a love story

This image is a scan of a vintage slide. This is my grandfather and the golden eagle that lived with him for 16 years. They had a very strong bond.

I love this photo because this is part of what you saw as you looked out of the big window in my grandparents small house.

Here is another slide from the living room. They lived near Santa Barbara, looking over the Santa Ynez valley.





















I loved that room. This is where the men would talk (usually just my Dad and Grandad) while my mother, aunt and grandmother worked in the kitchen or sat in the other room chatting. I loved being in this room with the men. They would talk slow and take their time to really flesh out their point. They would discuss animals and nature, real estate and the news. I would color in my coloring book and enjoy the sound of their voices.

As for the eagle, her name was Lady and she and my Grandfather had a long term relationship. She considered him her mate and laid eggs that he replaced with fertile eggs - except eaglet eggs are hard to come by, so she raised geese and owls, too (her natural prey).

I am slowly scanning many slides from my father and grandfather's collection. I did many of my grandfather and Lady that you can see them on my flickr account. If you are interested more in the story of Lady and Ed, you can find more information here.