Wednesday, March 30, 2011
On The Road: Day 30 & My Addiction to Eagle Cam
Eagle Cam and I became acquainted a week ago, at 4:30 a.m. PST, as I was on hold and prepping for full morning of interviews in cities and towns around the U.S. It's called a Radio Satellite Tour and mine have been going on for several days. A couple of those days meant a 4:30 wake up call for Drive Time shows on the East Coast. One of those show was in--yes, you've guessed it-- Norfolk, Virginia, home to Eagle Cam. As I was gathering up data about the various cities I would be speaking in, I stopped at Eagle Cam and cannot stop watching. The eaglets, three of them, are just a few days old and growing with the help of a very attentive mother and father.
In between my early interviews, where I recount, again and again, my at-birth abandonment by my first mother and my orphaned state by age seven, I take in the lessons of the eagles which goes like this: Feed chicks. Clean up nest. Sit on chicks to get them to sleep. Take breaks. Additionally, Mom leaves the nest for a bit of hunting and "personal time" and Dad takes over. Dad leaves the nest for a bit of fishing and "personal time" and then Mom takes over. Mom takes the night shift. Dad perches nearby for night watch. The happy couples also take time to “cuddle” in a nearby tree during a few stolen moments, while the eaglets nap.
What's wrong with that life? It's nice. It's simple. It's elegant.
I like it.
Now forgive me, as I have had a glass of wine prior to writing this and thus my “politically correct” button has been pressed down, but I’d say these birds are better parents than most people. Or perhaps what I am saying is that our parenting methods are for the birds. We are either all "all over" our kids or we ignore them. Worst-case scenario, we fail to recognize their basic human needs and turn them into objects of our lives verses subjects of their own lives. Even more dreadful, some of us have it in our minds that it is okay to abandon our children and call said abandonment "adoption." I don't want to get strong on this issue of adoption but I cannot hold back. What the heck is wrong with us? Where, as women, did we ever conceive it was acceptable to abandon our young?
Google this question: Do mammals abandon their young after birth? I did and in one second I got this response on Wiki Answers: No, mammals milk their young after birth. Think about it. We are mammals and do not abandon our young. As the above contributor has indicated, mammals (within the animal kingdom) nurture their young until they are weaned and are able to exist on their own.
(Within the animal kingdom) has been added to this answer because, in fact, in the human kingdom, we do abandon our young for all kinds of reasons: economics, education, addiction, convenience, family pressure and social pressure. What the hell? What is wrong with this situation? Why are we abandoning our babies? What is happening in our society that this is acceptable? Where, as women, did we EVER get the notion that this was a good idea and where, as a society, did we decide to make money off the venture? (Adoption racks up five billion a year in business in the U.S.)
If we look at this world and the state of affairs, wars and the like, can we track our basic human hunger and discontent to a lack of attachment to our mothers? Are we starved for materialism as way to compensate for not being held, not being fed, not be nurtured as we should be—for generations upon generations? Track the medicalization of birth, the removal of mid-wives from birthing and the introduction of man-man interventions—where the medical establishment scares the hell out of women, forces them from their young and charges a fortune--which have the worst birth outcomes in the world. Did you know the U.S. leads the developed world in infant mortality rates?
Women of our world—mothers—wake up. Stop this madness that has our sisters being forced from their children. Empower mothers to keep their children.
The reason I write, the reason I am here talking up around the country, is just for this reason. We make a massive mistake when it comes to mothering and nurturing our young. The consequences of our mistake can be seen in the way we are living, as if on the warpath against the very mother who holds us, this planet earth.
Nearly a month “on the road,” meeting people, giving readings and interviews and planning two more months of the same, I am overcome by the openness of people to the issues I write about here. We know, as “mammals” that something is just not right in the way we are doing things. We feel this not-rightness in our hearts. We know we must change. We know we must return motherhood to a place of honor and stay with our young. We also know a book like Found should never be written by a daughter of this planet. We are better than this. And yet, in 2011, this is where we are at... and another interview begins.
~
I was also at Back Fence PDX, for live story telling, last week.
Seeing myself on camera had me back at Weight Watchers and counting points. Eeegads. What is that growing on my stomach? Is that middle age or just too darn many cookies?
The tour continues, Florida, LA and back for a slew of appearances in Portland in May. See the side panel for info on dates/times/places.
From what I am read on the Eagle Cam live-chat, the little birds will be leaving the nest in a few weeks--just about the time I'll be done touring and taking on another long summer with the kids. Rather than racing around like a lunatic this summer, perhaps I'll just plan to clean the nest, feed the kids and then sit on them until they get to sleep. One thing is for damn sure, I am keeping an eye on my young ones. I'm holding them very close.
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