Monday, August 8, 2016

Pheasant in the Pines

One of the 4-H projects was planting pine trees.
They would provide a quantity of trees if you signed up
with the deal being you planted them.
The old farmer would go along a line and hit the soil with a mattock
 and the farmers daughters would follow behind planting the seedlings.
Before our time the old farmers son did this too.
  
  
I was an introspective child, I enjoyed going out alone in the woods
 and fields seeing what was there and what was new. 
I could sit for a lengthy time quietly and see the woods come to life
 after the disturbance of my appearance.  
Soon the birds would start chirping again
and the squirrels would start playing from tree to tree.
 
 I had found a cozy place to sit in an older
stand of pines that were there from the old farmer's son's time. 

It was a small open space sheltered from the outside world.
No one could see you in the middle of the grove,
 a patch of sunshine showed through.  
It was also sheltered from the wind, you could hear the wind
blowing the trees, and feel it as I sat on a lower branch
 watching and listening..  
 
 
One time a beautiful ring necked pheasant ran into the clearing
 in the pines and stopped a few feet from me. 
He shimmered in a patch of sunlight allowing me to admire him
 for a few seconds (that felt like minutes) 
before he took off (on foot) again. 
This was a gift I have never forgotten.


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1 comment:

JoseG said...

Charming moment, Jens....
I also used to plant pines with my father, and ,as a child, I tended not to dig the hole apart enough...and I remember old dad always saying: "further away from each other...when the trees grow they will not have enough space for their roots and branches, nor enough water and nutrients and sunlight and will die.." And I sometimes cried because I had done it wrong and did not want my pines to die...and so I would go back, get the seeds out, re-dig the holes more apart and put the seeds back...
Thanks Jens, I think I can smell the pine aroma, and see my hands and nails and knees all dirty...thaks for sharing this moment.