10/06/2025
The rancher called me last week. He told me he had some critters feeding on an old dead cow carcass out by the old Homestead. If I wanted to come out and take pictures I could. So I got busy to get things ready. First thing I did was I got the berries out of the freezer and started rolling out the pie crust. I had a triple berry pie to make. That is what he charged me to come out on his property and take pictures. He loves my triple berrypie.
 Once the pie was in the oven, I made sure my batteries were charged and I had everything I needed in my camera bag. The following morning before sunrise, I drove out to his place. He greeted me with a smile when he saw that pie. He told me to Have fun and wished me luck. I started up the four wheeler he had parked over by the fence. My camera gear hanging around my neck and batteries in my pocket,I took off across the endless sea Prairie almost 1500 acres of nothing but prairie grass. When I got close to the old Farmstead, I shut off the vehicle and lit off on foot. Finding the carcass with my flashlight I walked back into the grass, sat down in the darkness and waited. It was chilly. I sat there alone, thinking about the critters that we’re gonna come up to this carcass, I thought about my life. I’ve never been so absolutely broke in my life, but yet somehow, someway, I am happy. My worries make me feel old as I put off the thought of paying bills in my mind and concentrated on the task at hand. I am free and I am in love with life. I don’t have two nickels to rub together to make a dime, but none of that seemed to matter at the moment. I watched the darkness evaporate into light. The trees and valleys in the distance made me smile. I got out my rabbit in distress call and started blowing softly. Almost 45 minutes past until I was able to make an object out in the distance, walking through the grass. As it got closer, I could see it was a bobcat. My camera in toe I balanced my elbows on my knees and started taking pictures. The bobcat walked up slowly and cautiously to the carcass. It didn’t take long and he started feeding, and I was still snapping away with my camera. He seemed to feed on the carcass for what seemed like an eternity. Then suddenly he stopped. He looked right at me and he did something I could not figure out. He sat down. My camera was pointed down, and I dare not move in fear of scaring him away. So the two of us the bobcat and I we sat there, and we stared at each other. I thought about it, wondering about its life, I wondered did he have the same worries as I did? He had no bills to pay. He did have to survive and he did have to hunt for food every single day. So it did have pressure on him just like I had pressure to pay my bills. After a while, I started feeling a kinship with this bobcat because all it did was sit there and stare at me. I wasn’t gonna move. I wanted this moment to last. I finally felt like I had a friend who understood my life. Like him I am free and like him I have pressure to somehow make money and pay my bills. Minutes seemed to drag on. It finally got up, turned around and walked away without saying a word, without blinking, nothing. I waited till he was out of sight. I did not want him to watch me try and stand up. I too turned around and stood up, took a step and fell back down , my balance on the rocky soil of the prairies of Western South Dakota is not good. I got back up. I took a few steps back towards the four wheeler and I fell again. I had forgotten my walk-in stick back in my van at the ranch. This time when I fell, I sat there cussing at myself, calling myself stupid for forgetting my walk-in stick. I then started to cry and I was glad the bobcat wasn’t here to see that. Sometimes I just tire of the struggles in life.  I finally stood back up, took short baby steps and made it back to the four wheeler. My composure in hand, I drove back to my van. I was loading my camera gear back into my van, when the rancher came over and started talking to me. He asked me if I saw anything and I told him about the morning. I told him about just sitting and sharing thoughts with this bobcat. He looked at me, kind of funny, knoded his head And said I’m glad you got some pictures. He didn’t understand very few people will. I drove away from the ranch smiling. I made a new friend today. One who understood what it was like to truly be free and one who understood the pressures of life. Godspeed, my new friend safe travels today and every day.
