Pheasants

On the way to class Thursday I saw a male ringed-necked pheasant just kind of hanging out in town by himself. It was a very special treat. I've been taking special notice of the animals I see, especially when their appearance is something of a surprise, or unusual, or just makes me happy to see it. I guess I feel like, in a way, it's natures way of telling me to stop and take a moment to recognize what's around you and reflect on what that can mean for you right now.

These guys were pretty common enough when I was growing up. Even though they like to hide, it wasn't unusual to see them on occasion in their natural habitat along the road or in a field. We even saw them in our backyard. They are very beautiful though. So very colorful with red, brown, purple, blue, green and gold. They are even kind of flashy with their long tail feathers. They also have a very distinctive call.

I was reminded of its distinction of being a game bird and of the days when we went hunting about this time of year. It was family time, early mornings out with the dogs walking the fields. I don't remember ever shooting one myself.  Even though they do fly, their first instinct is to hide. (that's what the dogs were for, to flush them out). Flying at that point often meant getting shot. 

Bloom Where You're Planted

This is my Utah cacti from its spot in our backyard where we lived in central Utah. When the neighbors next to my mom and dad' moved a couple years ago, they told me I could have it from their yard. They brought it down from the hills surrounding the home where I grew up so I took it and planted in my own yard.

Other than being a piece of home, the only other connection I've had to them was rather painful!  When I was about 10 or 11, I was walking along and accidentally hit one of these plants with the toe of my shoe.  It was not even very hard just bumped it really, but it was enough for one of those sharp spikes to get through my shoe and sock and anchor itself into the tip of my big toe.  There are tiny barbs at the end of the spikes that keep them from going out the same way they came in.I remember that it throbbed and ached for a couple days, and I couldn't wear closed toed shoes, but I guess my body just sort of absorbed it  because I never did get the thing out. So I guess, its a part of me, in a very literal sort of way.

These plants are hardy things though, living in a very harsh environment.  They require very little water, and have adapted to the dry, hot, rocky desert terrain of central Utah where they thrive. Their growth is slow, sometimes imperceptible and they even have a beautiful blossom in the early summer. 

Through the close proximity and attention of this particular bunch, I have been able to observe their growth, see the green life through the prickles and take great joy in their rare flowers. I was so thrilled last year when they bloomed just before we left. This is the one plant I just could not leave when we moved across the country. (OK, I brought my favorite Iris bulbs too.) I hauled it across the country in a bowl I haphazardly dumped them into just before leaving. This prickly thing was a bit more of a challenge to travel with than the iris bulbs! They've been in that same horrible plastic container for a year now and well, they haven't died. I finally started seeing it green up again recently and finally got around to giving them some much needed attention. There was a legitimate concern that the whole process of transplanting them would kill them all, so I opted for a more conservative approach which was to just cut some of the younger ones off from the main bunch as a sort of trial run. I cut off 5 of the smaller ones, dried the cut spot in the sun for about 48 hours to avoid rot, then transferred them to their own little pots that had the proper soil and drainage that they require to thrive. Hopefully they will be much more comfortable now. They are sitting in our sunny living room window next to the others.

Throughout this process I started to find that I can relate to them. Not sure that I like relating to such a prickly thing, but I definitely feel terribly small and entirely out of my element right now. No longer secure and surrounded by those just like me who are bigger and stronger than I am. And now here I am, also trying now to use all the strength that I have stored up in me during a time of comfort and ease, to just survive, to push out new roots and grow. slowly and imperceptibly it seems,  in this new and unfamiliar environment, hoping that one day, I will bloom where I'm planted. 

Bloom Where You're Planted