Sunday, May 04, 2008

Meer-friends

Meerkats ~ Longleat October 2007

I have always have a soft spot for animals of just about every type. I grew up around animals and have had a pet of one sort or another for the majority of my life. So it is no coincidence that many of my days out are to zoos or wildlife parks or animal reserves of one kind or another. It is also no coincidence then, if we follow this line of logic, that many of my photographs are also of animals and I have also found that I love taking photos of them. Sometimes you capture a moment and it paints a wonderful picture of the animals personality. That is why I love the picture above. These Meerkats look like two old friends (though more likely to be family members) sat out enjoying the late afternoon sun. I was stood behind them and couldn't get to the other side of the pen so I waited until one turned his head and got the shot. I love the way the light makes their fur almost glow around the edges.

While I am on the subject of friendship, I thought I would share some quotes from my 'friendship' calendar which was given to me as a Christmas present by CrazieQueen.

"Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer"
~ Ed Cunningham

"My friend if I could give you one thing, I would wish for you the ability to see yourself as others see you. Then you would realise what a truly special person you are"
~ B.A. Bilingsly

"Laughter is the shortest distance between two people"
~ Victor Borge

"The friend who holds your hand and says the wrong thing is made of dearer stuff than the one who stays away"
~ Barbara Kingsolver

"No road is long with good company"
~ Turkish Proverb

"Wishing to be friends is quick work, but friendship is slow-ripening fruit"
~ Aristotle

"The worst solitude is to be destitute of friendship"
~ Francis Bacon

13 comments:

Susan Helene Gottfried said...

Hugs to you, my blog friend!

kenju said...

I love the quotes, especially Kingsolver's. Your meerkats are cute! Come and see my lamb.

Anonymous said...

The thing about friends is that in truth, one probably only has two or three real friends. Yes, there are many acquaintances with whom one is friendly, but the true friends upon whom one can count in bad times, whenever and wherever, are few and far between.

That's OK, though. Those sorts of friends are worth more than all the fortunes in the world.

Cheers.

Bobkat said...

I couldn't agree more Randall. Those sorts of friends are few and far between and worth hanging onto when found!

Sara said...

Hello, Michele sent me over to say I love the photo of the little meerkats - they are rather pretty - at least their coats are.

The quotes were really nice...thanks for sharing.

Omykiss said...

this is a lovely picture .... but with the little guy looking the other way ... makes me think they might have had a bit of an argument, don't you think?

Dianne said...

they look like old friends, you're right :)
and the glow on their fur is touching

love the quotes, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself this late Sunday eve, thanks - that picked me up.

Star said...

The quotes are a great start to my morning. Hope the rest of the day is as plesant.

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

You take great photos of animals and that Meercat one is no exception :)

OldLady Of The Hills said...

That is a GREAT picture, B-K...! I love these animals, too...But I have never seen them 'in-person'. I adore your visits to these special Animal places because you share them with us. And you take such WONDERFUL pictures of all the fabulous animals you see at each of these places.
LOVE the quotes, too!

Smiler said...

What a great shot! I like that you've explained how you got it too. I agree about the "glowing" fur being a wonderful element of the photo. I'd say even the little flies which are catching the light add to that. Was well worth it to wait for the little guy to turn around, they've got such great little faces, those meerkats. And you never need apologize about showing animal photos - they're always a pleasure to look at.

Hey, now that I think of it... you love animals, I love animals... I've been thinking of getting a farm someday and taking in all sorts of animals in need of shelter, you interested? I'm sure your MBA can be put to good use one way or another... ;-)

TorAa said...

These animals, first time I ever heard about them, at NG TV, I was inmpressed. So social, caretaking and and - positive.
Thanks for sharing

Shephard said...

LOve the Aristotle quote. And the adorable Meerkats.
~S