8) handle an eagle

Remember back in the day when I used to have a blog and I would write in it? Me too! I am back from Wisconsin and California (I will post about that later...maybe) to the land of reliable internet! And the first thing I want to talk about is my 23 b4 24 list! I have accomplished one of the things on my list, the majestic number 8!

I HANDLED AN EAGLE.



After starting out small, handling female hawks and owls (about three pounds, max) I worked my way up to handling Turkey Vultures for long periods of time, taking them on walks (TUVUS weight about six pounds), and then finally the day came where I was able to handle this beautiful boy, Zephyr the Golden Eagle. It was magnificent.









I've never handled an eagle before, the extent of my experience until I worked at the Audubon Center was getting yelled at by them when I walked past their mews and then again when I cleaned their mews. Then I got yelled at some more by Woody, our resident Bald Eagle at ACNW, and also (I'd like to think) lovingly footed by him. Multiple times. Once in the finger. But now I've also handled one, and it feels awesome!

23 b4 24

Once upon a time, I made a 101 in 1001 list. For those of you not in the know, it means 101 things to accomplish before 1001 days are up, a little less than three years. Three years seems like plenty of time to accomplish 101 goals, but since a couple of the goals were things I put on there because it seemed like the right college-aged thing to do (i.e. go white-water rafting. WHAT? When have I ever done anything similar in my LIFE?) Another item on the task list was to take 21 shots for my 21st birthday, which my friend Natalya told me NO, DON'T DO so that kind of got crossed off too.

Anyway, the point is that I have recently heard about making a task list as long as your age, so for me it would be 23 items, to accomplish before your next birthday. This sounded a lot more doable, and since it is a year it's less time for me to completely forget about the list and it might make me more accountable. Also it sounded like fun to do, so I made it while watching Bones last night.

Without further ado, here is my list! Along with reasons why I decided on each task.

23 b4 24

1) Go beach camping (I have ALWAYS wanted to go beach camping! It is everything I love combined.)
2) Take self defense (I want to be more confident about my safety, especially since I want to travel out of country which kind of scares me, so I think self defense would help me out)
3) Redesign Etsy shop and re-list items. Make it real again
4) Read 10 books (already crossed one off the list, 9/10 left)
5) Write and illustrate a children's book
6) Lose 25 lbs (seems like a reasonable goal, the alternative is be active for 30 minutes everyday)
7) Go to a big Halloween party
8) Handle an eagle
9) Travel to another country
10) Get a job
11) Make a rainbow cake
12) Create a video about a trip (big or small)
13) Learn or choreograph a dance routine
14) Get a tattoo
15) Visit San Francisco
16) Go on a date (this seems dumb, but it's NOT. I don't "date", I "hang out" instead. I want to go on a REAL DATE, terrible or not)
17) Get a cartilage piercing
18) Make a comic montage about my experiences with birds
19) Watch the sunrise on New Year's Day OR pull an all nighter to watch the sunrise
20) Ride a horse
21) Start a blog series and be consistent with it
22) Train Maeby to play dead
23) Send a postcard to Postsecret

The rules for this list are that I have to have proof of each task (photograph or video, though probably photographs since I'm obsessed) and I should probably do them all. Unless I chicken out (like #14...yikes). But I WON'T. I won't do it! I'll persevere! Plus I didn't put white-water rafting on this time, which was a good call.