Often the photo you go for is not the photo you get.
I wandered down to the banana tree this evening to look for a last food shot
when I saw a five-foot snake lying in the bushes...possibly, stupidly, killed by a neighbor.
What was amazing was the huge swarm of flies that were already making a meal of him
and the incredible number of maggots that were working on the underbelly.

There is often a terrible beauty in the cycle of life, death
and redistribution for many of the world's animals.
Flies may not have the soaring grace of vultures, but they serve the same ends...
and here they look like dull emeralds and rough rubies while they're doing it.