After traveling to Crystal River, Florida today my friend Sherry and I SUP boarded to Three Sisters Springs in search of our manatee friends. The warm weather had enticed them out to feed so the springs were just bubbling away with a quiet serenity that was appealing given the usual crowd of people floating, splashing and screeching.
We paddled around for a while and I played with my underwater camera and video from atop the board. It was nice to be outside on water connecting with the palm trees, cypress trees, clear water, and wildlife.
The anhinga’s perch
An anhinga was perched in a wildly arching palm tree for a bit then decided to go on a hunt. I paddled around the edge of the spring watching it weave in and out of tree roots and rocks searching for dinner. A large mullet was shadowing the bird probably waiting for it to stir up some plant litter for its dinner or a bug or something else it might eat. It was weird though as anhinga’s eat fish.
Of course, it was a large mullet…but still. Aren’t they suppose to be ‘enemies?’ Are we really supposed to hang out with those who might destroy us? Haven’t they been taught that they are NOT supposed to be friends? Or even help each other? (smile)
They seemed very comfortable with each other so I’m guessing they had their negotiations and settled on a way to be together peacefully. It appeared that they were utterly comfortable with each other and were even friends. It was quite awesome to observe.
Perhaps we humans could learn from their behavior.
Two days of passively observing brown pelicans at very close proximity helped me get through Basic Orientation: Animal Life 101.
The conclusions I’ve drawn thus far? Silent observation and attention to detail give the best learning experiences. Staying in beginner’s mind is the clue.
Shoshin is a concept in Zen Buddhism meaning “beginner’s mind”. It refers to having an attitude of openness, eagerness, and lack of preconceptions when studying a subject, even if studying at an advanced level. Learning from animals necessitates using the quality of curious mind. Be quiet and observe.
Teacher number five
Two experiences during my first ‘classes’ left me completely baffled. One happened at the end of each day’s observations and with each one, I was confronted with very aggressive energy from males. One was middle school age and the other an adult.
Class One: The pelicans had just settled down to nap and had been sunning after a particularly cold night. I was tucked in a corner of the pier with them, sunning on a bench. A group of four kids walked up and one drew his fishing rod like a sword and started trying to hit the dozing birds. It was calm and peaceful one moment and the next erupted into chaotic, mean-spirited energy.
Class Two: I was sitting with the pelicans in the same place–a corner tucked around from a fish-cleaning station. The birds were active in preening, perching, communicating with each other and yes, some were very interested in what the guy was doing with his dead fish. Suddenly a blast of cold water shot out and around the corner, splashing me and soaking the pelicans. But it didn’t stop. It kept coming and blasting the birds in their faces in their corner. They had little opportunity to leave.
I was just trying to catch a nap and then some human started spraying me with cold water
It stopped so I just let it go. Then it started again and this time after it quit I peeked around the corner and asked the guy to please stop spraying so far around the corner as I was getting wet…but more importantly, my camera was getting wet.
He kept spraying and finally blasted a bird perched on the rail for probably 30 seconds in the face and the bird could do nothing but sit there and take it. I yelled at this point: STOP IT!
He finished cleaning his fish and then came around the corner and cursed me for being on the pier. Told me I had no business taking photographs of the birds. That I had no right to stand up for myself or the birds because they shit all over the deck.
I attempted to explain I paid the fee to walk on the pier like he did…it didn’t matter. I also reminded him that I wasn’t feeding the birds and I had seen him toss fish remnants overboard where pelicans promptly flew for their meal. He blasted me with hate and words as he had done the pelicans with yelling and blasts of water.
Teacher number three
ARE YOU SERIOUS?!?! I wanted to scream. But finally I just looked at him like he had lost his mind and didn’t say anything. And I continued to breathe and stay as focused as possible.
Advanced teacher
Today while SUP boarding I thought back to the encounters and pondered the entire lesson the pelicans were teaching me. What I resonated to so perfectly was the simple beauty of every movement, the peaceful quiet of the pelican world. I smiled at their squabbles over gifted fish and enjoyed the soft passes of their wings on my legs or hands as they opened them to fly off or argue over a fish. I haven’t felt that much peace in weeks and it was from letting go of thinking and just being and observing with an open mind.
If I look at the encounters with the two aggressive males from the point of view of a pelican, I notice two things. First, pelicans really don’t take it personally when humans are sometimes mean, abusive, and hateful. Second, they pop their bills a couple times at the offending party and forget about it.
Perhaps I just need to observe behavior that is abusive and angry and mean-spirited and not form judgments. Just notice it and carry on. But it is challenging when it is directed at innocent beings who are doing nothing but showing up for free food. It’s difficult to know how to balance observing passively and taking action.
Spread your wings, let it go
How does anger, aggressive behavior and meanness affect me…from the perspective of beginners mind? Really it doesn’t if I don’t take it personally. If I can simply observe and not take that aggression or anger inside of me, it has no affect at all. I can advocate for those who need protection but I don’t have to take the insanity of the offender personally. That would be rather silly.
Perhaps I passed the exam from my first official class. The bonus question? How does a pelican deal with humans who adore them and cherish them? Observe, breathe, go back to preening in the sun.
