Wednesday, May 30, 2007

Good-bye Friends

The last couple of days have brought sadness when I think about some wildlife that I've come to enjoy. Monday, as I drove home from work, I saw a Mallard duck that had been hit by a car laying in the middle of the road. As I kept driving, it just kept bothering me so I turned around and moved it off the road. It was right by my work and I just didn't want to see it every day get more and more smashed. So I moved it but as I started driving away, I notice a female Mallard looking around in the grass near by - my heart sank and I realized that this male that I had just moved was the partner to this female and the couple was one that I had been enjoying while at work. It was so sad, and even as I write this I can't help but cry. It makes me think of when my turtle (Gordon) died last year. It wasn't so much him dying (although that was dreadful) but it was seeing Gordon and Flash having their last moments together. They would put their front arms in front of their faces and touch claws. I don't know what it meant but I just knew that they enjoyed one another and had a bond, and once Gordon was gone, so was that connection. It's just so sad and I can't help but feel sadness for these animals that loose their companions. It's no different with people, although hopefully animals have a better time at it, I guess. But who knows. Some think I'm silly for getting so emotional over animals, but for some reason my heart can't seem to distinguish between an animal or a human. If I make a connection with anything - human or animal, it becomes a part of me forever. It's just a weird time I think. Then to add to the sadness, this cute little bird nest that I've been watching at work got destroyed. It was a nest in the grass and I had warned the mowers about it and we put a stick up to remind them, but someone didn't know about it and that was the end of the eggs. And then the baby foxes, I've heard that a few have been hit and that there is possibly that just one is left. AND to add to all that, I found out this morning that someone went over the gorge I work at last night and didn't make it.
Sometimes my heart just sinks, but it goes out to others and also helps me to be grateful for my own life and how precious this world really is. There is a circle of life and things happen - it's a fluid process and continues on and on. Remember to be thankful and to truly appreciate things in the present....

2 comments:

Scott said...

Chris,

I continue to enjoy reading your blog - I'm sorry to hear about the Mallard duck - your sensitivity to other creatures is yet another one of the fine virtues that sets you apart from others - you're special.

- Dad Smith

Joy said...

I am so proud to read this entry from my friend. It is so honest and so touching and so true. Sad but true. It is like you are so blessed to be around these creatures but you take the risk of being hurt b/c of life (or interference of life by roads, lawnmowers, US- people)