stands and waits

watercolor 8/2019

Standing in shallow water upon long thin legs. Standing and waiting for prey. Herons wait for their prey to come to them. They do not chase down their meal. Always works very well. I have spent hours watching herons standing and waiting. Not boring at all because I’m watching a master fisher. Make a noise and they are likely to take to the air and fly slowly and majestically away looking like a prehistoric reincarnation. A picture of Zen……so still and present. My dog Buddha tried but was never able to catch a heron. He used to crash through the underbrush toward the wader. No brainer. Buddha always lost. He was, however, a very excellent ground squirrel catcher. He would hug the ground and almost imperceptibly advance toward the squirrel colony. At a certain distance he would make his final thrust in a burst of speed. His technique…