The absolute hardest part of writing for this website is, well, coming up with a compelling title and gripping first sentence.
I’m far better at standing behind a camera capturing interesting and unique bird photographs than I am sitting in front of this laptop conjuring up riveting stories and captivating anecdotes to go along with them.
In fact, I feel I have to apologize because this very morning I’ve been staring at my computer screen for several hours now and these first three paragraphs are all the prose I have been able to scour from my exhausted mind so far.
But to give myself a little credit I guess, it’s a lot more, however, than what I expected to write this morning after recently losing the biggest fan I ever had for my bird and nature photography, my dearly departed mother.
Yesterday morning, a time when I am usually navigating the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge auto tour route with a camera conveniently nestled across my lap and at the ready, I was instead at my mother’s house somberly watching her take her last breath as she, sadly, not only departed from this world but also left her biggest fan behind as well, me.
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And the reason why that somber moment is so tightly connected to this website and why this blog may never be the same, at least for me that is, comes from the fact many of the images I’ve posted and written about over the past 5 years were actually photographed with my mom sitting in the passenger seat next to me.
Sometimes 2-3 times per week, these little photography excursions I go on for this website were also something I could do to help my mom calm her mind shortly after losing our dad 5 1/2 years ago.
It wasn’t long, however, before they naturally morphed into so much more than just a way to counteract the mourning process for my grieving mother.
These drives soon became a cherished activity in their own right, a few hours several times per week where my mom and I could just go and have fun.
(Bison Bulls At Antelope Island. For short nature clips like this one and interesting stories about the natural world around us, check out our Bear River Blogger channel on YouTube for videos and updates from our travels while out in nature, both on and off of the famed Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.)
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Whether pictures for this website were obtained or not on any particular trip, it didn’t matter because time with my mother was truly what was of the greatest importance.
I could always go get a bird photo or two whenever I needed something to write about but time with our loved ones, especially our parents, is quite precious and very limited and is of the utmost importance while we are here on this earth, at least for me that is.
It’s hard to think now I’ll never have my co-pilot on any more of my photography drives around northern Utah.
I’ll never get the opportunity to once more drive through a large herd of bison on Antelope Island and watch her eyes light up as the large herbivores literally walk by just a few short feet away, sometimes close enough where she could have touched one of them at some point.
My mom loved getting out and seeing what part of the world I could show her, even if it was just a few short miles from her house.
She wasn’t a birdwatcher or nature geek like me, not by a long shot.
Truth is, my mom was just a true and genuine mother that loved and took an interest in what I did, enough anyways to enjoy watching me do what I do behind a camera for this website.
Antelope Island was, without a doubt, her favorite location to visit and up until the unfortunate milestone where she could no longer transfer into a vehicle, we would make good use of our annual Utah State Parks pass and visit the island several times per week, always stopping for a hamburger on our way to the island.
I photographed countless birds, bison, and a few pronghorn on these trips to Antelope Island as well as endless birds at both Farmington Bay and the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge but what I got most out of all of these trips wasn’t a hard drive full of spectacular images or timeless stories for this website, it was simply priceless and unforgettable moments spent with my mother.
Even though I’m a bit exhausted from years of tending to the care of both of my elderly parents, this website will continue to roll on even though it might be a bit harder to look over in my passenger seat and not have my mom there with me.
I miss my mom already and I’m certain she’d be cross with me if I let my sorrow for her recent departure keep this website from continuing to grow as it has been for over 5 years now.
My mom was with me many years ago when I came into this world and took my first breath and I was honored to be with her yesterday when she had to leave this earth and spent her last breath with me.
Mom, I thank you for all you did for me and all the time we spent together, and I will miss you dearly until the very moment we are reunited once more.
If you are a birdwatcher or nature buff like I am, I offer you to head on over to our subscribe page where you can sign up for email notifications for future blog posts about my photography excursions on and off of the famed Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.
And for you social media folks out there, we also recently created a Bear River Blogger Facebook page where we can connect with one another so feel free to follow us there as well.
