wordsfromanneli

Thoughts, ideas, photos, and stories.

Tag Archives: poem


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Young Heron

Hi! I’m a great blue heron.

Well, I’ve landed here, high up in a fir tree. Mom said it’s pretty safe and I should wait for her here.

But uh-oh. Do I hear a raven? Or is it a crow? Either way, they can be a real pain when they harass us. No wonder they call them a murder of crows when they get into a gang.

Whew! They’ve passed over. Time for a quick preening while I have the chance.

Those darn bugs. The second I sit in a tree, they get on me. Oh well, I had to straighten out my feathers anyway after that rough landing in these branches. But Mom said it’s safer here than out in the open where the eagles can see me.

Oh no! Is that an eagle up there? Mom said if they come after me, all I have to do is fly way up high in circles and keep going higher and higher, and after a while the eagles can’t keep up. They’re heavier than we are and can’t go as high.

Looks like they passed over. I hope Mom hurries up. I’m getting nervous up here.

 

I’m a heron, please stop starin’,

Thought I’d rest up in this tree.

Much attention, I must mention,

Might draw predators to me.

 

Though an eagle may seem regal,

They send terror vibes my way,

I take care and stay aware, and

Live to see another day.

 


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A Cool Snake

This carpet python is not the same one as in the previous post, but the story happened nearby. My friend noticed the snake lying near the road and wondered if it had been run over. If not, it soon could be. She dropped a stick on it to see if it would move, and as you can see, it did not. In order to move it away from the roadside, she considered picking it up, but, as these snakes can be heavy and she is not a weightlifter, she called on a friend to come and help. (I chuckle when I imagine that these are her excuses for not feeling comfortable handling a snake. I wouldn’t be either.)

As you may know, snakes don’t hibernate in the sense that mammals do, but they will den up and cuddle for warmth. As the weather cools, the snakes tend to slow down if they can’t find a sunny spot to stay warm.

This particular fellow was stranded in a cool place and his already cool blood was not able to keep him active. He was pretty much stuck. You might say he was close to having “viperthermia.”

In the photo below, notice how the snake is just dangling there, not very active. He needed to be warmed up, and what better way to get his blood flowing again than with a nice cuddle. This is what the friend is doing, trying to warm up the cool guy. He walked with the snake to a sunny patch. With about ten minutes of cuddling and two minutes of sunshine, the snake was feeling better and became more lively.

He was squirming all over the place, and although the friend was in no danger of being swallowed, he didn’t want to get nipped either. See him holding the snake’s head away, just in case.

 

I thank you, Sir, for warming me, 

So I can make my way,

To someplace safe where sun I see, 

But no one knows I stay.

 

For snake blood without sun is cool,

My body sluggish, slow,

I’ll lie beside the swimming pool,

But stay! No need to go!

 

I only want to stay mobile,

And so need to keep warm,

If I can hide in this woodpile,

I’ll be in finest form.


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Carpet Python

This carpet python in Australia is very well camouflaged. His head is just to the right of the farthest fern on the left. From there, if you follow his curves along to the end of his long body, you will notice that he gets fatter  and fatter. I shudder to think what little animal has been swallowed whole.

Carpet Python, photo by Leslie

Carpet Python, photo by Leslie

Imagine walking down the steps to the back yard to put something into the compost and then, on your return, noticing that you must have walked right over a python of over six feet in length.

Luckily, these pythons are not venomous. They eat small animals like mice and rats, birds, and lizards. They can open their jaws wider than we might think, judging by the size of the head, but after an initial bite, they wrap their body around the animal to constrict its blood flow, and once the animal is unconscious, it is usually swallowed whole.

I spied my meal behind a fern,

And slithered close to see,

But Ratty didn’t even turn,

And soon was food for me.

 

I wrapped my “arm” around him then,

And told him not to fear,

“It’s just so you won’t feel it when

I swallow you, my dear.”

 

Though Ratty passed out right away,

And slipped right down my throat,

It would be wrong for me to say,

I didn’t smile and gloat.

 

He kicked a bit when he awoke,

He scrabbled in my gut,

And rather than to lose the bloke,

I kept my big mouth shut.


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Australian King Parrot

Just imagine what a thrill it would be to have one of these king parrots land on your back fence to ask for a snack. I would probably break a leg running for my camera. This photo was taken by my friend Leslie who lives in Australia. She assures me that she hasn’t broken a leg.

 

Maybe he’s getting ready for Christmas, wearing his best bright red and green finery.

He’s already looking for his presents in the form of a handout of seeds and any other fruit goodies that may come his way.

 

Eucalyptus, bolly gum.

These are foods that make me hum,

Berries make some tasty feeds,

Sometimes topped with hasty seeds.

 

Eating seeds of tuckeroo,

I’m a tough young buckaroo,

Nectar tasty as the seeds,

Yes, this tree fulfills my needs.

 

Berries of the lilly pilly, 

I could eat them ’til I’m silly,

Great bush tucker for a bird,

But there’s more, don’t be absurd.

 

Apples, pears, bananas, figs,

Mangos have me dancing jigs,

So much fruit is good for me,

I won’t starve here, don’t you see?

 

But if nature’s food is low, 

Always, there’s a place to go.

Folks don’t feed me out of duty,

They all love me for my beauty,

 

 

 

 

 


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Before and After and After

Earlier this spring, I was bragging about how many blossoms were on our transparent apple tree.

Later, many of these blossoms turned into apples. If you’re not familiar with transparent apples, you might think it would be great to just take a big chomp of one of these apples and enjoy the juicy freshness. You would be disappointed. It would be juicy and fresh, but it would be mouth-puckering sour. The very ripe ones are okay for eating, but the best are the just barely ripe ones that are crying out to be turned into a pie.

Notice that the apples weigh a lot more than those pretty white fluffy flowers. We had to prop up the branches so they wouldn’t break under the weight of the apples and the tree is already leaning from the load.

I picked a bunch of the apples to lighten the load. In the house, I peeled and cut them and put them into a bowl with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon and a couple of tablespoons of flour.

Then the food processor made the job of making a pie crust easy, and as they say the rest is history. Well, the pie was, anyway. I was lucky to get this photo before it all disappeared.  Funny how apple pie just seems to evaporate whenever there’s a cup of tea or coffee around.

Apple blossoms, apples high,

Up on branches to the sky,

Pick them, peel them, apples all,

No sense waiting ’til they fall.

 

Long awaited, now they’re ripe,

Just be patient and don’t gripe,

Apple pieces in the pie,

Taste so lovely, my, oh, my!


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Hurry up and Hide

On this rural road, I came upon a doe and two fawns. Yes, there is a second fawn in front of the one that is obvious. I had to count legs. Either there were two fawns, or one fawn had more than four legs.

Over her shoulder, the doe lowed to the fawns, “Hurry! This way!”

“Get into the thicket here while I distract them.”

And as I drove past very slowly I saw that there was already a well-worn deer crossing and path down into a property  thick with shrubs and trees.

Not much concerned when cars come by,

Their courage doesn’t fail,

The fawns melt through the thicket high,

And fade into the trail.


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Laughing Pup

*Note  –  I apologize for using this same photo of Emma again, but I really love it (because I love her so much). Emma is 11 years old now and is still “the best.”  Also, I wanted to mention that I do have four fingers and a thumb. One finger is just tucked in.

 

There once was a puppy who laughed,

Whose owner was equally daft,

She told the pup jokes,

That she’d heard from some blokes,

Then both of them rocked fore and aft.