Saturday, 10 October 2009

Weekend Reflections,Camera Critters:The Lonely Swan

 
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The Lonely Swan.

Swans form lifelong relationships. If I see a lonely swan I always ask myself: "Is this swan lonely because its partner died or did it not yet find one?".

It happened not so long ago in Germany. It was spring and the weather was fine, but the lonely swan swam from one end of the lake to the other, looking for his wife, a beautiful young pen, but in vain. He didn’t realise that she was dead and that he would never see her again. He felt sad and hopelessly alone. Day in day out he had been looking for her. Swans are very faithful to their partners, you know.
One beautiful morning in May our swan suddenly saw something that drew his attention. It was very quiet in the park and the lake lay blue and promising in front of him, but he also saw to his great joy a beautiful female swan. He was delighted and swam towards her as fast as he could. He swam around her and did his best to draw her attention. She, however, remained very calm and although she didn’t reject him, she didn’t answer his approach either. All summer he felt happy, but in spite of all advances he made, she didn’t show him that she was also interested in him. She remained beautiful, cool, aloof and very, very silent. September came and October. Autumn had arrived and on a cold day in December something terrible happened Two men came to the park and took his beautiful girlfriend away. He swam to the men threatening them by spreading his wings and hissing as loud as possible, but the men laughed and talked loud. “Look at that silly swan! What does he think he’s doing!” They took the beautiful lady with them and our swan was so terribly sad and so lonely again. He swam here and there and had lost his appetite. He didn’t want to live anymore. People, who often came to the park noticed the poor fellow and pitied him. Some of them knew he was the lovesick swan, who tried to win the heart of the lady who had now being taken away. They talked to the park-keepers. They understood what was to be done and returned to the lake to find the poor fellow. They took him to the zoo and united him with his loved one, whom he had almost lost and who was a beautiful, big polyester boat in the shape of a white swan. He was happy again and got his appetite back.




This is a new meme which gives us the opportunity to show our best photos of reflections. It is a meme that is started by James. You can join this meme at some time during the weekend. Just post your photo and go to James to tell him that you are on.


Camera Critters is hosted by Misty Dawn. Thank you so much Misty Dawn.We all enjoy seeing and talking about animals. All creatures great and small give us much pleasure.If you want to see more Camera Critters click on the logo in the side bar, or on Misty Dawn.

44 comments:

Dina said...

What a story! And a surprise ending.

The photo is beautiful.
Seeing wild free swans in Europe always amazed me.

Miss_Yves said...

Le sujet de l'histoire et le texte sont très émouvants, et les reflets magnifiques.

Carol Murdock said...

ahwwwwwwww what a sweet story Wil !
Have a wonderful weekend! Ours is a rainy one :(

Regina said...

How pretty and such a great story

Happy weekend.

PS.The typhoon Melor came back. Up North was devastated. Its out of the country now. Thanks

Thérèse said...

A happy ending!
If you have been to Germany perhaps you have visited Neuschwanstein (the new swan's rock.) The swan reminded me of it.

Anonymous said...

Great story and this swan reminds me of the ones we have along the Thames, in CT.

Diane AZ said...

Beautiful reflection and story; I really enjoyed this post! :D

Vicki Lane said...

Such a beautiful picture!

Janice Thomson said...

A stunning shot Wil - and a delightful story as well.

Regina said...

Its me again.
(I was in hurry to pick up my son awhile ago.)

It was typhoon Parma that hit that Northern side here because Melor pulled it back.

Rune Eide said...

You have posted a beautiful photo of the swan. I find them difficult to take - burn-out is the word for me regarding swans :-)

Patty said...

Great story and photo. Hope you're having a wonderful week-end.

Carletta said...

The story made me smile!
Excellent reflection shot!
I like how the tree is a mostly fractured reflection yet the swan's reflection is full of clarity. Just lovely.

So it's come to this... said...

What a sweet story! Beautiful picture of these graceful creature. Have you seen the black swans in Australia? They have red beaks! I'd never seen anything like it before.
Thanks for stopping by.

Sandy Kessler said...

quite special sandy loons too

eileeninmd said...

Awesome photo of the Swan enlarged , it is wonderful. thanks for sharing your swan critter.

Suburban Girl said...

What a great story and beautiful reflection

Susan English Mason said...

I know of a swan where I work that is going through this. We have a lake where a swan couple had been living together for years. When the female swan passed away last year the male swan just cries all day long and rarely even moves. It's so sad.

Misty DawnS said...

This is a gorgeous image, and an absolutely wonderful post!

Carletta said...

I clicked over from Camera Critters and realized I'd been here for the reflections - a great two for one shot anyway. :)

Carletta’s Captures.

Barbara Martin said...

Swans are one of my favourite water birds. Interesting story, Wil.

Crafty Green Poet said...

oh what a nice story, that poor swan, so glad he was reunited with his 'girlfriend'. Lovely photo too, swans are a wonderful bird to photgraph

PERBS said...

The reflection is great! The story a tear jerker, for sure. Beautiful ending!

Pacey said...

That's a lovely swan Wil. I did play critters today and bench yesterday. Hope you have prettige weekend Wil en met uw familie. Groetjes.

Renie Burghardt said...

What a beautiful swan story, with a happy ending. Loved it!

Happy weekend, Wil.

Hugs,

Renie

Marja said...

Hi Wil nice photo We've got a lot of balck swans on the lake not far from here. They are elegant creatures. I enjoyed the story of the love sick swan very much thanks

Oskar said...

Very beautiful!

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful story and a great photo. Thanks for stopping by. I appreciate it :) Mahalo

Cloudia said...

Always enjoy your reflections, Wil
=D

Aloha, Friend!

Comfort Spiral

Ebie said...

She may be lonely but she has the grace and beautiful. Lovely reflections!

Have a great weekend!

Etje said...

Hoe dikwijls komen we geen foto
van een zwaan tegen, maar blijven
mooie beelden.

Fijne zondag

Dina said...

Hey Wil, take a look at Eki's post:
http://bandungdailyphoto.com/2009/10/dutch-windmill-at-holland-bakery.html

We love Luna said...

Stunning reflection! Wonderful picture, thanks for sharing!
Happy Camera Critters
purrs and love
Luna

Arkansas Patti said...

Gee, that was just too sad. Swans do mourn. Thank you for giving us the a strange but happy ending. Now I feel better. Well told.

Ebie said...

I love happy endings!

Eki said...

What a perfect reflection and reflective story.

Thank you for your visit and comment on my Bandung Daily Photo.

I'd love to read or hear stories of your childhood on Java, if you don't mind and if it's not too much pain for you to remember being a prisoner of war.

Mara said...

Geweldige foto! Nice shot...

Calico Crazy said...

What a sweet story and a beautiful picture.

Calico Contemplations

James said...

A beautiful swan, a great reflection and a story with a twist. All in all a fantastic post.
Thanks for being part of Weekend Reflections.

Quilt Works said...

Absolutely beatiful photo, lovely swan, nice reflection , it got it all!


I would like to invite you to join a free giveaway of one of my original artworks

Vagabonde said...

C’est une belle histoire, et jusqu’à la fin je n’aurai pas pu imaginé le dénouement.

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Isn't it funny that the swans in Auckland are black?

http://ann-mythoughtsandphotos.blogspot.com/2009/03/ugly-ducklings-became-beautiful-swans.html

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Wil: Simply beautiful capture of the reflection in the pool.

Gretchen said...

How beautiful! Thank you for sharing. :)