i have seen a lot of splayed, four-toed footprints the size of human hands stamped into the sandy shallows of turtle lake each summer. the wandering tracks always head in the same direction, which is wherever hunger is leading them. i wonder how many green frogs and stickleback minnows and baby bullheads went into the making of this ravenous beauty, before a second set of four-toed footprints, dropping down hungrily out of the woods and along the beach, finally crossed its path.

great blue heron (deceased)

lakeside, saint paul, minnesota