Spring has been slow to arrive this year, we've had a few hot days with many cooler than normal days this year. I haven't been out as much in March and April like I normally am, but I made it out for a run today. I finished my four miles and loaded up my dog and got in the car to head home and decided to stop and photograph some of the wildflowers in the ditch.
Frame after frame they are always lovely, yet what was once an exciting shot to capture is now a routine event. But, I still enjoy their beauty. They sit quietly on the side of the road just a yellow blur for passing vehicles.
The sun is in this image. It amazes me that modern people seem to have a sense of "amazement" that ancient people had such an intricate knowledge of the sun, moon, and stars. I believe the amazement of the ancient people's knowledge is that it is knowledge we, overall, as a culture lack. Most Americans aren't aware of the sunrise and sunset and how the sun moves upon the horizon through out the year. We, don't think about this as we lock ourselves up indoors with our computers, televisions and artificial world. We will sit and be "amazed" that ancient people, possessed this knowledge yet we don't think about why they knew the world so well. It is because we do not, we are a large populace of dependents who are out of touch with the living world around us.
The ancient people would be amazed at how most of us know nothing about the movement of the sun, moon, and stars. They would be amazed because the sun was their calendar and datebook. Gatherings would happen with the movements of the Universe and this went on for centuries, without writing, without paper, without cars, without the wheel. The people of ancient North America were fare more sophisticated than many people know.
I wonder if the ancient people would feel sorry for us. They would think that we are lacking something in our lives. We communicate without our voices, we make connections without the spoken word.
I can share these images with you, but you can't smell the dust, the wind, the sweet smell of the budding greenery. You can see the world through my eyes but you can't sit down in the dirt and feel the earth. You can't appreciate the subtle changes year after year without watching the earth come to life, yet even in the winter the earth is alive.
A world without bees is a world we do not want to live in.
I was sitting in the ditch photographing these flowers when I heard a rustling. I jumped back immediately thinking "snake." No, it wasn't a snake, it was something I hate being stung by though.
I don't like being stung by scorpions, it hurts far worse than a bee or wasp sting. Please hide your eyes for the "wild America" section of this post is coming next. I left and continued down the road on my way home and two huge rabbits bounced across the road. I had my camera in my lap and was ready to photograph (although I didn't have my good telephoto lens on). I stopped and thought I could get a shot or two.
By the time I got my camera ready to shoot, I realized that they weren't "chasing" one another. This was the call of the wild.
This triggered my memory of reading of the Jack Rabbit plague during the Dust Bowl.
Blurry bunnies on the run, or on the chase.. waiting to be caught it appears not to be much of a chase.
They continued their amorous adventure into the field. Paying not attention to the voyeur with the camera. Absorbed in their bunny mating rituals, the dance that leads to new life on this cool May afternoon.
The chase continued for a few minutes zig zagging across the field.
A zoomed, blurry shot.
I normally woudln't have stopped and photographed this, but I rarely see Jack Rabbits and these were two big bunnies. I hope seeing them in the distance in a field gives you the idea of their size.
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