Cherish the Winter

Not Ready for Winter

Winter's coming but one little house rose is still with me.

 

All That Space

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

 I'm watching Invasion on Apple TV and it is boring. Looked promising. Had Sam Neill. Nice setup. But as a space alien invasion movie it has character development like nobody's business and ... yeah, that's it.

Where are the monsters? I mean, the space aliens? I watched three episodes, I think, saw one peek.

So far most of the show are people behaving badly. Duh. Sorry, but currently we've got more than enough of that in real life.

I'm watching and start thinking, what if * aliens did land on or accost Earth in some way? What would we do? Would we get along with our freaked out neighbors. Do we get along with them now? Would we continue to hide out in the mountains of Montana or make a run for -- who knows where?

Would the disparate personalities of my family manage to meld into a cohesive survivor unit or would we drive each other crazy in new and disastrous ways?

And, I got scared. 

Really.

Photo by Brian McMahon on Unsplash

We'd have some time to adjust because, apparently space aliens always start with New York. Might take them a while to get to Montana. 

 So, I'm sitting there with Invasion playing in front of my face, trying to figure out how to keep the family together in the event of space invaders, scaring myself, and it finally occurs to me.

 

Photo by Guillermo Ferla on Unsplash

The odds of alien space explorers ever finding us in the expanse of space are long. Dare I say astronomical? 

 We're a small planet overrun with with delusions of grandeur. One in billions and billions as Carl Sagan used to say. Those odds are a sucker bet.

Then I felt better. 

 Glad to know I can continue to ignore the neighbors. Cherish the charming personalities of my family. And be content in the fact that we're hiding out in the the embrace of the Milky Way.

Photo by William Zhang on Unsplash

* Those are the magic words. 

I have my own invader from space script. It's called, George Clooney Saves the Universe, and my space alien is nice. Still causes trouble, but a nice being. That script was the most fun I ever had writing a screenplay. Space is weird.

The Very Best Camera in the World

This is a picture of a bald eagle. 

 

  

Not that you could tell by looking.

 

Does this help?

 

 

The reason for this excellent photography is the only camera I had with me was the one I call the fu*kin phone.

 

I live up a canyon in the mountains of Montana. I saw the bald eagle flying down the canyon, fairly low over the creek. Couldn’t keep up with him, but coming around the corner, there he was perched in a tree. I stopped. I usually at least have an action cam with me, but not today. Plus they have no telephoto.

 

Now, the fact that I had the phone sitting in its holder beside me encouraged me to stop and shoot stills then video so that credit goes to the phone. Also, the 365 day project I did a year ago has me more attuned to what I see.

 

Driving down the mountain to get to town, I’ve seen wolves, bears, mule deer, whitetail deer and mountain goats. Just a week ago I made this picture -- Once again with the camera at hand -- phone.

 

  

A better picture could have been made with the Nikon or Olympus that stayed home. My bad.

 

At a craft fair a couple of weekends ago, I visited with a photographer with art to sell (I bought this one.) 

 

Used with permission. Tom Pallach Photography.

 

We commiserated about how everyone was a photographer now. Yay. But what was most often used was a cell phone. Bummer. He mentioned how he advocated for a camera vs phone to people but cells are just too damn convenient.

 

Feeling guilty, I built a small, so-easy-to-take-along camera bag.

 

  

Small - really small - sling bag from Timbuk2, Olympus camera no longer available (benefit of being old) pen, pencil and notebook.

 

Today’s trip down the mountain, did I see any of my varied multiple wildlife neighbors?

 

Nope. 

 

Saw where the bear got into one of my human neighbors garbage can. Didn’t inspire any art.

 

So, the best camera is not a contest between Nikon, Canon, Sony or Lumix.  

 

The very best camera in the world is the one you have in your hand when a picture making opportunity presents itself. 

 

I guess I have to say, even if it’s just the fu*kin’ phone.