NEAR PERFECT PICTURE

(AUGUST 7, 2010) Yesterday I took over 400 photographs while on the river. Some of them were shown, in part, in the photo selected for yesterday's entry, EYES on the Riverwalk. However, one shot was especially nice with near perfect lighting and near perfect colors. The crispness of the red damselfly image makes for a very pleasant photograph.

Sadie and I did get to the Riverwalk this morning, starting at Angler's Park and walking toward Dan Daniel Park. I didn't take my camera since it was later in the morning, and I knew that if I took my camera we would likely be an hour or more longer, and the sun was beginning to already heat the air.

While on the trail, I kept thinking of this one photograph I took yesterday. The photo required little cropping and absolutely no manipulation with Photo Shop (light and color were near perfect). I decided that I would write about that photo today.

I have 1000s of photos of damselflies taken over the past two years (most of them have been taken this summer). There are photos of blue one, red ones, yellow ones, brown ones and green ones. I've heard there are some purple ones, too, but I've never seen one of those. Yesterday's beauty was a red one (more of a maroon one as the photograph depicts the insect's true colors).

As Sadie walks near the brush growing up along the river, she often disperses a number of damselflies into the air as they fly away from her nearness. She will still point at them if they attract her attention, but she is more interested in the smaller butterflies. This one damselfly was perched above her reaches while she was pointing at a small butterfly. I snapped away at the damselfly, taking about a dozen shots of it. All of the shots were identical - all near perfect.

It is rare that I take a "near perfect" picture. There is some focusing error or something wrong with the lighting. However, I DO take sometimes as many as 600 pictures a day on the Riverwalk.

I told someone, once, that by "taking 300-600 photographs each day, there are bound to be three or four that are pretty good." The person responded, "Even if a blind person were given the camera, he could get a few good shots out of that many photographs." It's always nice to have someone around to keep me humble.

It was another good day, not as "near perfect" as the photograph, but a good day on the Riverwalk.

EYES ON THE RIVER

(AUGUST 6, 2010) This morning, as Sadie and I walked on the Riverwalk, I noticed the creatures of the woods - the birds, the insects, and Sadie. I was especially taken by the eyes of those birds and insects I saw.

The Bible says that the "eyes are the window of the soul." I wasn't quite sure what that means, but I guess I was trying to understand the souls of those creatures I saw this morning.

Most of the insect eyes are fairly complex with the damselfly moving its eyes around on its head, the bumblebee staring with its brownish oval eyes, the butterfly with round black dots for eyes, the fly with its colorful orange eyes, and wasps with dark black oval eyes. What did those eyes say about the souls of those insects? I still don't know what it means, but as you look at the pictures above, image what those eyes may tell you about an insect.

The water fowl (ducks and geese) have eyes that are more similar to human eyes except these birds have round eyes. The similarity comes with the black pupil of the bird surrounded by another color (a brownish orange). The expressions in the eyes don't seem to change according to the mood of the bird - from just chillin' on a summer morning to fear as the sojourner and his dog approach.

The songbirds have eyes that are more akin to the insects in that they don't have a pupil surrounded by color. The eyes of the songbirds, however, seem softer than the insect eyes. If I were to try to judge the soul of the songbirds based upon their eyes, I would have to say that they have a sense of peace within their souls.

And, of course, Sadie's eyes. She uses them (and her other senses) constantly as we walk on the Riverwalk. She is searching for a butterfly to point at or some strange bug to sniff. Her eyes are even more like humans. With her smiling eyes, her soul must be rich in joy and peace.

There was a sad event to this pleasant day. This afternoon my neighbor called me over to look at a hummingbird that was at her feeder. The small bird wasn't moving and had its long bill in the sugar water of the hummingbird feeder. My neighbor held the small bird in her hands, and the bird didn't move except for looking up with some sad eyes. Perhaps the tiny bird had starved or fallen out of the nest too soon. I'm sure that the soul of this small weak bird is now flying around somewhere.

I wonder, if humans become angels (some religions believe that), can birds become angels too? If so, I guess that cuts down on the cost of wings, since the birds (and most insects) would bring their own.

MY eyes are tired now as I finish this entry. It was, however, another good morning on the Riverwalk.

LICHENS AND MUSHROOMS

(AUGUST 5, 2010) How low can you go?

This morning on the Riverwalk I went pretty low to scan the ground cover and the woods for lichens and mushrooms. They were, to my surprise, EVERYWHERE. Especially after the rain we have had over the past few days, the mushrooms were plentiful and the lichens were there where they have been for months and years.

First of all, all I know about lichens is what I learned from a couple of naturalist at Grandfather Mountain last week. I learned that lichens are found on trees and rocks and take a long time to grow. They are healthy for nature's plan in that these part fungi and part algae compounds adhere to the tree or rock, die, and provide a nurturing substance allowing moss to grow which eventually results in grasses and plants growing where the lichens had been.

