I just can't get tired of coming out to see these birds. It has become a tradition for me. I take time to drive out; leaving responsibility behind and staying as long as needed.  It isn't just drive out, pop out of the car, snap a photo and drive home. It is waiting for the eagles to awake, get hungry, and start to hunt. The moment I step out of the car, I hear the eagles shriek to one another, sometimes triumphantly and other times in warning. The smell of dead and rotten fish permeate the air. The carcasses of salmon are strewn along the banks and sandbars tempting hungry eagles to dine. I find a spot in the sun. I need the sun as much as the eagles, and pulling out my notebook, I wait. I sip the coffee I brought, still hot in the thermos, burning my tongue and throat. I am thankful for it, as it warms me from the inside. I watch other photographers come and go and yet I wait.  I know this year, I was almost too late. It is the end of the salmon run, the end of the eagles congregating along the trees at the edge of the river. There were a few eagles and yet even without the activity it would have been worth the time just to be refreshed by being.