Have you ever brushed uncomfortably close to nature? I think the sort of strange horror (and beauty) from nature is when it is unfamiliar. People feel this when they're suddenly near an animal they're not accustomed to, for example. I think this must apply to dogs as well, at least when it comes to adults who have spent little time around dogs. Children do seem to be more fearless than adults in so many situations! I wonder why. Maybe it's just naivete and ignorance and lack of judgment and understanding...though it might just have to do with an unbounded curiosity that knows no fear. I think every human being is curious, and that this curiosity is naturally ordered to learning things about the natural world, or some other healthy pursuit. When it's not done so, people turn to things like gossip magazines instead. It's strange how many ways people have come up with to unhealthily vent their inherent desires and urges that should easily be ordered to the good and constructive! I know from experience, too.
Ahh, but I went off-topic! Today, I was spending some extra time outside, just because I had the time and it was just really, really nice outside...perhaps the last really warm day of summer? That's a little melancholy, but if that's so, I'm glad I was able to experience it!
When you spend time outside, so many extra possibilities become open. Like, I had to refill our hummingbird feeder, which I did outside under the tree we hang it on. There is one big boss hummingbird who hogs the feeder all to himself...though we've seen him get into long, zippy, strange battles with other hummingbirds. Just as I was refilling the feeder, I heard them zoom right over me and looked up to see them darting at each other like erratic fish in a strong stream, barely colliding before they zoomed off again, with their wings sounding like helicopter blades. After that, I went to hang up the feeder on the limb again, and the big boss hummingbird came back, hovering so close I could have grabbed him easily if I had wished! Of course, the thought didn't go through my mind. Even though he's such a tiny creatures, suddenly being so close probably made me more scared than he was when he realized how close he was and zoomed away after a few seconds. Still, it was such a strange encounter! I never would have thought I'd be so startled and scared of such a small creature. It was it being so CLOSE, so suddenly that really did it. It was strange and interesting. Though I can't help but think that I would definitely feel the same type of feeling if I was suddenly close to a deer, raccoon, any type of creature....mostly because they are WILD. They're wild, and we don't know what to expect from them. They're unpredictable and alien, and I think the combination of fear and intrigue that this stirs up in us is part of why animals draw humans to them so much.
The horse is God's gift to mankind. ~Arabian Proverb
Domestic animals can cause this, again. I think it's the bigger they are, the more you feel it though. Like how some people are afraid of horses. They are creatures that we can never really understand, but at the same time....well, they're so perfectly suited for us in a lot of ways. And there have been too many stories of their moving devotion to people (similar to dogs) to think that there's no compatibility of team-ship of any sort between us and them. And I just really love horses, I can't wait to start riding again next month, hopefully! Don't get me wrong...I'm not naive about them. I've almost fallen off in a strange way, I've had a horse bolt (both while I was on it and while I was letting another horse in the fenced area...I've never run so fast as I did right then chasing to rope up that runaway horse before it got out further into the meadow!) but I still really like them. I'm just....not very keen on galloping or stuff like that much anymore. Which I suppose I must get over if I want to keep riding well and confidently (enough.)
I think one of the best (true!) stories to capture animals and how they relate to us in so many different ways is All Creatures Great and Small, both the original books (real memoirs by a farm animal vet) and the television series. It's all amazing and hilarious, but it's even moreso because it's all TRUE. You read these books or watch the series and...yes, truth is stranger than fiction!
Properly trained, a man can be dog's best friend. ~Corey Ford
Still, there's just no underestimating what animals can do for us if we treat them well, like we should, as stewards of all in and on the earth. I spoke to a lady today who was walking a dog. The dog had been rescued; it was found starving and abandoned. Because it was rescued, the lady was able to adopt it, and recently the sweet, sweet dog had helped her through a very hard time. There's something about good animals, especially good dogs, that really just soothes the soul. Especially dogs, they just want to be part of your pack and to be with you, have your approval, attention and companionship. And I can't even get started on all of the true, amazing and moving stories of how dogs have proved their loyalty to their owners... (just think of Hachiko, the dog whose owner died in World War 2 in Japan....the dog went to the train station every day to wait for his owner to return, without fail. The dog was noticed and fed by neighbors, but he never turned to anyone else, and kept waiting for his master...and when he died they put up a statue in his memory. And I know he's not the only dog who has done such things! Honestly, they're just too sweet.)
Ah, now for the picture.
The prompt for this one was the scent called "Noir", made of black cardamom and white musk. The combination of the two opposites along with the word "noir" which for some reason sounded very romantic to me (I have no idea what it actually means) really made me want to do a couple. I wasn't exactly planning it that way, but having the guy be the musk and the girl be the plant works well (especially if you think "flowers are plants" and stuff.) Again, these are just rough. Either way, I had a lot of fun doing this one! Sorry if it's hard to see the lady's face; you might have to adjust your screen a little on contrast.
I'm going to two club meetings over the next couple days...I am definitely excited! Here's praying they will be good!
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