The naturalists at Grandfather Mountain pointed out a large rock where much of the lichens had been removed as the result of hikers seeing the rock, deciding it is a good "climbing rock," and, as the result, their constant climbing on the rock removed the lichens

OK. That's about all I know, but I now have greater respect for these substances on trees and rocks which, until I was briefly educated last week, thought that they were just algae on rocks or broken bark on trees.

Now I know of a microscopic life that goes on in the park daily. I just hope that Sadie doesn't sense movement in the lichens on a tree and decide to point at it until it moves again. The naturalist said that it sometimes taken lichens a year to grow an inch. That would be a long wait for Sadie.

Mushrooms. I've often wondered what is the difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. Again, the naturalists at Grandfather Mountain helped me out with a brief comment. Basically, their difference hasn't been definitively determined. Traditionally, the name toadstool was given to mushrooms that were poisonous.

Mushrooms just seem to pop up overnight after a rain. They are a fungus that develop from a microscopic spore, and the rest is far beyond my simple grasp of the reproductive system of the mushroom. Regardless, there were plenty of mushrooms out today.

I don't know a lot about lichens and mushrooms and toadstools, but I guess you could say that today I have done some "ground" work on the subject. Each day there is more to learn, and each day there are new things to see on the Riverwalk.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

RAIN, WATER and the RIVER

(AUGUST 4, 2010) The smell of summer rain greeted us as we began our walk this morning. In the tree canopied sections of the Riverwalk we got drops of water as the slight breeze blew the limbs of the trees causing the water to shake down on us. Otherwise, we dodged the bullet of rain, again, yet some walkers spoke of having encountered rain on other part of the trail.

There were signs, however. The water gathered in the turned up leaves on the tree, the water dripping from the tips of leaves, the puddles in the middle of the trail, and the dampness of the grass indicated a recent rain.

The water provided an oasis for the insects As the smaller butterflies landed on the damp leaves to enjoy a cool drink, a large number of damselflies flitted around from leaf to leaf landing in the middle near the drops there or balancing precariously on the tip of the plant.

As we started the walk, the air was slightly humid with a nice breeze. As we proceeded, the sun came out and the morning turned more humid and hotter. But, when the sun came out, so did the larger butterflies and more insects.



Sadie spent her time pointing at the smaller butterflies as they landed on small leaves and flowers, resting and sipping the water, while I craned my neck and took pictures of larger butterflies cavorting in the woods near the river. Of course, had Sadie not stopped to point at the smaller butterflies, I would have missed seeing the larger one.

I would have also missed seeing new and fresh blooms of flowers that seem to have burst forth overnight with the wonderful rain. There were the yellow daisies and other flowers of blue, purple, and white. The woods, this morning, seemed to be a medley of colors with the dominant color being, of course, green.

On the bridge near the Public Works department, we stopped to watch the geese and ducks as they swam underneath the bridge and some as they stood on the banks of the river drinking the water or eating vegetation along the shore.

As we stood there, a walker we see daily stopped and started talking about the beauty of the river.

He asked me, "Did you know this river is nearly 200 million years old? That's a very long time. I think of 100 years as being old, but 200 million years."

I affirmed that I hadn't known that, and then he went on to inform me that there were Native Americans along the shores of the Dan River 8000 years ago and were there until the settlers came in from Europe. He had just read this information on a historical board located towards Angler's Park. It is amazing when one thinks of the age of this river and its history.

As we neared the end of our walk, we saw one other thing that was truly amazing. Sadie pulled on the leash toward a chirping sound in the grass. I recognized the sound of a cicada, and Sadie pulled the leash towards movement on the ground. I walked closer and saw a very strange object. It was a very large bee riding a larger insect. When I saw the bee, I pulled Sadie away and put her leash around a fence post nearby. I went over and started snapping pictures. I realized that I was watching a very large bee (perhaps a hornet) killing a cicada while riding its back. I took several pictures; Sadie sat patiently next to the fence. I finished, gave her a biscuit, and we went on to our car.

It was a most interesting morning on the Riverwalk.

IMPERFECTION

(AUGUST 3, 2010) The American novelist Alice Walker wrote: "“In nature, nothing is perfect and everything is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways, and they're still beautiful.”

There is a great deal of truth in that quotation. It doesn't take a person long, while wandering around in the outdoors, to see both the perfections and imperfections in nature. Over the years of walking on the Riverwalk, I have seen the graceful geese coming in for a landing in the water, and I have also seen geese crash land. This summer on the Chesapeake Bay, I watched as the pelicans didn't land gracefully on the water but just simply dropped into the water.

Though the geese on land look awkward as they waddle along, they seem to be perfect in their waddling until I see a straggler limping along on one foot. Even the timing of the baby animals seems to go against perfection. A number of months ago some goslings were surprised to see us coming around the corner one morning and ran to catch up to the adults, stumbling all over themselves as Sadie and I watched in amusement.