Two days ago I launched my SUP board at a small, sandy beach on the river and noticed otter tracks. Native traditions speak of the otter as teaching playfulness. The water is an ancient symbol for the feminine, creative forces and emotions in life so otter’s play reminds us that we all need to allow our creative side a chance to come out and play and to not take life so seriously.
As I paddled I thought about the tracks and was excited to know that an otter had visited our little beach and reminded me to lighten up. Life had been very serious and heavy for the past couple of weeks so the otter’s visit was a little nudge to play a bit.
The otter tracks were still present when I launched my board this morning. It was foggy and cool, the dampness permeated everything. The cypress trees stood as silent centennials along the river bank. The absence of wind made paddling especially enjoyable as my board sliced through the mirror-like surface.
I rounded a bend in the river and to my horror saw a pelican floating head down in the river. It was obviously dead but I wanted to remove it from the water to offer respect and to acknowledge its life….and death. I knelt down on my board and grasped a wing and pulled. It hardly moved. I looked closer and saw its neck was fully extended with the bill potentially stuck in the shallow bottom. I grasped both wings and pulled very hard. Nothing. I tried several times but made no progress.
How was this possible? In over 50 years of life spent enjoying the water and especially pelicans, I had never seen anything so strange. What happened? I wanted badly to free the bird but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t help. Finally I gave up, said a little prayer and paddled on, still thinking about this strange occurrence. Still disturbed by such a strange accident. And determined to understand the teaching being offered.
I thought of the native teachings about pelicans–renewed buoyancy. “Being able to be buoyant and rest on top in spite of the heaviness of life circumstances. The pelican teaches that no matter how difficult life becomes, no matter how much you plunge, you can pop to the surface,” writes Ted Andrews in his book, Animal Speak.
Well…unless you miscalculate your next move and get yourself stuck…deadly stuck… like my poor friend did.
This strange occurrence, along with the traditional meaning, spoke to me quite deeply.
I pondered the teaching all day, especially the feeling of giving up and feeling heartbroken that I couldn’t free this magnificent bird from the entrapment of mud. Eventually the application became obvious.
No matter how much we want to help a friend or loved one who is trapped in their misery, sometimes we have to let go. We are powerless to change another’s situation, powerless to free them from their stuckness. We can be supportive, can pray for them and offer to help, but ultimately their freedom comes from their own willingness to dive into clarity and love and let the lightness of their being lift them up. We are powerless to save them from themselves.
Such grief and sadness comes with the realization that letting go is the only choice, the only thing left to do.
What a feeling of powerlessness….yet what a beautiful point of surrender. And for that lesson I am deeply grateful.
While we don’t have dramatic seasonal changes in coastal Alabama, if a person pays attention there are definite shifts that result from changing weather patterns. I notice these while paddling my SUP board on the Magnolia River.
When cooler nights and days became the norm and the winds shifted, pelicans moved up-river. They hang out on boat house roofs, on channel markers, piers and they have quickly learned that people = food. I’ve seen them begging fish from local residents who clean fish on their docks. This morning I saw several gathering around a pier where guys were sitting and visiting on their dock.
Another seasonal change is that the river water is clearer and quite a bit shallower as the north winds push water out of Weeks and Mobile Bays. Magnolia River, being a tidal river, flows outward and offers a challenge for me at low tide during this time of year as I paddle through large, submerged rocks.
Cormorants are constant companions as they dive for fish and do their running take-off on the water’s surface–winter visitors who fly south for a few months of warmer weather before returning to cooler climates to raise young.
No, there’s no snow and we haven’t had temperatures below freezing yet but the pelicans up-river are a sure sign winter is here.
It was 48 degrees when I got up and started my day at 5am. I had to wait two hours until sunrise so I could go boarding. I fueled my body with a big apple and yogurt and almonds and dressed for the chill. When the light popped out I headed out as well. Down the to river….to pray, laugh, dance on my board and be fully present in this glorious autumn morning.
When I am able to be fully present, in the moment, I receive the gift of beauty, laughter, joy. Nothing else but the river, mullet, alligator gar, osprey, herons, baby fish, kingfishers, and boats filled with jacket-clad fishermen staring at me as I stroked past like I was some sort of illusion from a wacky dream. I could almost hear their low droning voices as they said, “Check that out Bob. That one ain’t right.” Or, “What the heck are they gonna think of next?” But I’m booking past them, fueled by the chilly air and stroking fast, race-like and feeling strong.
Some days are like that. And when such a day comes along, I’m happy to say thanks and keep paddling. Joy, peace, beauty…we all deserve it, we’re all worthy of good things.
What are you claiming today that supports your joy? I hope it is something wonderful…you deserve it after all.
They seemed very comfortable with each other so I’m guessing they had their negotiations and settled on a way to be together peacefully. It appeared that they were utterly comfortable with each other and were even friends. It was quite awesome to observe.
While we don’t have dramatic seasonal changes in coastal Alabama, if a person pays attention there are definite shifts that result from changing weather patterns. I notice these while paddling my SUP board on the Magnolia River.
