Desiderata

I read this for the first time today. How have I missed this poem? Beautiful.
•••
Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.

Speak your truth quietly and clearly, and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.

Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious
to the spirit. If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter, for always
there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.

Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the  changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.

Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment;
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.

And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore, be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.

And whatever your labors and aspirations
in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

©1927 Max Ehrmann

Coyote encounter

One late afternoon in mid January I went out to see Rayn and brought my DSLR. I took photos of the herd as the sun was setting and then found a relatively clean area to sit in the hay field.

My girlie Rayn, The White Horse :-)  Yes, I realize she's not white yet, she will be white one day though!

Rayn

The herd at sunset.

The horses were all around, facing east and grazing. Several had come up to me to nuzzle my hair and see what I was doing—just sitting quietly, listening and enjoying the wind, the sound of grass being munched, and the quiet.

I mentally sent out, “Coyote, come to me.” Wondering if it would work, I went back to sitting with happiness in my heart—how wonderful to be sitting near a herd of horses watching the sun set!

About fifteen minutes later, Sweetie, an ancient chestnut mare, lifted her head and looked west, to my right. 

Sweetie, on the left, enjoying the last of the sun.

I slowly turned my head and there was a big coyote, walking into the field. 

Can you see him? Nearly in the middle of the photo.

I had my camera in my lap and slowly and quietly adjusted my ISO higher since the sun had just gone down. I waited until the coyote turned to look behind him before I rotated my body toward him and lifted my camera to my eyes. I froze. He looked at me a few times but seemed unconcerned by me. I, luckily, had turned off the focus beep on my camera a few days before so all that could be heard was the shutter. I snapped away, occasionally peeking one eye over the camera to actually have a moment of the real experience of looking at him, not just looking through the lens.

He wandered up to within twenty feet of me and went into hunt mode, froze, unmovingly gathered himself, and pounced!

Happiness is being this close to a wild coyote.

I was absolutely in awe that he was so close and thrilled to be capturing him on camera!

Maybe three to four minutes went by and then I made the mistake of peeking both eyes over the camera. He immediately caught the slight movement and our eyes locked…then he startled so hard that his whole body gave a visceral jerk. He loped away a few strides and turned his head back to look at me as if to say, “Where the hell did you come from?”

"Yikes! You're human!"

Goose (a horse) walked between us, ignoring me, and the coyote must have figured that he was semi safe and wandered a circle around me that was about forty feet away. He hunted and pounced once more and then slipped under the fence and up over the ridge to the lake on the other side. 

It's pretty neat to see how easily a coyote blends in to his background.

The excitement of the previous moments couldn’t keep up with the cold so I headed back. Beatrice met me at the gate and stood looking with me toward the lake. I couldn’t see the coyote but felt he was somewhere nearby and told Beatrice so. She perked her ears and eyes to the left of the lake—I looked…scanned the area, ah! There he was, still wandering and hunting. 

My heart was absolutely singing as I drove home :-)