Nature's Magic Mirror
Sunday, November 9, 2008 at 09:52AM A departure from the normal presentation approach, this story is intended for the imagination of younger minds, and those that haven't lost such, to try to convey how important all animals are to us, and how companion animals reflect back the core of goodness in our humanity. It's a short story about one day in a young boy's life, that has its roots in real life, but with artistic license taken to focus on the theme.
Nature's Magic Mirror
by Euan Fingal
One day in very different times past, a young boy named Calan awoke a good hour before first light, slipped on his shirt, jeans, and boots, and hurried from the bunkhouse to the main house to start a fire in the wood cooking stove. This morning he had to quickly get enough wood in also, because his older cousins, Gavin and Maggie, had been too busy with a foal last evening to fill the wood box. It was one of his chores to get things ready for his Aunt May to prepare breakfast, and he was learning that the better he did his part, the easier the day would go for all of them.
Aunt May and Uncle Gordan were good people, but not really the huggy type. They were down-to-earth people, trying to get through life on a western ranch that was more sagebrush and alkali than grass lands. With a life so close to nature, they were responsible and caring, but with little patience for mistakes that might affect others. Calan's father had been a mean person, and it was all his mother could do alone to support his sister, so Aunt May took Calan in.
After breakfast, when he went out to gather eggs this day, the usual strong winds greeted him, but the sky was clear with the sun beginning to warm the day. It was amazing how far he could see out here on the range, and yet not see another sign of humans. Some days, at first light, he could even see deer or antelope down by the creek, which the dog tried to keep out of the hayfield.
Mule Deer Pronghorn Antelope
His task was to focus more closely though. There was a chicken coop for bad weather, but the chickens on the ranch were free to roam, so gathering eggs each day was like a game of hide-and-seek. Calan began with the more usual nest sites, and as he widened his search, he saw a prairie chicken nest which he carefully kept away from. Aunt May had told him not to disturb the wild nests, because the birds were important to nature, and last winter had been hard on them. When he asked why they were important, or any like question for that matter, his aunt simply answered "as nature goes we go," which he didn't really understand yet.
Prairie Chicken
courtesy of Steve Metz
permission required for reuse
Then a little way off he saw chicken feathers, and went to look closer. One of the hens had been killed during the night, and the eggs eaten in a nearby nest site also. Calan knew this was the sort of thing he should tell Uncle Gordan about. He ran with his pail of eggs to the house, then down to the horse corral to find his uncle. Uncle Gordan had just saddled up old Keno, and started out to check a fence line, but heard him calling and turned back.
Uncle Gordan pulled Calan up on Keno with him, and Calan showed him where the hen had been killed. Uncle Gordan got off Keno to look around a little for tracks, and told Calan to go back to his chores. There wasn't any more Calan could do here anyway, so he headed for a second corral and shed where they kept orphaned calves. Another of his daily chores was to mix up the powdered milk in the nipple pails, and feed the orphaned calves. Though he had a fond kinship with the calves, he didn't much like this chore. The full pails took all his strength to lift and hold up, and he always ended up soaked with splashed milk and calf slobber.
At lunch, Uncle Gordan was telling the rest of them that it looked like a badger had been the culprit, but there were also coyote tracks around. The coyote tracks were not a surprise, because coyotes sometimes followed badgers to snatch prey the badger might flush. Uncle Gordan went on to say that they were having more problems with predators this year because last winter's bad blizzard and extra heavy snow had killed so many prairie chickens and other prey. They had also lost some livestock in the blizzard, and would have lost more if it hadn't been for Uncle Gordan's and cousin Gavin's great efforts. Calan had his own vivid memory of the blizzard, which was of making his way between the bunkhouse and outhouse during the blizzard and cousin Gavin having to help him.
Badger
As Aunt May got a hot sheet of biscuits from the oven, she said that they would have to raise some more chickens. She told Calan to let her know when there were new eggs in the chicken coop nests, and not to disturb them. Calan had a problem with this though, as he would be the one that had to take care of the new chicks in the box by the stove, and would have to keep their little butts clean so they wouldn't die. Calan blurted out to Uncle Gordan, "why don't you just go shot all the badgers, coyotes, and bobcats?" Aunt May looked up sharply saying, "will you listen to that young'un always thinking of himself!"
