“There is no more difficult art to acquire than the art of observation … “
William Osler, physician (1894-1919)
We were sitting at the breakfast table lingering over bowls of oatmeal when Sam read out loud, “DeWitt Jones is a National Geographic photographer who has used his profession to celebrate what’s right about the world.”
The article continued, “He waits and watches until a shaft of light or turn of perspective suddenly reveals a wonder that had been there all along. He uses his camera to find beauty in the most common faces of people and nature.”
As Sam read, I looked across the side yard to see at first one, then two deer standing at the edge of the woods. Sighting deer is not unusual, but being near 9 o’clock in the morning was a bit unusual. The sun shone on the backs of the deer, giving their hides a reddish glow. Then one deer lay down, then the other beside it. I quietly interrupted Sam’s reading and whispered as if the deer could hear me, “You might want to get your camera … a deer in the daylight lying down and right here before us is rare.”
Sam, with camera in hand, eased out to the porch, snapped the photos and slipped back inside. The pictures were lovely, two deer at peace, in need of rest. We’re seeing more deer lately, at least deer that do not run but turn and look at us curiously. A couple have been seen down near the spillway drinking water as it runs fast from the rains.
A single deer was seen at night bedded down behind the garage. The flashlight caught eyes with that “deer in the headlights” look. His ears extended straight up, but no movement was made. I stood for a moment enjoying the sight, then slipped slowly backwards into the house.
I thought about another Jones quote: “Looking at our world through more positive lens is a vision that guides my life every day.” And another, “Can you imagine a world in which every person, every day, celebrated what was right? I can. It would be incredible.”
I walked down to the lake to feed the bream. I have hand-size bream that school by when they hear my feet touch the dock. They are extraordinary swimming by, looking like a “Planet Earth” video. The bream turned and swam back, waiting for the fish food. I flung the pellets out. In the midst of the bream a bass maneuvered in and out of the school. I didn’t worry, convinced my bream were too large for the bass. But that day there was a “whap,” then a stir, and off the bass swam with one of my bream sideways in his mouth.
Though disturbing, it was an incredible sight. I described it to Sam who said, “That’s why they’re called largemouth bass.”
Dewitt Jones has a website, a blog and a Tedx talk at celebratewhatsright.com. There’s a Celebrate Community where celebrators post their photographs and thoughts of the world as they see it, a world worth celebrating.
Email reaches Shannon Bardwell of Columbus as [email protected].
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