An angel lended her a helping hand

I saw an angel this weekend but didn't see any eagles. As a matter of fact, I didn't see any birds at all.

We usually go to the Cleveland home and garden show around this time of year to celebrate my birthday. We meet my brother-in-law and his wife, Diane, for supper at a wonderful Italian restaurant. It makes for a nice get together. We had discussed doing something different this year as the displays at the home show had been similar the past few years and we had all gotten together a month or so ago.

I saw a small blurb in a magazine about an Eagle Watch Weekend in Bloomington. I wasn't quite sure where Bloomington was but knew it was closer than Cleveland. I checked out the Web site and found out that there were various programs offered throughout the weekend. I talked it over with my husband. We both agreed that it sounded interesting even though we are not "birders."

We booked tickets and a room. I found the camera in hopes of getting some great pictures of the magnificent creatures that have wingspans wider than I am tall.

We were looking forward to getting away for a few days. The weather forecast didn't look promising and as the week went on we became more apprehensive. I reluctantly canceled our plans on Friday.

It is a good thing I did because the weatherman was correct, for once. We never would have made it. When I looked outside Saturday morning I saw that our car had sprouted a fin. There was a snowdrift on top of the passenger side of the car. If I didn't know better I would have thought I was back in the 1950's.

By the time my husband arrived home from delivering papers I had half the driveway cleaned. I left the "fin" on the hood of the car.

I went back outside later to finish shoveling. I had only tossed a couple scoops of snow to the side when the angel appeared. He didn't have wings. He wasn't wearing a long white robe. In fact, he looked downright scruffy. He was ensconced in a Bobcat and in a few seconds had cleared the rest of the drifts from the end of the driveway. I thought I caught a glimpse of his halo as he waved and bounced down the snow-covered street but it could have been my imagination

According to what I have read, eagles stay in the Bloomington area in the winter. Maybe we can pick a different weekend or maybe we can go next year. I have seen an eagle in the wild once before. It was scavenging by the side of the road. The feathers on its head and tail were whiter than the snow outside. The brown on its back was more lustrous than the finest mink coat. It truly deserved to be our national bird.

The eagles will be around for many winters to come. They are survivors. One of these days we will see them. Maybe. It won't matter one way or the others to the eagles.

If we hadn't missed the eagles we would have missed the angel. He reinforced my belief that good people are everywhere. Perhaps that is why he was so happy. He knew he was not alone in doing good works.[[In-content Ad]]