The Real Me: Joanne W. Iverson

Years ago, when I was studying Russian, I got into their way of life to the point where I spoke their language and I liked everything they did. And this includes their circus.

The performers in the Moscow Circus were true athletes. Hence, my rowing lover was drawn to the trapeze artists; hence, these artists spent time with my rowing lover; hence, I wanted to join the circus!

Years went by.  I became a well-known woman rower, Olympic calibre. I eventually retired from the sport but I stayed in touch with my Moscow rower friend. However, I eventually forgot about the Moscow Circus.

That is. . . until we drove past the Philadelphia Circus school! Oh my God!  Right here in Philadelphia? I couldn’t believe it. When I went in and talked with the performers and students, this was my first contact with the folks who run the circus school. Though I have no experience with circus arts, I readily accepted their offer to sit in on a couple of classes.

So now I will write all about them!

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A few weeks ago, I saw a wonderful sight.  

It was 7:26 am, the moon was almost full, and against the early morning sky their formation was perfectly aligned in a “V.” They were not going full speed and there were eight or nine of them, so well spaced that their wings could have nevertheless touched each other. They flew straight past to the South, then out of my sight.

I dashed to look out of my window for more jets, but there were none. It was very cold out, about 36 degrees. I sat down with my handheld computer to see if anyone else had reported seeing the jet formation. But there were no such reports.

I quickly entered this accounting of what I saw.  Later, I looked again and saw no jets but the moon was still there, covered by light clouds; I could see the reflection of the sun raising in the East on the window across the street from my house.

Now I am wondering: Will the jets fly overhead again when the Eagles play for the football championship on Sunday, February 12, 2023? I have contacted two representatives, who have promised to be in touch with the right contacts for me to glean more information.

UPDATE: Guess what? For the first time ever, all the jets flying over the stadium before the start of Super Bowl LVII were piloted by an all-female team. According to ABC News, the four female pilots who orchestrated the diamond formation honored 50 years of women flying in the U.S. Navy.

An all-female, Super Bowl flyover team. It was history. It was a first!

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The majestic bald eagle lives throughout a very large territory – almost all of North America and parts of Mexico and Canada, with the largest concentrated population of about 30,000 birds found in Alaska.  It builds its nest in a high tree, spanning a space of nearly 4 ft by 2 ft, with some nests recorded up to 8 ft wide. This large bird of 13 lbs can live up to 30 years. And it’s history with our country goes back a very long way. Although Benjamin Franklin wasn’t a fan of the bird (he favored the turkey to represent our country), the bald eagle was chosen by the Second Continental Congress to be the national symbol in 1782, a choice that finally became official in 1789. On August 9, 2007, bald eagles were removed from the federal list of threatened and endangered species and are now no longer protected under the Endangered Species Act. However, bald eagles remain protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (Eagle Act).

I thought of the bald eagle recently when I saw a very large bird fall into the Schuylkill River. We were driving over the river on the Girard Avenue Bridge and could see people trying to save it.  aybe they realized it might be a bald eagle, our national bird. 

I thought that Russian narrative poetry writer Mikhail Lermontov would have described it best, when he pictured how a majestic bird had floated above our world through caravans of clouds and worlds of scattered constellations:

Soaring laughing screaming with delight, never caring, never mindful of the night
or that his majestic manner would please the river gods
Who would resist him and all his might.
Is this the demon still searching for his love so far from home for ever after, for ever?  

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