The Soar Series includes many images of the raptor Cathartes Aura, commonly called the turkey vulture. Although often inspiring derision and even disgust, I am celebrating the grace of this creature and its vital role in the circle of life. The Latin name, “golden purifier,” alludes to its job cleaning up the dead. These birds ride the thermals above me in rural Missouri and help me remember to look up. Perhaps I am envious of their defiance of gravity and imagine what their perspective from above would allow me to see.