THE FACT THAT IT’S JANUARY means
nothing – my perennial urges
at “self” improvement (those vague
promises hovering just beyond daylight’s reach)
don’t correspond to calendars.
And it’s a problem of
time – twelve months stretch farther
than I can imagine: no,
there will be no New Years Resolutions here.
—–
I can promise, though, that I will
attend
to the spirit of the moment,
more and more.
And I can promise that I will
try harder
to show you
what I find.
—–
Pretty –
or not.
Photo taken 1/3/2013, in a field off Cherry Valley Road, Duvall, Washington. This Canada goose was likely shot by hunters and then thrown away. There were hunters shooting in the field when I took the picture. Between mid-October and late January, four geese may taken a day, on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays, in King County.
To me, hunting is not a “good” or an “evil” activity. I recognize that very few people – at least where I live – need to kill to eat. So it’s tempting to make that grounds for refraining from hunting. But of course we condone hunting of a sort when we eat meat. A long tradition of hunting here is integrated with country life, and hunters have supported the land and wildlife in many ways, even as they take life. So it’s complicated. But nothing about this frozen Canada goose, carelessly tossed at the edge of a field along with another goose and a few ducks, seems morally comfortable.
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This post is part of the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge, and more responses to “Resolved” can be found here:
http://dailypost.wordpress.com/2013/01/04/weekly-photo-challenge-resolved/
bluebrightly 
Frankly, it breaks my heart, bluebrightly! Thanks for reporting on this and for raising awareness! – andelieya
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Your welcome. It doesn’t feel quite like reporting, but in a way I guess it is. This must happen all the time. Thank you for responding.
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Powerful, beautiful and sad – and a great photo. I have complicated feelings about this.
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Me too, obviously, and I barely touched on all the issues and angles. thank you very much for commenting –
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This photo made me very sad. To take a life to eat meat is acceptable even though I have ambivalent feelings about hunting. But to take a life and throw away it like this is totally not acceptable. I guess it was hard for you to take the photo . Thanks a lot for posting this.
keiko
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But there’s beauty here, too. And death is as natural as life – but, as you said, this one really seemed wasted. Thanks for commenting – I appreciate your thoughts.
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It’s so sad that the hunters kill the bird and then just throw it out. I can see hunting for food, but not for sport.
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I know what you mean.
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Can’t ‘like’ Lynn – morally uncomfortable as you say – makes me feel very sad.
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Funny about that “Like” button. I hear you.
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I was reviewing my unprocessed captures this past week and came across a shot I took of a group of dead Snow Geese – killed and abandoned in a heap by a rural railroad crossing. Why had I taken, and kept the photo? It is a question I don’t have an answer to but I sensed it was important to not ignore what had happened. I’m comforted to know there are others who do the same. As disturbing as your photo is, thank you for posting it; it was meaningful to me on more than one level.
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What a great comment – thank you for taking the time.
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Reading your text and the responding comments, the feelings expressed are so complex perhaps the title should be ‘Unresolved’.
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That makes sense!
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The path your words take is enjoyable. I looked at the word resolution, and wandered to what means it in photography and seeing the world.
Resolved or unresolved, focused or fuzzy, resolution may truly be a process undertaken to see and understand, not necessarily an object.
Hunting as you witnessed it is sadly common, it has become a sport, a modern recreation. To kill and supposedly eat wild game takes a lot of time, money, gear, transportation, more food, etc. Far more than the simple act of going to the market and getting groceries. After a long noisy day of flying birds and lead, a modern recreational hunter may only see in the dead ducks the messy work of cleaning and preparing for the table, and it’s easier to just go get a burger.
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Thank you for taking the time to comment with so much thoughtfulness. And what a comment! But it makes sense in this day, and who’s to say I’m not guilty of neglecting to follow through on what I start?
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Nor I!
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