Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 09:50:57 EST Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Fred Burggraf Subject: A Beltway Gift MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Last evening I left my office in Bethesda, headed north and got on the beltway for the long drive to Southern Maryland. I was heading east and approaching the Mormon Temple. The traffic, always dense that time of day on the curviest section of the beltway, was especially lethargic. But it was still light, around 5:45, so I had a good look at the commuting throng...cars, trucks, service vehicles, all jam-packed on each lane, spewing whatever noxious fumes they spew. And then, there, above the road, high in the sky, bounding his way across the urban congestion and noise and clog, in great swooping splendor, was a Pileated Woodpecker, flying on to some tree beyond my meager perspective on the asphalt. What a huge symbol of hope he was, that in the midst of all that crushing activity this bird was able to maintain (salvage?) a bit of wildness there. I smiled. Perhaps the situation isn't as hopeless as we sometimes think it is. Fred Burggraf Dentsville, MD ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================