Great Egret
Andea alba

Landing on a windy day, or why man was not meant to fly.

Note the incredible complexity of the wings, as flight feathers and coverts form the airfoil shape necessary for flight. Now consider that all of these feathers are preened, cleaned, groomed, and tuned on a daily basis. Contrast this to the amount of attention you devote to your daily driver. I dare say that we humans are too lazy and inefficient in our daily routine to be able to afford the time and energy necessary to maintain the apparatus of flight. Consequently, we were given arms, hands, and those neat opposable thumbs, which we can twiddle as we muse what it might be like to have wings, just for a day.

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