She was gorgeous!
I saw her out of the corner of my eye and quickly stopped to take a second look and then another.
Brown eyes, pursed lips, pleasingly plump – she had it all. Her hair was brown and wonderfully streaked with a perfect palette of colours. I could only image how long her stylist spent getting it just right.
It was impossible to keep up with her head movements – after a while it just seemed like a blur.
She moved quickly like she knew what she was about but somehow managed to do it all with style and grace. She was constantly on the move and at times her head seemed like it was on a swivel. It was hard to keep up!
She looked in my direction a couple of times and I smiled shyly. I enjoyed being in her presence and I only hoped she felt the same about me.
We carried on in that happy state for some time. She, busily darting about, and me, shamelessly staring. I honestly thought she was putting on a show just for me. This relationship was working.
Suddenly she looked up into my lens, her eyes widened with shock and she darted off into the bush.
I haven’t felt that rejected since high school. I started the truck and headed down the road, left only with beautiful memories and a few photos. I couldn’t help but wonder what might have been if things had turned out differently. It seemed like I hardly got to know her.
Krahnpix 
Great set – that connection – that’s what it’s all about!
LikeLike
I was in a fun zone while taking those shot – I agree that’s what it’s all about.
LikeLike
Beautiful, indeed! 🙂 You got some great photos, at least..
LikeLike
Thanks. I was left with good photos so I should appreciate that:)
LikeLike
just gorgeous colour – the tight crop with such detail in the feathers lovely
LikeLike
I appreciate that. I’m happy I turned the truck around when I saw in the ditch.
LikeLike
😉delightful.
LikeLike
Thanks
LikeLike
This was sort of like your own personal encounter with a Hollywood starlet. You see her, take her all in, but the experience is all too brief and you are left with only the dazzling memories. Well, except in your case you also come back with some darn fine photos worthy of the best paparazzi. Very well done!
LikeLike
Thanks. That’s pretty much what it was like! The comparisons to the paparazzi are, I suppose, inevitable. But just like them I will claim to be providing a service.
LikeLike
Dear Lyle,As always your photographs be it of nature or wild life and of course beautiful birds are the best I have seen, May God help you continue to keep up the good work for a long long time to come and save nature from being destroyed by greedy humans. Regards, Ganesh.
LikeLike
Thanks for your kind comments. It is important to preserve the beauty around us. The location where I took this was a national park and I am happy those areas are being preserved.
LikeLike
Her colors are mesmerizing….all my favorites in such intricate patterns. You have made me See what I never could on my own.
LikeLike
I continue to be amazed at the colours she carries – mesmerizing is a great word! I really appreciate your comments.
LikeLike
Unbelievably beautiful, your images are so sharp and your words are great as always.
LikeLike
It helps to have a beautiful model! Glad you enjoyed the post. I did have a little fun putting the words together for this one. Thanks for the comment.
LikeLike
Still smiling – great post.
LikeLike
Glad to hear it!
LikeLike
The detail is so exquisite in these shots. Your posts never disappoint.
LikeLike
It turns out the ruffled grouse comes with a lot of details that aren’t obvious when you see it from a distance. I’m glad you checked out the photos and liked them. This post was fun to write.
LikeLike
Lyle I’d like to add that seeing your Fall color photo of the amazing ruffled grouse came after commuting over a bridge here in Colorado and seeing a field hawk of some kind on sentinel duty on a traffic light. His/her back was to me, with a full panoply of brindle, white, mottled camouflage much like that of your grouse on a different shape and scale. I’d have crashed to try to take a shot of him though, and then, with a phone camera? Pshaw.
LikeLike
It’s pretty tough to get wildlife with a phone camera. The hawks are some of my favourite birds. I have had some opportunities to photograph them and will be posting in the future. Their beauty never ceases to amaze.
LikeLike
Wonderful. Pity about your ruffled feathers.
LikeLike
They say time is a great healer – here’s hoping:)
LikeLike
Gorgeous! I love her big brown eyes and her little bill. And how she’s basically a circle with feathers on in the first photo.
LikeLike
I had to laugh when I saw that first photo since she looked like a ball from that angle. Given all she ate in the time I watched it should not be entirely surprising. She’s a beauty. Thanks for the comment.
LikeLike
She’s beautiful, Lyle! I like how the wind moves her feathers. 🙂
LikeLike
She’s a beauty all right. It was actually a funny moment when she finally looked up at me and realized someone was watching. Her eyes got big and she dashed off in a rush!
LikeLike
Unrequited love, we’ve all been there. Your subject is beautiful, but if it hadn’t been for your tags, I wouldn’t have known what kind of bird she is. I initially though this was some kind of a cross between a sparrow and a pigeon, with a touch of wild turkey. What can I say, I am a product of the suburbs.
LikeLike
I think if you added all the birds you mentioned together, you would get a grouse! I suppose there are a lot less places to hide in the suburbs for those grouse so they choose to live elsewhere!
LikeLike
How can ever be alone except we chose it? Those pics made me zoom in and the show was worth the time.
LikeLike
That question is the right one. I appreciate you checking out the photos – glad you enjoyed them.
LikeLike
There is reason why white noise works and the same for the crystal like clarity of technicolor photos. These things we sacrificed to the altar on the electric quill.
LikeLike
You’re better off with the pictures. If she’d stayed, she would have groused about everything you did.
LikeLike
You’re probably right. Grousing quickly becomes unbearable!
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Farm Your Training Day.
LikeLike
Lyle, stop grousing about love taking flight! I hope that doesn’t ruffle your feathers…
but in all seriousness:
Your essay fit your photo as beautifully as her spectrum of colors and textures did her surroundings. What a work of art she is. Thanks for adding your own artistic and personal approach and sharing it freely here.
Artists like yourself help people to fill out the dimensions of their perception of what is around them so that they can enrich their outdoor experience.
Because this is the way I want people to feel about each outing to train in the great outdoors, with a sense of reverence and ever greater appreciation for the nuances, I’d like to reblog this to illustrate how people can be more attuned during their outdoor training.
The greens in her wings on the second to last photo: Wow!
LikeLike
I’ll try to keep the grousing to a minimum and it’s not hard when responding to your comments.
It’s not often that someone describes exactly what I was trying to achieve and does it in a way that makes it seem profound. Your words definitely struck a chord.
I really appreciate your comments and the reblog. Thanks.
LikeLike
Cheers!
LikeLike
Beautiful colours and a great subject!
LikeLike
Thanks. It was one of those windy, cold, cloudy days that ironically works well to make photos. I’m glad I turned the truck around to take another look.
LikeLike