“Is that a small woodpecker?”

This past weekend I ended up taking some days to truly relax. The craziness of alumni reunions is behind me and once again my house is much quieter. I took the opportunity to truly taste my coffee, feel the breeze of the air and wind and the slight tingling of the sunshine on my skin - making it a shade slightly darker than my very pale complexion (freckles emerging that one day might fully cover my body as one and resulting in a darker complexion for the remainder of my days). I also ended up sitting a majority of the time doing my best, with the best lens I have, to capture a photo of the chickadees that were burrowing a hole in the ash tree in my front yard.

Watching the chickadees was truly an awe-inspiring event. At first, I was just enjoying the rotation that the chickadee couple had acquired, carving out some wood - while the other flew to a nearby tree to drop their dawning of freshly peeled tree innards and back to wait for its turn in the hollowed out area. I couldn’t take my eyes off of their determination to complete this task for their future baby chickadees. After a couple of cups of coffee, I went and grabbed my camera and noticed that the SD card was no longer there. Where were the others I had laying about? Nowhere to be found. Small disappointment entered my body, as I realized that maybe I was to just sit and enjoy the show. To not try and capture the perfect picture of one emerging from the tree with trimmings in their mouth as they take flight. It was just to be experienced. But with the determination from the chickadees, I too, was determined to find something I could use to hold the images that needed to be taken.

Scrounging about for a while, the SD cards were found and I was a happy little camper. Grabbing the tripod, my other lens and a camper-chair, I headed to the front of my yard again. I plopped down and luckily the process was still underway - the chickadees did disappear fully into the hole of the tree now. When they came out they flew right past me. I felt as if the chickadees knew I was safe enough to continuously fly close by me. At one point, I held out my arms to imitate Snow White but they didn’t land when I sang some notes. It’s alright.

Sitting in that environment, one with nature and witnessing such a beautiful, but yet hard work, I found myself thinking, “This would be such a ‘feeding the soul’ hobby. To sit, witness and be one with nature and possibily capturing moments of life and all its beauty. Wow, just wow!” Sounds as if giving myself some nature photography time will be in my future. Looks like I might need to invest in a slightly better lens.

Seeking

W

onder