I went out to Huntley Meadows one afternoon recently for a long walk. Heading out on the boardwalk over the wetlands I paused to watch this Heron who was fishing for a meal. I waited for a couple of minutes, he moved forward very carefully, slowly lifting a leg out of the water, carefully slipping the foot into the water ahead of him, without a ripple. I took a couple of photos and moved on. I walked out to the far end of the boardwalk and back, probably half-a-mile of walking, and the Heron was still there. Maybe 10 feet farther into the marsh, still fishing, still as quiet as a stone.
This encounter got me to thinking about patience. Certainly the Heron is patient, slowly and deliberately waiting for the fresh catch of the day. He waits for the prey to come to him, rather than trying to outrun it. The bird exhibits incredible patience. And in the end it pays off with a good birdy life.
I don't, I watch for a minute or so and if nothing is happening I move on. My brain thinks there is nothing to see here, nothing has happened, so nothing is going to happen, let's go in search of something worth seeing. And I move on. I am often a couple of steps ahead of the action happening behind me, or far ahead of me.
There is a Facebook Page for Huntley Meadows, and photographers post amazing photos of Herons moments after they catch a fish. The payoff for the long wait. I envy those photos, and it would be easy to think, the photographer has a better camera or a longer lens, and that may be true, though this one was not that far away. What those photographers have that I lack, is patience. They stand there quietly as long as it takes, minutes, hours, days. They are there today, tomorrow, and next week if that is what it takes to be there at the the moment the magic happens.
I should learn from the Heron, just as the bird waits for the right moment, so should I.
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