Belle Burden

And now in sort of talking to people about the book is

Not natural for me, but I'm starting to enjoy it because it's really great to talk to people and to try and articulate the themes as I really wanted to show in my book.

Yes, they really are there, and they're still there.

And they came back this last summer, and then the couple left again in the fall with two of the juveniles leaving also.

But one of them just stayed behind, and it was very anxiety-provoking, wondering if this bird was going to be able to launch.

He finally did.

Yes.

I first wrote about them as a separate piece while I had done the Modern Love piece, but I didn't know if it was going to be accepted.

I wrote a piece about the Osprey because I thought it was so important to me during that time because they were so predictable.

It was so regular.

It was consistent.

And then, of course, there is the symbolism of

The male bird is the protector.

He goes out and gets fish for his mate and the juveniles.

And I was watching this as my mate had left.

And then as I started thinking about the book and the five sections, I thought, God, could this work to really break up this essay that I wrote into parts and use it?

And it felt like it was a good fit.

I started to go too far and like started naming the chapters after different things.

But I got really deep into osprey knowledge things to experts on the island.

And then I had to stop myself.