I had one recently. One of those rare magical moments with some kind of wildlife, in a place you wouldn’t expect it.
I’m not just talking about seeing a raccoon in the backyard. It’s when you see experience it, making you feel more alive somehow.
The first experience I remember having like this was in the Los Angeles area. I was visiting my sister-in-law and my friend who was her roommate. They lived between Diamond Bar and Pamona. Not a place you’d expect a mystical experience with nature. But there was a big, steep hill by their apartment complex. Early one morning I climbed up it, getting views of the San Gabriel mountains to the north and the LA metropolitan area below. Then it happened. A large hawk began circling above me. I didn’t move. Didn’t breathe. Just watched it as it watched me. It went away, and I finished climbing the hill. But I never forgot that moment.
The next one came when I was in China. I lived in Shenzhen, the 30-year-old city of 15 million people. But across the street from my apartment was a park. It had formal paths and perfectly pruned tropical plants, as well as a pavilion and lily pond. One evening as I walked through it, every square foot (decimeter?) of the air had dragonflies! I’d never seen so many in one place. They swarmed around high and low as I walked on the wooden footbridge over the lily pond. Another magical moment.
Two evenings ago, I walked around a couple blocks from my apartment in Myrtle Creek toward the big hill behind me. Two deer were grazing. They didn’t seem to mind me as I got close. As I walked, they began walking in front of me, keeping a distance of about 2o feet, but not running away. They seemed to enjoy playing follow-the-leader with me. I followed them until they crossed someone’s property and bounded off into the hills. Lovely.
What is a magical moment you have had, in a place you didn’t expect it?
The Compass Rose Queen 
On a sunny Friday one spring I begged out of work early and raced home to get my kayak for a surprise extra paddle. A mile from my house, as I passed a Christmas tree field, I saw a coyote running through the trees . Not a scroungy, scary coyote, this fellow was lovely with a bushy coat. He did a little hop, of joy it seemed, as he crossed the road. I felt such kinship seeing his spring happiness, that I stopped, rolled down my window, and called out to him, “Hey, Coyote!” He stopped in his tracks and turned to look back at me. He was still for a moment, then did another joy-hop and pranced off.