Circle of Life

Sun. Crisp wind. Soft clouds, Blue sky, Green growth. When you add all these things together it stirs my memory of my days in Yellowstone. And today, Wylie, TX brings this to me. I long for my visit to Yellowstone. My heart literally aches to be there especially when this kind of day triggers those very distinct memories, like watching a mother otter rescue her pups from a quickly rising river. Or watching a three year old grizzly bear that I had met for the first time two years prior when she was one of three cubs hanging close to her momma’s side. This particular year, though, she was on her own. Curious of all the photographers before her, she approached us; coming within feet of me. I can’t explain the exhilaration but it included tears of pure joy.

I also look back on the hard facts of wilderness. Over a few days, we kept an eye on a mother moose tending to her calf even though she had been severally injured by a predator. I have photos of the mangled mom allowing her newborn to milk. We rooted for her to make it. We hoped she would beat inevitable the odds. But she didn’t and both she and the baby succumbed to life’s cruel reality.

Circle of Life, they say.

Circle of life indeed. Today, I was scouting out wildflowers. This nothing new and is one of the circles in my life, taking photographs of wildflowers. I enjoy talking photos of flowers because I respond emotionally to the color and shape of a flower. Not in a drastic sense but I do appreciate the simple or intricate shape of a flower and the color that they produce. For example, my favorite wildflower is the trillium. Three simple leaves, three simple petals. Color ranges from pink, mauve and white. Another favorite is the Lupine, whether it be the stellar Blue Bonnet or the yellow and white cousins.

So, I’m taking photos of the flowers along a field. I am always cautious of where I step and place my hands and today is no different. Except this time as I’m peering into the tall grass to see how I can compose my next shot of a flower, I hear a distinctive hiss! Well, you’ve never seen a fat woman jump back and run to the truck as I did at that moment. I’ve heard this sound before, another circle in my life. It was a snake of some sort, I just can’t decide if it was a hognose or a rattler. Either way, my heart is pounding out of my chest.

When you grow up in Arkansas with a dad and cousins who like to shoot, you end up going to very snakey environments. We have walked miles over the bayous in Central Arkansas. Yes, I have even shot snakes along the creeks and Arkansas River. And there really are only two distinctive sounds, the shot of a gun and the slither of a snake. Trust me when I say the sound of a gunshot piercing the air does not frighten me! There is something about that slither though that will send chills up your spine and to remain for several minutes. You thought you were aware of your surroundings but you now second guess that and become even more aware.

After catching my breath, I got to the OTHER side of the road and continue taking photos. I hear a hawk fly overhead and I see he has a big catch in his mouth. Perhaps it’s a rodent he got from the field I was just standing in. Either way there is another circle of life. From the mouse to the hawk from the flower to the bee, Mother Nature has her way of keeping balance.

And that’s where I get discouraged. You see I’m walking long a field that is next to a busy highway. Earlier that morning I was parked next to a dirt road with a nice green belt leading to a neighboring city. Soon, this field and that green belt will become concrete and metal. It’s not Mother Nature’s plan, it’s man’s decision. I wonder with sadness, where do these creatures go to live? Today I saw tracks of a bobcat and a raccoon. The other evening I saw a live skunk near the green belt. Where will they run to when the fields begin to clear when the road becomes a major thoroughfare? Where will this hawk find his next meal?

Don’t get me wrong I’m not a tree hugger. But I do feel genuinely sad about the destruction of the existing green spaces. Our local society does not value these green spaces. The only green this society values is the kind that displays the portrait of Benjamin Franklin.

Is there not a balance we can achieve? I don’t have an answer, shocking, I know. But if I had millions of dollars I could see purchasing this land and keeping it as a greenbelt. I’d be known as the crazy animal lady, but I’ve been called worse over time. How do we find balance between man and Mother Nature? Can it be achieved?