It's a Boa Constrictor Swallowing an Elephant!

My favorite scene in the book The Little Prince happens on the very first pages where the narrator tells why he had to give up his dream of becoming an artist when he was a little boy.

He was fascinated with the jungle and his first drawing reflected that—or so he thought.

But whenever he showed his drawing to adults and asked them if the drawing made them afraid, they responded with confusion. 

Was that a picture of a hat?

Why would a hat be scary?

Maybe, as the narrator explained, because it wasn’t a drawing of a hat.  It was a drawing of a boa constrictor swallowing an elephant whole.  He had to draw the inside of the boa constrictor with the elephant trapped in the belly so people would understand.

Frequently, when I’m out the Wetlands, I find myself taking pictures of things before my brain has fully processed the signals my eyes are sending it.

Wow! I found myself saying today.  What is that? 

In my defense, the sun was a little bit in my eyes and so, when I saw something in the tall grass thrashing about, my brain immediately leapt to the conclusion that I had happened on a scene from Wild Kingdom and found an alligator beating and wrestling with its prey.

It was only when I got closer that my poor brain reevaluated what it was looking at and I realized I was only looking at a Great Blue Heron, shaking off its morning bath like a wet dog.

Yeah, I was a little disappointed.

But there was also a tiny part of me that smiled and laughed.  I’m past forty, but my imagination still churns out scenarios and stories like I was a kid. 

And while my imagination may not be nearly as expansive as it was when I was a kid, it still has enough of a spark left to keep life interesting.