Peregrine Falcon

June 27 2017.Hamilton On. This evening we attended an event at the Art Gallery, the occasion was the opening of new exhibits, the public was invited and the cost of entry free. Free or not we probably would have gone, our daughter has a staff position of some responsibility and she encouraged us to broaden our cultural horizons a bit. So we went, we admired, genuinely admired, the rare sculptural pieces, the recreated artists’ studios and the sweeping pencil drawings of arctic life.

In due course it was time to gather for opening remarks from the people who typically fill gaps in the action this way. The setting was nice, the room acoustically perfect and behind us loomed the quiet, sunlit office-buildings of downtown.

I think I’ve always been on the fidgety side so I have trouble with long, applause-punctuated, introductions of countless dignitaries of descending rank. After a while my attention wandered from the speakers and turned to the bright, geometric cityscape behind us. I was musing on just how different was this scene with its rectangles, triangles and ranks of parallel lines, from the pleasing chaos of the world of nature hinted at by the row of lindens in the foreground. I think I liked what I was looking at but knew I infinitely preferred almost anywhere without concrete or bricks.

As I weighed my thoughts, playing visual games with the intersection of rooflines, a Peregrine Falcon appeared from the lower half of the gap to the right and swept up to exit the stage at top left. It shot through and was gone in one second or two, or three wing-beats maybe; I’m sure no-one else noticed.

In front of me, to my delight, had passed the fastest animal in the world. It was a fly-past by a top predator with not the slightest interest in our cultural gathering, just the natural world saying I’m still here.