Drop the Fish

September 4, 2025

My daughter Ella recently captured the extraordinary photo sequence pictured above: A loon emerged from a lake with a fish in its beak, and as Ella was clicking to capture the moment, a bald eagle suddenly swooped into the frame. The loon let go and dove as the eagle snatched the fish. One moment: triumph. The next: theft. The eagle soared off with breakfast, and life on the lake resumed.

It’s tempting to write a fable out of this—one of frustration, injustice, or plucky resilience. We might imagine the loon feeling cheated or the eagle being greedy. But none of that was true: The eagle didn’t smirk with conquest. The loon didn’t mourn its loss. No one paused for a moment of existential reflection. The loon simply went in search of another fish, because that’s what loons do.

Humans are unique in the animal kingdom in how we process our experiences: We assign meaning. We wish things had gone differently. We ruminate, regret, overthink. We get stuck. But reality—plain and simple—is what it is regardless of what we think about it. The toddler has a tantrum in the grocery store. The aspiring player fails to make the Little League team. The teenager comes in at 3AM. The fish is gone. What now?

That’s the real lesson from the loon: Responding by moving forward is the only path that lets the bird thrive. Kids (and grownups) can learn a lot from this: A failed test, a broken friendship, a missed opportunity...they sting. Our emotions are part of what makes us human, but it's a waste of energy to wish the past into changing. Instead, we strive to be clear-headed about what is, and act intentionally toward what can be. We figure out what comes next and take the plunge again.

In fact, the eagle didn’t “steal” the loon's meal. The loon didn’t “fail” to defend it. It was just one moment in a vast cycle of moments, and then the loon dove again.

We can do that, too. We can learn to drop the fish.

—Debra Ross, publisher

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