Sounds like the start of a joke doesn't it?
It's not. This morning has been one of those days that demands it's own course despite my best efforts to tame it into productivity. Things got off to a bad start by my trying (and failing) to trim my hair into something presentable and humidity proof for an upcoming event. Then the minutes became ensnared in a series of mundane and insignificant distractions so that by late morning it seemed that taking Stanley for his walk before hitting the studio made the most sense. We were going to head up the canyon because I wanted to photograph the Mountain Lady Slipper Orchids but we never got there. At the trailhead this Austrian guy comes out of the woods carrying an injured Great Blue Heron saying "you help, are you specialist?" It's not just any day you meet someone from Vienna in the middle of nowhere Wyoming trying to hand you a bloody wader. In fact I'm willing to bet that if I live another 80 years I may never experience such a thing again. It was the first and probably the last time I will ever hold such a majestic creature. It was a bittersweet moment though because the biologist we found at the Fish Hatchery was more inclined toward killing the bird than saving it and was having no part of my taking it. So long story short, Ron, my new Austrian friend, decided to leave it with her on the promise that a licensed rehabber would stop by this afternoon before any final decision was made. I'm not sure we did the right thing but it's possible there was no "right" thing to do. Still, I thought it was blog worthy. I really liked Ron despite our communication difficulties. Apparently he lives 3 months each summer here where he spends 10 hours a day wandering the woods. The other 9 months of the year he lives in Vienna. We both dislike the casual killing of animals and lack of conservation that is part of the culture here but we both love the wilderness. He showed me his moose pictures and told me about the bear he met yesterday and then I drove him back to the canyon as he had many more hours of walking left in him.
Note: I had my camera but didn't photograph Ron or the heron, it didn't seem right. The picture above is not mine. Click here to link to it's source.
