June 20, 2018 Happy Wednesday! It has been a very busy day. As usual, I have been researching and taking notes on stories about history & heroes to share with our growing group of fans. And earlier today I shared a few historical events on our associated Facebook page to recall a few things that happened “On This Day.” Among other things, in 1882 the Great Seal of the United States of America was approved by the Continental Congress, and the Bald Eagle was adopted as our national symbol. Mind you, I think our Great Seal is… great! And as a history buff, I’m often intrigued with reading the proceedings of our Continental Congress! But the Bald Eagle is awesome! I have always been a fan of things that fly. Many of the posts I’ve shared about heroes and history have featured our brave explorers who climbed into jets, or rockets, and ventured into the sky and heavens beyond. When I was a youngster I was mesmerized by the Gemini and Apollo astronauts. Their missions were fascinating, and I was glued to the television set every time a launch or splashdown was broadcast. I hope I never forget… the first time I ever watched anything on a color television was a splashdown and recovery of a spacecraft during an Apollo space mission. The deep blue of the Pacific, the bright orange of the recovery personnel’s uniforms, and the brightness of the clear blue sky are as clearly amazing to me now as they were so many years ago! I still have the same youthful exuberance for our space program and the daring scientists and pioneers who study the universe. Mistletoe Enterprises will always share the stories of space pioneers because they are historic, and they are heroes. In fact, coming in July we will be observing another anniversary of the Apollo 11 mission in which Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins travelled to the moon, landed on its surface, and returned safely. (Note: Armstrong and Aldrin set foot on the moon while Collins guided the Command Module in orbit around the moon.) But when the Lunar Module descended and touched down on the lunar surface, Armstrong radioed these words back to Mission Control: “The Eagle has landed! I was eight years old.
That was one cool event for a kid. It was one unforgettable event for my lifetime. It made me look up more often. It filled me with a sense of wonder. It made me appreciate the fun and simplicity of a paper airplane; it made me curious about the floating flutter of butterflies; and it sparked my interested in everything with wings – large, small, natural or man-made. Certainly, it sparked my interest in eventually joining the Air Force and serving for twenty-five years. But it also made me look more closely at nature’s feathered flying wonders: birds. Mostly raptors. Especially Bald Eagles. But Bald Eagle populations were extremely small in the mainland states during the 60’s. Threatened and dwindled by chemicals, Bald Eagles were endangered and rarely sighted in most areas. Around the country, many programs were launched to revitalize the eagle population. Slowly – very slowly – the population increased. But I was thirty years old before I ever saw a Bald Eagle in the wild! Even then, in the early 90’s, they were considered endangered. After almost a quarter century, sighting a Bald Eagle was uncommon in most areas. It still is uncommon in many areas. But living most of my life in the Great Lakes region, they were still not abundant. Unless one knew where to find them! After I saw that first Bald Eagle I was hooked! I read as much as possible about their habitat and their tendencies. And I started carrying a camera with me everywhere I travelled. Since that first sighting on a snowy winter morning twenty-six years ago, I have spotted hundreds of Bald Eagles and taken thousands of photographs. From northern Michigan to upstate New York; along the Mississippi River and the Lake Erie shoreline; in remote rural areas and in surprising urban places… the population of the Bald Eagle – our national symbol – has rebounded wonderfully! So, it’s no surprise that Mistletoe Enterprises features beautiful cardinals AND Bald Eagles among our business icons! And the reason behind it all is the appreciation for the heroes who made me look up. The Eagle has landed! See you Friday!
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AuthorTom Davis is the owner of Mistletoe Enterprises LLC. He also publishes and distributes the Victory & Valor Flyer, it tells the stories of heroes from all walks of life. Archives
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