Perception (photos should be working now)

[duckboy]

Perception,

I wake up and feed the dogs.

Stumble out into the back yard,
Half asleep,
Maybe more than that…

Maybe I am still asleep,
It is still dark.


Perception.

The sliver of a moon is off to the east,

Suspended between foggy eyes
& 100 year old Fir trees.

I think,
“is that where we left her last night”?

She’s patient, That sliver of a moon.

She’ll wait for you,

Bet she’s waited for me over a hundred times.




The wood stove creaks and moans,
& the coffee maker sounds like a hot radiator bubbling over.

We scrape the ice off of April’s frozen reminder that she is still Winter’s older sister.

Load and roll in the rig we used to drive when we “could afford” to drive.


& it’s not to waste gas, or blow away cash,

But because,
“she’s paid for”.

She’s not worn out!

She’s “seasoned.”


Perception.

Once a month we drive her,

To re-live the good old days..

Extravagance.
Space enough for 3 dogs if you can muster the courage to get em all into the back space.




We’ll drive the back roads.

Coast down every hill.
We can’t afford to do this, but we do it at least once a month.

We creep along and bust a flock of mallards trying to gather acorns and sprouts.







Nothing like the sound of hurried wings,




If I live to be 100 years old (I’ll hope the last 20 years were as good as the first 20).
Nothing will ever top that sound of a bird free.

The whistling of 1000 geese 30 feet over you, and their calling… words can’t top.
So I wont try.

But for the few of you that have been fortunate enough to feel the raw power,
The cacophony.




It must be similar to a scuba diver swimming through a school of fish.

Like the ocean,

The marsh shimmers with life.

Nothing can get by the crew I’ve got aboard.

They scented something and I decided to raise the windows a tad,

I knew it could be a Yote,

Or an Otter,




Alex…






And Ging:





She gets all worked up when that coon tries to sneak by.







Coon was only looking for snakes and acorns.

But Ginger thought that Coon was looking to do more than that.


Ging let loose wish a howl and a growl that woke up the marsh.

1000 geese up and away,

Blackbirds and Kestrels heading for cover in the deep green of berry thickets

Eagles looking to just blend in.


And
Spoonbills just looking for a place to land…

In between the blues and greens and tans

In the space between here,
And there,

Perception.




Drakes acting to cover their hens…

The buddy system.

Flying above her in case an eagle decides to dive upon them.

Doing his temporary job to act as her shield, because she has to raise what is left of him,
Regardless if he is taken out by a Big bird from above,

Or a Land based threat.


It comes naturally to him.


It is hard wired into him.

And in this hard wired reality, there is always a sliver of luck.








Luck can be lots of things.


Sun on a brood on a colder day,

A meal from the grass in a hungry time,





Or the wind just drifting this way.
Instead of that way (in this case)

And holding absolutely,

positively still,



because your life depends on it.






Perception (Or lack thereof)







..






Back up to the last photo….

You’ll see what I mean.

[driven2fish]

[Dan Grbavac]

Thank you for sharing your God given gift.

[steelieseeker]

Very cool Thanks for sharing.

[duckboy]

Not sure where all the photos went... they should be working now...

[Cat n Tat's Dusky]

Duckboy, you truely have a gift.


Once I sell the boat (pleaseeeee somebody buy my boat) and head west, I'd love to hang with you for a day, and take some pictures.

[duckboy]

Originally Posted by Cat n Tat's Dusky

Duckboy, you truely have a gift.


Once I sell the boat (pleaseeeee somebody buy my boat) and head west, I'd love to hang with you for a day, and take some pictures.

Roger that!


Got room in the rig for another dog or a buddy..
Bring coffee...


Man, it was cold the other day,

I turn off the heater in the truck and drop all the windows so I can hear what is going on...

Was so cold after 2 hrs that I got out and did pushups for a couple of minutes.

Some folks cruised by and gave me a funny look.

Guess it must have looked kind of odd, but cold is cold, and I was very cold.

Dang!

[Cat n Tat's Dusky]

Cool !!!!!!! I'll bring coffee, buy lunch.......

I understand the cold. I was up in Wisconsin picking up a load of cheese and butter destined for Miami. It was -9 on the coldest morning. That big Caterpillar diesel was just a runnin with the heat all the way on !!!

[Sablefish]

The photo's are great....your commentary really sets them up!!!!
Thanks for sharing....

[joemomma]

Very, very, very sweet!