Yesterday afternoon, I returned to my office, logged onto CNN and found that the Dow had dropped another 800 points. Preferring to ignore the details, I logged off, turned on some music, propped my feet on the desk and enjoyed the view from my window. A red-tailed hawk soared above the campus, drifting slowly to the north; I soon felt a lot better.
While politicians, financial gurus and a worried public grapple with the worldwide crisis, the natural world goes on as usual. Leaves change, elk bugle, waterfowl congregate along flyways and whales head for tropical birthing grounds. Reacting solely to biologic processes, plants and animals do not worry about tomorrow. We humans, hobbled by fear and uncertainty, can find relief from our stress by retreating, however briefly, to the peaceful world of nature.
The red-tail, unlike many bird species, is not programmed to migrate south as winter approaches; he has no knowledge of the Gulf Coast and is perfectly content (and equipped) to endure the cold, gray weather of a Midwestern winter. A few months from now, I may see him again, huddled on a limb along I-70, oblivious to the wind and snow as he scouts for mice in the dead grass below. Perhaps the Dow will have recovered by then; either way, it won't bother him!
