The
South Dakota winter gives a man time to think. One subzero morning, as
Dan O’Brien approaches his fiftieth year, the autumnal
equinox of his life, he takes stock. Feeling a waning sense of purpose,
he decides to devote himself entirely, for the first time in his life,
to his greatest loves—falconry, his bird dogs, and the
prairie he calls home.
|
That
summer he obtains a remarkable falcon chick who immediately
distinguishes herself by her ferocity. He names the bird Harley and
trains her in the ways of falconry. |
Harley’s powers of flight are
awe-inspiring, her hunting success astounding, and like a lover, she
captivates him. O’Brien hunts with her obsessively, reveling
in her prowess and beauty. What he learns from her and from what
happens one wind-driven day lead him to see fully things he had only
just begun to glimpse.
In this lyrical evocation of the grasslands, Equinox
is a story of a life lived close to the natural cycles of the earth and
of a midlife revelation of the importance of staying connected to all
things held dear.
|
Equinox
Life, Love, and Birds of Prey
by Dan O'Brien
Bison Books,
2010
Order
a copy
Reviewed
in
The
Nature Pages
|
