Pictures for Pam, Day 18: Macro Monday: 2.0: Shoe

(3 inset images, the main images looks best at full size!) :)

Today I awoke, a feeling of peace blooming out of me and filling the surrounding space. When had I last felt this serenity? I do not remember. Sighing in this blissful state, my day began and soon I was out walking in the cool morning light, the smell of moist, decaying leaves perfuming the air, my breath coming out in lovely dragon puffs as I crunched down the gravel driveway and back up again.

Several laps later I was heading down towards our gate when I saw a large shape cross the road. It was a wild turkey! As it trotted into the grass, I noticed that it was the last in a line of the resident flock of bachelor toms who make their rounds in this area. I reached down to turn off my audio book and was suddenly aware of a great noise to the left. I turned and stared, my mouth falling open in surprise. Why, unbeknownst to me, I had been walking past the whole flock! They were alarmed at my fast pace and ran up the hill in an elongated cluster, the dried grass rustling loudly as they pushed their way through. Standing stock still and silent, I hoped they would begin to relax. I said gently in my head, "I mean you no harm…" and the image of the movie Starman flashed in my mind, when Jeff Bridges says this to the terrified Earthling he befriended. I often think about how strange we must seem to the life forms we encounter out in the wilds. I always do my best to be respectful to all that I am fortunate enough to meet.

The flock began to slow and relax as I watched them pass by, and finally the last in line passed me too. I strained to listen. Turkeys have a huge vocabulary of sounds they make--the classic alarm call "gobble" is just one. Perhaps my favorite is a quiet purring chirp, an intimate contact call amongst the members. Smiling, I heard it now from a couple of them, and I sighed in pleasure. I stood watching them as they picked their way through the meadow, moving across our road to the meadow on the other side. What beautiful, magnificent birds they are. Turkeys are modern-day dinosaurs to us and my husband and I love them dearly. How lucky we are that we get to see them so often. (Would you like to hear the different sounds that turkeys make? This is a wonderful page with fast-loading, clearly labeled files to enjoy! Wild Turkey Basics: Turkey Sounds

Today is Macro Monday 2.0 and the challenge this week is "Shoe". I admit that I wasn't truly inspired by this idea but I did have fun taking pictures of one of my shoes on Saturday. But today I decided to look at my husband's shoes and couldn't resist exploring one of his coolest pairs. Not surprising, I changed my pick to one I did today! You'll see several other images I developed as insets.

Pam, I am so delighted to see that you are leaving comments for more and more of your dear friends. This is so nice to see! I hope you are having a wonderful day and feeling better and better. My healing energy is always enroute to you and I hope that you feel it wrapping around you like a big, fluffy blanket of love!

Explored on 11/27/18, highest placement, #11.