“Are you my mommy?”
“Out of my way! I have a ton of dam work to do!”
“What the hell are you looking at, buddy?”
“Okay, I’m ready. Do you think I should smile or no?”
–Photos by me
Animal Talk 2
Month: February 2023
Chief Seattle Quote
“We don’t
inherit the earth
from our ancestors,
we borrow it
from our children.”
–Chief Seattle
–Photo by me
Limerick 51
The vulture called ‘Old Rough & Ready’
Admitted his real name’s Eddy,
And laughing, I said,
“With those claws and that head,
You strike me as more of a Freddy.”
–Photo by me
Lovers for Life
Staying with the same mate for a lifetime can be quite a challenge. Let me share with you what I’ve discovered about it in my thirty-five years of marriage, before my wife Jody unexpectedly passed away about twelve years ago:
There seems to be four distinct stages to a successful life-long relationship.
The first stage is flirting. This is where we act all coy, bat our eyelashes, and show off our wares.
The next stage is bliss. Our young, slender bodies move together in step as we learn the dance of love.
The third stage is turmoil. This is when it becomes obvious that we both lied in stage one.
And finally, acceptance. If we make it through that painful third stage, we truly deserve the fourth, where we learn to hang out with each other and watch the world go by together; in many ways, it’s the best of the four. I wish I could’ve had a little more of it, but I’m thankful for what I had!
Happy Valentine’s Day!!
–Photos by me
look back (tanka)
people tell us to
keep moving ahead in life
and never look back–
but if we never look back,
then what are we climbing for?
–photo by me
Chickadee
It’s so hard for me to get a good photo of a chickadee; they’re tiny and flit around so much that by the time I set up for the shot, they’re gone.
I worked on getting this one quite a while, and in doing so, I pissed off the little guy; he just wanted to have an uninterrupted meal, and there I was with a big lens in his face.
After a while, I was annoyed too, and it drove me to poetry:
I bugged
A black-capped chick-a-dee
For photographs all day
Until he got so sick-a-mee,
He finally flew away.
–Photo by me
Skittles Finds a Friend
I drove out to the farm to check on Skittles. I was worried about her because she’d been venturing out into the wilds as of late, and with the human scent on her, I was concerned that she might not be accepted by her own kind any more.
As I neared the farm, my fears were allayed; she was out in a field, romping around and looking for food with a new friend.
At this time of year, a field is like a giant scratch-off ticket for the deer; they may get lucky and scratch up something to eat, or find nothing and have to move on. Today, they would get lucky.
Skittles has come a long way since we found her orphaned last year. She may be scratching around in a field now, but with all the new friends she’s made, I think she’s already won the lottery.
–Photo by me
our wild side (senryu)
we’re all wild turkeys–
some are just more red-faced than
others about it
–photo by me
snowy owl
i saw a little snowman in a field
that, like a clump of snow, was indistinct,
and as i watched and wondered who had built it,
suddenly the little snowman blinked
–photo by me
shot of the night
in the camera’s flash,
the gently falling snow
suddenly becomes the
myriad constellations
of a star-spangled sky
–photo by me
michaeljordahl 