The falcon is the Messiah College athletics mascot. When the Messiah College women's field hockey team won their first national championship and the women's soccer team was a national runner-up, we were looking for a way to honor the strength of both of our winning teams. Our editor, Anna Seip, discussed incorporating a falcon into the cover. The elegant strength and tenacity of an actual falcon was the perfect way to give a unique twist to our athletic cover. Working with Valerie Buller of Rough Coat Photography, we captured photos of a young Gyr/Saker falcon on a winter afternoon in a Lancaster field. He was a raptor-in-training named So Far. (As in, So Far he's come back. ha ha.) The falconer worked with us to get numerous photos of him perched, spreading his wings and turning various directions. We also wanted a few photos of him in flight and landing. Once we were convinced we had enough photo options of him perched, we set him free to take off and land. Thankfully, we got this shot because So Far had had enough of our shenanigans and flew away. All night he was gone. Of course, Valerie and I were worried until we heard from the falconer that he returned to the place he left early the next morning. It's never easy working with animals (or children) but this one was definitely worth it. #SPD53