The pandemic has wreaked havoc on the world. For some it has created sorrow, stress, uncertainty, and fear. I certainly have experienced those emotions. When I've been able to recenter, it is clear there are opportunities in the midst of all this. It's like the aphorism, "The sun is always out. It is I who must come from behind the clouds."
Coming from behind the clouds for me means slowing down and experiencing things more deeply. I get to see little stories I would normally miss...like this one. All it took was for me to be relatively still for about 30 minutes.
One the characters in this drama lives to fish. We'll call him Carl. The other, Ed the egret, fishes to live. He wades close to the shore biding his time until something tasty comes within reach. Patience is a virtue. Accuracy is a necessity. I've never seen a fat egret.
Carl has options. He can fish close to the bank or as far out as he can cast. If his bait isn't attractive and the fish aren't biting, Carl is probably still happy that he spent a pleasant morning near the water. There are always fish to be purchased from the store on the way home.
Ed and Carl don't usually hang out together. I don't know Carl at all, so I can't say if he has any fishing buddies, but I've been around Ed and his relatives enough to say they like to keep their distance when fishing. That is different today. Ed has decided that social distancing will be damned and he is going to stick uncomfortably close to Carl; less than ten feet. What would embolden him to take that kind of risk? It is something unseen in the photo.
At Carl's feet is a line descending into the water. On the end of that line is a mesh bag containing a half dozen silvery fish about 10-12 inches long. Each time Carl moves to a new position on the waterfront the bag gets drawn from the water, the fish flop, and Ed, mesmerized by the sight, follows Carl like a puppy. He has stopped fishing in the hope that bag will pop open delivering a free meal. While Carl is willing to share his fishing spot with Ed, I sensed no inclination on his part to do the same with his catch. Perhaps it happened after I left.
Little stories. Little mysteries. Another day, another adventure.
