Words + Images

For my friend Melissa, I trek through bogs to photograph frogs, all the while hoping they don’t hop down my shirt.  For Emily, I keep an eye out for owls in the wild though mostly right now I just buy her owl stationery.  There’s a young woman in NY who loves squirrels and for her I have even roped Steve into carrying around nuts so we can thank the squirrels for their time in front of my camera.  And for Yves, I find bears, not yet in the wild, though I did come across bear tracks while blueberry picking in Maine.

This fellow I found in the bottom of a bargain bin soon to be tossed out for trash.  Somehow a light sparkled in his eye so that I grabbed him with a triumphant shout.  For seventy-five cents I carried him out the door and one day I’m sure he’ll make his way to his new home.  If I don’t forget to send him on his way.  You see, sometimes I do.  If you were to visit my place, in nooks and crannies and especially on the window sills, you’ll find caches of ceramic frogs, paper owls and bears in so many different forms.

These fellows, comprising a 2011 calendar, I found in a shop in Japan late last year.  It was a joy to find them once again, just in time, to send my dear friend the months still valid … ahem, just December.  As for the bear in the boat at the opening of this post?

Well he and his friends I found at a fair, made of cedar I think and meant to tuck into drawers.  Now I’m sure my young friend has many a drawer and I sure should have sent these to him by now.  And I will.  One day.  Meanwhile I hope that he likes these few photos until he can hold these wee bears for himself.

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