A Pigeon in My Pocket

Last night was the Perseid Meteor Shower.  Well, the strongest part.  I decided to use my new lens and take some pictures.  Since I wanted to have an area without nearby lights and I wanted SOMETHING in the foreground I chose an abandoned ranch about 25 miles from home.

The only meteor I was able to catch is in the center of the photo next to the corner of the house in this shot.

It was after midnight and dark.  My eyes had not adjusted to the darkness and I was using my flashlight to show the way.  I had already seen a coyote and several field mice cross the highway.  I did not expect other wildlife.  I squeezed through the barbed wire fence with my camera and tripod in hand.  I approached the old farmhouse and was greeted with a cacophony of pigeon wings as the inhabitants of the house were roused by my flashlight.  I saw several disappear into the dark sky, but one lit upon the ground a little way from me.  I shown the light on him and approached.  After a few aborted and fouled attempts I held the bird in my hand.

Now, what do I do with him?

I make a habit of wearing cargo shorts during the summer.  At almost all times.  I thought of the chickens of my youth and how you could fool the bird into submission by laying a pencil on his neck in place of your finger.  I decided to make use of my pockets!

So, with a pigeon in my pocket, I set about preparing for my shots.  I put the house in the foreground and lined up with the part of the sky I wanted to shoot.  I then proceeded to take shots.  At one point I felt something a little moist on my leg.  Given that I had forgotten about my friend, I took the flashlight and looked at my pant leg.  My little friend had attempted to gross me out by voiding his bladder/intestines.  Yuck.  Unfortunately for him, I was already moving through weeds and sage and nastiness, so a little more dirt did not bother me any more.

About this time Cora texted me to tell me she was awake.  I told her I had a pigeon in my pocket.  Cora responded that I should not let him drive the truck.  (for those of you who don't know, there is a children's
book that is called, "Don't Let The Pigeon Drive The Bus!"  It's by Mo Willems, a children's book author of whom I am fond.)  We traded several texts about the meteor shower while I shot.

I was experimenting with the exposure while the meteors were in the sky.  By the time I finally got the exposures right, I found that the meteors would come shooting through just after I had closed the shutter.  Figures.  I only got one GOOD shot of a meteor.

I came home and found Cora in the back yard.  My companion had not moved very much and seemed happy to be in my pocket.  I had to prove it to Cora, who seemed a little doubtful of my word.  I shown the light on him.  Cora was amused.  I was going to put him in an old rabbit cage overnight and show him to Chloe before releasing him, confident in pigeon powers to find his home.

Cora was still chuckling as I turned to go to the shed to retrieve the rabbit cage.  Apparently when I had shown the pigeon to Cora I had not replaced the flap of the pocket very well and the pigeon, being somewhat more clever than a chicken, made a bid for escape.  In a loud flapping of pigeony wings he left the confines of my soiled pocket and flew away.  Cora and I chuckling in his wake.