The great blue heron, while standing near the shore, seems like a stately bird in its perfect plumage, but I have seen the great bird spread its wings as it stands on an island in the river, and its body looks so small and frail. The bird in flight is not as graceful either, yet at times it, as Walker says, its flight is both perfect and not perfect.

This morning I made special note of the flowers in the woods. As I looked closely, I saw the beautiful yellow daisies in the dark woods. There were some perfect specimen of bright yellow flowers and there were many more of these flowers whose blooms had been damaged, and they looked less than pristine.

Even Sadie, when she gets out into nature and into her element among the birds and wildlife, stumbles occasionally as she walks through the woods or runs in the field. When she gets into her setter stance and points at whatever interests her at the moment, she is like perfection in motion. However, when the butterfly flies away and she loses it, she looks up at me as if to ask, "What did I do wrong?"

As a sojourner to nature, I find myself looking closely at the perfections and imperfections of what I see around me. Perhaps, by seeing the imperfections of nature, I can see, more closely, my own personal imperfections.

It was another good day on the Riverwalk.

PRETTY, UGLY & PRETTY UGLY

(AUGUST 2, 2010) This morning was pleasant on the Riverwalk since the temperature was comfortable and there was still a little dampness in the air from the recent rains. Some walkers were carrying their umbrellas; I trusted the forecast of the Weather Channel.



As we went into the woods, we saw a small heron in the water surrounded by a group of Canada geese enjoying the quietness of the morning. On the way out, I took some pictures of the heron and geese before the heron must have felt a little disturbed by my intrusion and flew down river for more solitude.

PRETTY

In the dark woods of the morning, the yellow daisies burst forth with their powerful color. They seemed to float in the darkness of the deep woods. There were also some purple and blue flowers that lent color to an otherwise colorless day.

Sadie located a number of butterflies to stalk. One small one was especially colorful in the green grass. I shot away as Sadie approached closer and closer. The butterfuly escaped to continue making the woods more beautiful.

UGLY

Some ugly insects were out today. There was an brown beetle type bug crouched, up-side down under the top plank of a wooden fence. It looked at me with its beady eyes as I took several pictures of it. Sadie didn't see the beast, but would have likely given it some competition in a stare-down.

As we were leaving the dark woods, Sadie became attracted to a small butterfly. As I looked closely at a sign post, I noted a brown insect hanging on to the side. As I got closer, I saw that it had pinchers and was, like the other bug, ugly.

PRETTY UGLY

In the woods near the train trellis was an interesting bug that was plain brown but had antennae with bright red tips. This bug was neither ugly nor pretty, but it was, well, pretty ugly.

Also, near the brown bug with red tipped antennae, there was an interesting spider in its web. It climbed up the web as Sadie walked underneath it, causing movement in the web. As it got to a set place, it spread its leg down and look, somewhat, like a squid. It wasn't that ugly nor was it pretty but, like the brown bug, pretty ugly.

It was another interesting morning on the Riverwalk.

FLOWERS ON A RAINY DAY

(AUGUST 1, 2010) I learned something new this week that I have actually known for a long time. I don't know one plant or flower from another.

While at Grandfather Mountain last week, we went on a nature hike with two park naturalists. Along the way they pointed out various flora. All I saw was green plants. It's a part of my education where there is definitely a lacking.

A couple of years ago I thought that all small birds were sparrows. I knew the robin, the cardinal, the blue jay, and the blue bird, but everything else that was a small bird was a sparrow. My education there has picked up, but there is still a lot I don't know about birds.

This morning Sadie and went to Angler's Park. There was a constant mist as we walked, but the temperature was a pleasant 64 degrees when we got there at 7:00. We walked three laps around the ball field, so we got in our 3 plus miles. I took my camera and snapped some pictures on the first lap, and then returning the camera to the car to keep it dry.

I did hear the red-winged blackbird, but didn't see it. I heard a crow in the woods, but didn't see it. I did, however, see some bright flowers this morning. As I said, I don't know much about flowers but I did see some white ones, some purple ones , some blue ones, some pink ones and some yellow ones on this dark misty cloudy morning.

When I realize how much I don't know about nature, I often think of James Thurber's essay, "University Days" in which he describes his difficulty in seeing anything in a microscope. When he does finally see something, he draws it, and the instructor informs him that he has drawn his eye which was reflected in the microscope. Often, when I see a plant or flower, I see only something of beauty - something I can't identify, but something of beauty.



Notwithstanding the fact that I don't know the names of the flowers I saw, I did enjoy my morning at Angler's Park as we had the park to ourselves because it was a bit damp for most people. Heck, even the ducks and geese weren't out this morning. We had our little bit of nature to ourselves, and the cool temperature made it glorious.

It was another good morning on the Riverwalk.