May 14, 2015
(This is part of a 365 project during my 70th year where I write and
illustrate a blog on each day's gift.)
Elusive. That’s the word. So often on my walks in Downs Park, I hear sounds but sometimes cannot see what is making them. Bird songs surround me but rarely do I find the specific bird making a certain sound. Sometimes, if the wind is blowing, I hear a creaking noise. If I look up and search carefully, I will usually notice a dead branch groaning against another tree part. Sometimes I hear the obvious sound of a woodpecker but seldom find the woodpecker.
Rustling is an elusive sound. My footsteps along a path will alert a creature of an approaching human and then I hear the sound of brittle, brown leaves revealing there is something alive on the covered ground. I always look for the source. Usually it is a squirrel. Once I saw a snake slithering away from a sunny spot on the path. Mostly, the mystery remains unsolved. Today, however, a bright orange head gave away a lizard, a broad-headed skink rustling through dead leaves and then climbing up a tree. These lizards are usually grayish-brown and blend into ground covering and tree trunks but during mating season, it is difficult for the male to camouflage its head, which turns orange to attract a mate.
Today was a game of the seeker (me) and the sought (the skink). As I circled the tree, it moved to the opposite side—always just a little out of sight. As I slowed down my moves though, eventually I was able to photograph the skink. Success.
It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him." ~ Max Planck
My gift today was a skink looking for a mate.
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You can find links to my other
posts on this project here: http://bjschupp.blogspot.com/2014/12/365-gifts.html
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