Driven

I wake up with the alarm at 4:45 AM.

The coffee goes on, the dogs go out. The cameras get loaded into the truck with freshly charged batteries and empty memory cards.

The sun is nowhere to be found. I plan on meeting it in a little while.

I quickly check my email and messages from friends, and make sure to send a greeting for the day to the people I care about.

Then I climb into my 1999 Dodge Ram 4x4, fire up the engine, and begin my travels.

I get on the Parkway in the dark, on my way to the refuge.

My refuge.

The birds of summer are starting to return.

Osprey are nesting and courting. Egrets and others are finding their way back North after a brutal Winter here.

The temperatures are moderating. The days are getting longer.

And no matter what, I'm there to meet the sun as it clears the horizon, and greet the birds as they return from the southern Wintering grounds.

The refuge changes completely between Winter and Spring.

The Snow Geese, The Northern Pintails, The American Black ducks are on their way back farther North, where they go for the summer. Along with the Tundra Swans, and the Northern Harriers.

It's the same place.

But with all new occupants.

One thing is the same however.

I am there to see it.