[women] Enter a gentle astringer
I have had this picture up on my computer for four days, so I figure I might as well post it.
My inner five-year-old has lost her mind over this picture. If I'd seen that picture -- or any of the others of Ashol-Pan with the eagles in this article -- in grade school, I would have swum the Atlantic and walked to Mongolia.
More other great surely-thats-photoshopped-but-no little girl power fantasy fodder pictures at that link.
Wikipedia's page on the golden eagle -- which is astonishingly comprehensive, even by wikipedia's standards -- tells me that white on the tail feathers indicates that this is a juvenile; apparently these two young ladies will be growing up together. And think: neither one is at her full size yet.
ETA: From the photographer's website: At the end of the photographing session, I sat down with her father and the translator to say my goodbyes, and I asked him this:
“How did it feel watching your daughter dressed in Kazakh uniform, on a mountain top, sending the eagle off and calling it back again?”
“Very good”
“And honestly... would you have considered truly training her? Would she become Mongolia’s first ever female eagle huntress?”
I expected a straightforward “No” or a joking “Maybe”, but after a short pause he replied:
“Up until two years ago my eldest son was the successor of the eagle hunting tradition in our family. Alas, two years ago he was drafted to the army, and he’s now an officer, so he probably won’t be back with the tradition. It’s been a while since I started thinking about training her instead of him, but I wouldn't dare do it unless she asks me to do it, and if she will? Next year you will come to the eagle festival and see her riding with the eagle in my place.”
My inner five-year-old has lost her mind over this picture. If I'd seen that picture -- or any of the others of Ashol-Pan with the eagles in this article -- in grade school, I would have swum the Atlantic and walked to Mongolia.
More other great surely-thats-photoshopped-but-no little girl power fantasy fodder pictures at that link.
Wikipedia's page on the golden eagle -- which is astonishingly comprehensive, even by wikipedia's standards -- tells me that white on the tail feathers indicates that this is a juvenile; apparently these two young ladies will be growing up together. And think: neither one is at her full size yet.
ETA: From the photographer's website: At the end of the photographing session, I sat down with her father and the translator to say my goodbyes, and I asked him this:
“How did it feel watching your daughter dressed in Kazakh uniform, on a mountain top, sending the eagle off and calling it back again?”
“Very good”
“And honestly... would you have considered truly training her? Would she become Mongolia’s first ever female eagle huntress?”
I expected a straightforward “No” or a joking “Maybe”, but after a short pause he replied:
“Up until two years ago my eldest son was the successor of the eagle hunting tradition in our family. Alas, two years ago he was drafted to the army, and he’s now an officer, so he probably won’t be back with the tradition. It’s been a while since I started thinking about training her instead of him, but I wouldn't dare do it unless she asks me to do it, and if she will? Next year you will come to the eagle festival and see her riding with the eagle in my place.”