The Missing

Color Photography, wildlife

Unfortunately this is not really one my happier posts. The image above was taken at Hawks Nest State Park. The Swans were brought in to enhance the beauty of the lake formed by the flood control dam. They were a mated pair. The Swans did their job wonderfully. Gracefully floating around lake and spreading joy, peace and love to all who came to the lake. Until one person who either through ignorance or malice shot and killed one of them. Shortly thereafter, the other got sick and died. Why would someone do such a thing as to kill the swan? I don’t know exactly. I try not to attribute to malice that which can be explained as ignorance. What kind of weapon was used? The truth is death doesn’t come in degrees and except for the amount of suffering the swan endured it doesn’t matter. One of the things that I love about nature is simplicity. To the surviving swan all that matters is the emptiness. She doesn’t perceive any difference between a gun, bow & arrow, catapult, wolf, coyote or oncoming traffic. Gone is gone and that’s it.

In the early days of the internet I became a fan of the late Ron Hood and his Hood’s Woods survival blog. I don’t if the rules originated from him or if he just promoted them but here is the rules of three for survival.

1. You can live three minutes without air.

2. You can live three hours without shelter.

3. You can live three days without water.

4. You can live three weeks without food. (under the right conditions)

5. You can only survive three months without love.

Love is just as essential to life as anything on the list. Without love a person’s body goes on but the soul begins to die. However, there is hope. As long as the body can continue to function a love life can be restored. Not only can you be restored but you can come back stronger and happier than ever before. Just like in physical survival emotional survival relies on the ability to adapt and continue the journey. In physical survival we have to adapt our diet. Nobody has been saved by finding a spectacular pizza tree in the deep forests. In emotional survival we have to hold onto the love and respect of friends and family. We have to just keep moving forward with determination until the point of rescue. Never fail to offer a stranger a smile. It may be returned with the potential of a friendship that becomes more. Don’t be afraid to hug someone. You may just find out that they are waiting for you to rescue them back. The swans were brought here and isolated. The surviving swan had no community to draw on for support. We don’t have to be alone. If you’re hurting today the best advice I can give you is to go out and find at least one person who could use a friend and then be one.

22 thoughts on “The Missing”

  1. I’ve often heard of people dying soon after their partners passed away. Goes to show that our mental health has a huge effect on our physical health too. Not sure if this is something proven or studied in a scientific way, but it’s definitely real if you ask me.

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      1. Yes!
        I am glad you published it, even if it starts from a sad event (I will never understand how some people can be heartless to this point..), but it reminds how love is strong…

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      1. But it still would have occurred to them that there are only two of them and by killing one, they are effectively removing the warmth of companionship for the other? It’s a shame they weren’t caught, it potentially deprives them of the chance to reduce their ignorance.

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      2. Yes. That’s true. I like to think that maybe it was a very young person who didn’t have someone to teach them better. Hunting is a very strong part of the culture here. Unfortunately, some of our youngest hunters do not have good role models to teach them better.

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      3. Now, I feel sorry for them. You’re right, they probably do not know better and it’s not their fault that they’ve been brought up in such a way… I’m sure their parents themselves were too. I hope they do learn better one day. (I don’t know why but I’m suddenly reminded of Go Set A Watchman which explores this issue well).

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      5. You’re right, I think I immediately displayed arrogance without thinking when in reality the wise thing to do is to help those who need it. Anyone can change with the right company.

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