Yesterday I knew I should be able to see the moon (mostly clear) and it was scheduled to rise at 10AM. The inaccurate phone app said the skies were likely to get cloudier as the day went on, so I grabbed my gear and headed to the beach for the wide open views and the level walking path (ankle still) for a 2-in-one photo outing and sweet pea walk. I got to the beach just after 10, checked my phone compass to see which direction I should be looking and waited/watched and waited/watched and waited/watched. No moon in sight. While I waited/watched, I tried to cover my face from the biting wind, and kept walking back and forth on the small section of east/west facing beach front where dogs are allowed off the leash until April 1st to keep my blood flowing so I wouldn't freeze to death. And finally after a an hour of frustrating inability to see the moon, (was it the haze on the horizon? The single band of cloud cotton candy streaking across the sky? Was I actually looking in the wrong direction? Am I insane? Living in an alternate reality where moon charts and compasses are not valid? Why can't I see the moon?) I got in the car to assess the situation and formulate a plan B. I rechecked my moon chart and my compass and I determined that I was looking in the right direction-ish, because now that the moon had been up for an hour I wasn't quite sure how high from the horizon in the sky it might be, but still, close enough that I should be able to locate it, and then in despair I looked out the windshield to think and BOOM! There she was, in all her glory, right in front of my frozen red wind chapped face. I got out of the car, removed my camera from the trunk, took a few shots, got back into the car, pulled into a different spot because on my way out I saw the cloud underneath the moon move enough to make a difference, got out of the car again, went through the motions again, and even managed a phone photo to show a friend before getting back into the car once more and heading back to the gloriously warmed 21st century poorly designed by a builder without a sense of how to live and function in a modern house. It's an interesting feeling to both loathe this abomination of design and find comfort in the fact that it is about 60 degrees warmer inside than it is outside.
Today I woke up to sleet followed by nonstop rain (at least it isn't snowing) and it is unlikely I will get to view the moon at all today. According to the inaccurate phone app it is likely to rain into the wee hours of the morning but then clear up around noon tomorrow so at least, as far as I can tell, I will have a chance at seeing the moon tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow the moon rises at 10:50 and should be out all day. Day shots of the moon are way more interesting because there is a greater chance of something else besides the black night sky being in the photo, like a colorful sky, or a cloud. I was disappointed to see that someone has already done what I am trying to do here, but I will just keep on making photos anyways because as I have said a million times before... As long as I have a project to work on I am okay. That and a nickel will get you a cup of coffee. (in a long ago world where coffee didn't come from a boutique coffee shop and cost about half of a mortgage payment) But I have convinced myself that it is true, so I have to keep on doing this project at least as long as I don't have a next project lined up.
I know people can befriend crows, and that is truly what I would like to do. However, the crows don't often visit my yard. What I have been doing is making the same weird smoochie sounds (I don't know how far a crow can hear for) every time I put the bird seed out for the rest of the birds and they have gotten to know me. This morning I decided to put some seeds out despite the inclement weather. The skies were silent as I approached the wall where I scatter the seeds. I made the smoochie sounds and all of a sudden the flock of mourning doves started to fly from branch to branch in the rear yard trees. Sparrows and doves will come for the seeds while I am still close to the wall. Not the blue jays and cardinals though. That's fine. I' have seen how those blue jays can be with the other birds, and they are just fine keeping their distance from me. This summer I have seen way less robins than last summer and I recall reading something about a robin disease and I am afraid to go down that rabbit hole in case it is super bad. I want all the birds to flourish. Just like I want all of the back yard animals to be healthy and not get sick or eaten too.
Speaking of the backyard animals, I realized that the best way to edit my animals series is by making little 3,4,or5 image clips which include the best photos of them all. So, now I have to go through again from the beginning and pull out little vignettes so the reader can really see what happened like they're watching a tiny little movie. This has potential! I'm pretty excited.
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