I got a new lense for my camera: a macro lense, which takes beautiful photos. It's been fun experimenting with it. It's funny, when I see certain things so closely, from a different perspective, it makes me feel really small, kind of how it should be in the world.
I wish humans didn't play such a "huge" role on the earth, but we do. We walk around like giants stepping on everything in our path, without reguard. That's how these photos make me feel. I can see the delicacy of these subjects and that makes me want to tread a little more lightly on earth.
My family and I traveled to South Andros, the largest and least developed island in the Bahamas. It is a birder's paradise. This Great Blue Heron landed very close to me and then flew off. I got several photos, but this one is my favorite.
Behind our house there is a small forest of bamboo. Most of the bamboo is on our neighbor's property, but each spring, new bamboo shoots poke up out of the ground on our side of the fence. I love the bamboo, but I love it best on their side of the fence (where I can really appreciate it).
When we first moved to our house, the bamboo forest was so thick you could hardly see through it. On warm summer nights fireflies floated inside the forest and it lit up like a small city. It reminded me of the Peter Pan ride at Disney World, where you could fly over London at night with Peter Pan and see city the lights way down below, sparkling from the traffic and buildings: firefly traffic. I was amazed at how many fireflies would flicker in the forest in the evenings. I had never seen so many at one time.
The neighbor who moved into the house with the bamboo forest thinned out the bamboo stalks, and some fireflies went with them. It's not been the same since, but it is still quite wonderful. I walked back into the bamboo forest a couple weeks ago and I felt like I'd stepped into an entirely separate world far from my fenced-in backyard. It was easy to imagine I was far away in the mountains of Japan and might, at any moment, spot a panda wandering through the forest.
The circus is in town. The tell-tale sign of the circus is the musky smell that drifts up from the bottom level of the parking lot where the circus has set up its temporary camp for the week. If it's warm, the elephants are let out of the large, white tents where the animals are kept, and can be seen (and smelled) from the parking deck above. It's not an unpleasant smell, it's just elephants-and-hay-and-turds-on-pavement smell. Elephanty. You'll have smelled it at the zoo before.
The other day I saw the elephants outside their tents during a rather cold and very windy day. The elephants were standing there huddled together, bigger ones blocking the gusty wind from the smaller ones. It seemed as if they were cold, but maybe I just assumed they were cold because I was freezing. But, I felt like I could understand them thinking how absurd it was for them to be in Atlanta...on the pavement...behind a big arena. When I saw the train of elephants shuffle methodically and calmly back to their tents, each one holding on to the tail of the elephant in front of them, I couldn't help but wonder why the pack of them didn't just decide to make a break for it...escape...run! Maybe they'd tried it before and were busted...wrangled in and sternly warned by their trainers, "Try that again and we're shipping you off to Africa! I mean, um, uuhhh, Siberia!"
The Tigers were also out in the parking lot that day waiting to be brought into the show after the Zebras finished their routine. At first I was afraid to get too close to them (you know...after the San Diego Zoo incident----kidding). I couldn't resist getting as close as I could. The tigers didn't seem the slightest bit interested in me. They were very interested in the other animals traipsing past their cages. I thought maybe the tigers were attracted to the other animals out of hunger and possibly wanted to eat them, but now I think it's because those animals were familiar to the tigers in nature. Maybe it comforted the tigers to see animals they would normally see in their natural habitat.
The tigers did respond and listen to their trainer who seemed to have a close relationship with them. The tigers seemed so calm, so I asked him if they were tranquilized. He laughed and said, "No, if those cages weren't there they wouldn't hesitate eating me."
The tigers and elephants I saw were magnificent, beautiful animals. I was awed to be able to get so close to them, but felt selfish that I could do so with such ease. Although I love to see wild animals so intimately close, I wish I couldn't. I wish I had to cross the ocean and travel thousands of miles to see them. That would be much more fulfilling and natural.
This is my dog, Ginger. She's a Goldendoodle: part Golden Retriever, part Standard Poodle. She is such an amazing dog. I love her so much. She follows me everywhere. And I'm glad. She keeps me company and relaxes me.
We had to get her shaved a few weeks ago because I couldn't get the matts out of her fur. I would brush her daily, but she still got matts. So, she went from looking like a red Sheep Dog to a red Poodle!
She loves her new hairless freedom without itching and she doesn't get hot like she did with her thick coat. And, now that I've learned how to keep her coat brushed and groomed, she won't get the matts she was getting before. It's a brand new start!
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