Today, as we have for most Sundays this year, we went over to Grandpa's for lunch. I brought with me my coat, my car, and my sketchbook and pens. I didn't bring my camera, because for most of these gatherings we've been doing decidedly unphotogenic things (i.e. sitting around in the living room or walking around the yard.) Besides, the weather looked a bit cloudy at home.
Always bring your camera.
At Grandpa's, his front yard was a dazzle of purple hyacinth, with bright fancy tulips finally open after unseasonably cool weather this April. For a change of pace, we went out to KFC for grilled chicken (very good, BTW.) Afterwards, we decided to go to a nearby wetland park. The weather had turned sunny, with an assortment of pretty clouds drifting under a cerulean sky.
Always bring your camera.
I was execting it to be an extension of the usual river park we go to in this area, but it wasn't. It was a large pond in a space between business developments, backed up to a Target and a mattress store and some other outfit.
Always bring your camera.
Here was a tranquil oasis in an overdeveloped valley. Pink-flowering fruit trees covered in blossoms, abuzz with the all-too-scarce-lately drone of bees. Two overlooks looked over a span of blue water and green trees, with drifting ducks dabbling about the shores.
Always bring your camera.
Suddenly, the ducks took off. We wondered why... until we looked up. Right overhead, a bald eagle soard over the pond. It drifted and circled and flapped up to a perch in a nearby tree. Nor was this its only visit... nor was this the only eagle. A pair of them made several forays over the pond, flying from tree to tree. I swear they were taunting me. I lost track of them, however, when a bright flash caught our attention. A hummingbird with a green back, its head and gorget flashing from red to magenta as it flew... yes, at last, after over three decades, I finally saw a mature male Anna's hummingbird. Not twenty feet away from me it hovered, glowing in the sunlight. A beautiful bird, in a beautiful park, on a beautiful day.
And me with nothing to record it with save my memory.
The lesson?
Always, always, always bring your camera!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
That's what Ansel Adams says - always bring your camera.
I've heard from reliable sources that if you go to Beaver Lake the day that they stock it with trout from the hatchery, you're sure to see bald eagles feasting. The hatchery fish stay at the surface of the water, because that's where they are used to finding food... so when they are first released in the lake it's easy pickins for the eagles for a few days (until the fish figure out they should dive) That may be why they were hanging out over the pond you were at that day... most of the area is stocked with fish in April.
I frequently think the same thing. I think I need a point and shoot to stick in my purse for moments like that. The day sounds lovely though.
Jade - Oddly enough, I almost grabbed the thing on the way out of the house, but then I thought back to all the Sundays of doing nothing and decided against it. (For some reason, Grandpa's tuning in again more these past few weeks... he actually wanted to go somewhere.) As for the pond being stocked... this is a little isolated pond by Southcenter. I'm reasonably certain they don't stock it, but there were enough ducks and other birds around that I suspect there's food aplenty. (It's also within a few wingflaps of Green River, which has its own fish population.)
PPG - It would be nice to have the budget for a second camera... I suppose that's one reason cell phone cameras are so popular. (Lousy images, though... and not in the budget again. Dang it.)
sompi - Cheap off-brand digital camera of indeterminate international origin; oddly enough, it takes great photographs, but it's almost impossible to find a compatible memory card.
Post a Comment