Animals, especially wildlife, always seems to fascinate us. My office nook overlooks a pond and whenever a white egret shows up I grab my camera and shoot away. We took a trip to Assateague National Seashore and when we came upon three rather smallish ponies we pulled off the road, grabbed the cameras (two of them) and snapped away. What I wonder is the allure of animals?
When we toured the many national parks recently we were all psyched up about the possibility of seeing a bear. We never saw a one. The closest we came to a bear was one at Sequoia that was chased away by a ranger two minutes before we arrived on the scene. Now here is a list of all the wild animals we did see: marmots, turkeys, elks, prairie dogs, mule deer, chipmunks, bison, a great gray owl, a prong horn antelope, a tarantula, zebras, coyotes, llamas, horses, cats, hawks, pigeons, sheep, eagles, black crows, and Stellar jaybirds. Now, this is not an insignificant number of wild animals and yes, we did take photos of those we could catch on the run, but we were still disappointed that we didn’t see a bear. Sigh, some folks are never pleased.
I have a folder in “My Pictures” on my computer called “Animals.” I don’t have one called “Children,” or “Babies” or “Flowers,” or any number of things that might come under the category of capturing our attention. And, I have noticed that I rarely take photos of tame animals although we have many dogs being walked around here that are really quite attractive. I think the attraction then is that these wild animals (I include birds and aquatic life) are simply that, they are wild and we come upon them at their pleasure, not ours.
I guess it’s like rounding a corner and glimpsing a beautiful sunset or seeing the green flash. It is not planned, totally unexpected, and if you blink you will miss it. If you’re lucky the wild things will hang around for a photo-op, but often they simply bound off into the woods or fields and you have to be satisfied with the glimpse. I think life is often like that, it comes unexpectedly, leaves quickly, and only gives us a glimpse, or a taste of the experience. I’m going to try and savor those moments and, if I’m lucky, I might even get a photo of them!
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Enjoy the day, enjoy, the meal, love your family, embrace and be thankful for your moments or glimpses in life. You may never have them again.