Blue Eyes Update

I’m out here at my friend’s farm today to check up on Lil Blue Eyes, the orphaned fawn. Shes seems to be doing quite well indeed, and it’s sweet, the way she follows Stephanie around like she’s her mom. She gives her little smooches in appreciation, and I can’t help but think of the words Jesus spoke:

“…I was hungry, and you gave me food;

I was thirsty, and you gave me drink;

I was a stranger, and you took me in;

I was sick, and you cared for me…”

I must admit that those words seem so far away from our nation’s current direction. They’re fading away, becoming abstract, unreal. But at least, here, right now, they’re real.

–Photo by me

On the Road Again

We may never know why the chicken crossed the road, but here’s a few possible motives for some other animals:

The bear barrels across it to find better berries.

The deer flies across the road to escape the deer flies.

The snake slithers across the road to shed its skin.

The hare hops across the road to habitate more holes.

Though they each cross the road for different reasons and with different modes of locomotion, they all have one common goal in mind: to get to the other side without encountering man. Could that go for chickens, too?

–Photos by aaron and me

wordless wednesday 7/6/22

–photos by me

shot of the day 7/4/22

wildflowers show the way

like the innumerable stars

that illuminate the dark

dusty lanes of the galaxy

–photo by me

gold rust

to me, an antique

is not merely old,

but truly unique

and may even hold

an air of mystique

more precious

than gold

–photo by me

limerick 39

when mother goose had her first brood,

a rift in her marriage ensued:

her high steppin’ gander

began to philander

whenever he felt in the mood

–photo by me

writer’s block (shadorma)

writers’ minds

may hold the small seeds

of some great

ideas

and yet, they may find themselves

waiting for the wind

–photo by me

meadow magic

there are meadows

in the forests

ever shrouded

by the trees,

where daisies

dance with fairies

when there’s magic

in the breeze;

where elves and imps

and pixies too

come from

everywhere

to dance among

the flowers

when there’s magic

in the air

Lady Slippers

There were certain girls in high school so beautiful that they could get any of us insecure young boys to carry their books, even though we knew that we were just being used; that’s what the Lady Slipper orchid reminds me of.

They are also very beautiful, especially the Pink Lady Slipper, Minnesota’s State Flower. They lure unsuspecting bees into their pink little pods through a one-way opening. Once inside, the bees find out there is no nectar for them, the usual payment for their help in pollination, and are, in fact, trapped inside.

Upon wrestling around to make their way to a small hole in the back, they shed any pollen they might have brought in on the plant’s female reproductive parts, and when they squeeze through the small opening in the back to escape, little packets of pollen from the male reproductive parts stick to their backs.

So they end up carrying the load without getting any nectar. Sounds familiar, all right.

–Photo by me