weather while we paint our watercolors. And wouldn't it be wonderful if one of the eagles or a hawk flew by just for us?