hesitated (archives)

all of a sudden

i stood face to face

with the enemy;

i could see the fear

in his big brown eyes.

i had a gun; he didn’t.

slowly, i aimed at him–

could i really kill him

right here in cold blood?

they say to never hesitate,

but now, for some reason,

i couldn’t pull the trigger!

he probably had a family

and friends — just like me.

as i stood there watching,

he began to back away;

i just had to let him go–

i’d never tell the others,

but i was secretly glad

when he suddenly bolted

for the safety of the woods–

antlers held high.

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

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