Photography

Encouraged by an LOL colleague to use my remaining film photographing birds, I gave it a shot. I didn't expect to see anything extraordinary to photograph. It's a good thing, because I didn't see anything extraordinary.

(Please note that I attempt to use the word "extraordinary" in its literal meaning, which in my understanding is something like "not like the usual course of things." In the hyperbolic sense meaning simply "delightful," I see extraordinary things every day.)

One obliging mockingbird took a picturesque posture on a street sign.



Believe me, it really is a mockingbird. I am not a good photographer of anything, let alone these fidgety little flight-capable photophobes. Then again, this shadowy blur looks like most views I've had of birds, so I cannot fault its accuracy.



This is the arbor in the cemetery, under which I have spent one or two deliciously peaceful hours. Here I met Bewick's charming little wren.



If only I had a camera without "autofocus." My bubbling brook in the park has recently lost much of its water and bubbles no more. I look forward to a few hard rains and many a pleasant vigil. Perhaps I will again see my mythical juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk.

Perhaps time or divine intervention will bring me the camera, the skill and the perseverance to do better. Perseverance alone might even do the trick. Most skills come with perseverance, and sometimes skill is materially rewarded.