Stroke of Lightning, Stroke of Luck

    Whenever I go out with my camera I always spend time carefully checking the trunks of dead trees for the creatures that make their homes there. 

    A few months ago a thunderstorm caused a large dead tree to fall onto my pasture fence. I spent my morning sweating and cursing as I pulled the tree off of the fence with a pick up truck and a sturdy chain.

    Suddenly I realized what a stroke of luck this was. Previously I could only access the first six feet of a standing tree trunk for close up photos. Now that the tree was on the ground I had access to all forty feet!

    A short walk to the house and I had my camera in hand. No photo expedition would be complete without my trusty canine assistant Kira to accompany me, dashing around playing with sticks and crashing into me and my camera gear. Even Charlie the cat got in on the action, following at a safe distance in order to avoid the collision prone Kira.

    Upon our arrival we were rewarded with the sight of this fellow patiently stalking ants for a high protein breakfast.