thephotosocietyのインスタグラム(thephotosociety) - 7月12日 08時25分

Photo: @momatiukeastcott/@thephotosociety | horns of Africa | The morning after the kudu bull was killed by the lions who later lost its carcass to the hyenas, John and I return to the battlefield. I look for the great kudu horns but they have vanished.

These magnificent African horns haunt me. I was born in Poland. My father, a forester's son, grew up in the woods, where he learned the sounds and silences of nature. He became a hunter and I grew up with big mounted heads on our walls. They were African heads: a Cape buffalo, an impala buck and a head I loved best for its wonderful horns. Later in Kenya I found its origin: a topi, a big reddish antelope with yellow eyes.

Why did we have African animal heads in a small city apartment? Right after the war, my father and his friend went to look for abandoned houses whose owners fled or died, hoping to find anything useful for their war impoverished families. These were horrible times, and many normal ethical concerns had to be put aside.

After a few days, my father's friend brought back cooking pots, thick comforters and warm clothes. But my father returned with great African horns, an African lance, and a book titled "The Grave of Tutankhamen" about an expedition discovering the pharaoh's tomb in Egypt in 1922. My mother was disappointed but not surprised: after all, my father was a dreamer and she was the brave and practical hub of our existence.

But my father's odd finds mesmerized me. The Tutankhamen volumes had great pictures of the pyramid, the men excavating ancient chambers, the sarcophagus shaped like a person, and a wrapped mummy. I imagined strolling across the savannah with my lance to meet wild animals. And I loved watching the shadows of the great African horns moving slowly across the room as the sun rose.

All this was thrilling beyond description, and I felt what I needed in my life were these African heads with their horns turned to the sky. And now I am here, among the horns I love.

#Africa #animals #horns #love #memoir #childhood #wildlife #family #connection #momatiukeastcott

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