Bobcat* Coyote*
* courtesy of Steve Metz - permission required for reuse
Uncle Gordan took a gentler approach in trying to explain that the natural world was a balance of all the creatures in it, and if we upset that balance it would lead to other, maybe worse, problems. But Calan protested, saying that Gavin told him he had shot a cougar that killed several calves. So Uncle Gordan continued by explaining that the cougar had a bad leg, and turned to livestock as easier prey. Then he went on to say that, even if they could get rid of all the predators, they would then be overrun by the creatures that had been their prey, like prairie dogs and other rodents, so where would it all end.
Mountain Lion
Aunt May ended the questioning with her familiar "as nature goes we go." Calan understood his protest was rejected, even if he wasn't really sure about how they had connected the dots between give and take in the natural world. Anyway, lunch was over, cousin Maggie was clearing the table, and he had to follow cousin Gavin to the wood pile to pick up and stack the wood that would be cut.
Later in the afternoon Calan had some free time, and he and the dog set off to explore. He had a close friendship with the dog, which seemed to always be close by when he needed to talk without ending up being lectured. The dog answered to the name Max, and was a stock dog of the smaller herding variety, but his role was as more of a guard dog. If Calan had really understood their relationship, the dog likely sensed Calan's youthful vulnerability. One day when Calan had heard a rattlesnake and wanted a closer look, the dog got between him and the snake and snarled at him.
Prairie Rattlesnake Prairie Dog
Even though Calan didn't really understand the dog's actions all the time, he felt a trust in their relationship. In fact, Calan felt what we call love for the dog, and respected the dog's understanding of the natural world. He couldn't put it into words, but somehow when he was talking to Max, and looking into those bottomless eyes, he could better see the beauty and goodness in life. The day seemed warmer with the fire of all life, the sky bluer, and whatever was troubling him not such a big deal. Was this what Aunt May was telling him, that it was like how they all got along with, and respected each other? He couldn't really see a prairie chicken cozying up to a coyote though, so there must be something more in what she was telling him.
Calan's thoughts were interrupted though, as the dog had run off a short distance towards the house and was barking at him. It was time to get back for supper and his evening chores.
Later that evening they all spent a little time together before bedtime. Well, pretty much together anyway, as cousin Maggie was listening on the party line with the mouthpiece covered, and the others were talking about the new foal, whether they'd have enough hay for next winter, and so on. Calan was on the floor with the dog, thinking about how he might come up with a better argument against starting another batch of chickens this summer. Maybe the rattlesnakes could eat more rodents? No, then there would be too many rattlesnakes. The heck with it, he'd just have to clean more chicks' butts, and on the bright side, if he did a good job, maybe they would have fried chicken more often.
Calan was looking forward to the new day because cousin Gavin was taking him along on a three day packhorse trip, to re-supply the cattle with salt blocks in their summer range. They were going to stop on the way back at some high-country beaver ponds to fish for trout. He headed for the bunk house, and thinking about delicious pan fried trout and camp biscuits, he went to sleep.
Indian Paintbrush
Epilogue
The world was changing fast, even in this more isolated setting. As Calan grew and became more aware of the bigger world, his interests broadened and shifted. In his teens he left for military service, then pursued a career in math and science, never, as it turned out, to return. His simple upbringing, and lessons about living in harmony with the natural world, faded to a distant glimmer as he made his way through the ups and downs of life.
Nearing the end of his career however, a suppressed vague feeling of wrongness boiled over, and he set about trying to rediscover the goodness of life. A bit late in life, but each day counts so much more once one does. Those still wrestling with the mental distractions of life's journey will likely dismiss an old man's musings as a mental utopia. Nearing the end of his journey though, Calan just smiles with the belief that no conceived heaven of man can come close to the simple joys of those earlier times in a more natural setting.
He can again see, with more awareness now, nature's magic mirror of reflected goodness in his dogs' eyes.
We shall not cease from exploration
and the end of our exploring
shall be to return where we started
and know the place for the first time
T.S. Eliot
Reader Comments (4)
Nice story, thanks.
Nicely written. It's often a lot harder to write such a short story than to write a book in my humble opinion. This tale caught my interest and held it, although it did leave me wondering what else might happen in young Calan's life....the hook was there! I think if expanded upon it would make a dandy story for young people of the appropriate age group...great message! Wonderful photos.
What a delightful story and should more children experience the joys of living within a natural environment. Thank-you Emma
A very charming short story. I plan to read it to my grandchildren. Thank you for sharing.