something is missing

Hmmm... (realizing that I keep on posting bug pictures)

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Today's theme is going to be about what's missing. That means no insects!! Let's see, we have a flower with... no bugs. And a late-night shot with a diminishing mosquito count. Why? Because of the subject of the photo that you can barely make out. I tried so hard to get a good shot of one of the bats, but this is where a good DSLR would have come in handy. I was out there for an hour panning these flying rats, and this is the best I could come up with! I want manual focus, minimal shutter lag, and a couple remote flashes on light stands... is that too much to ask?

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Well, maybe it is. For now.

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A friend from Osaka is visiting for a few months. Last night he told me that it never snows back home, and that he is nervous about what that will be like. I beamed with excitement as I told him one of the most wonderful details of our Chicago winters. Two words: "no mosquitoes." (big smile)

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One more bat picture:

nightlife

Momma doesn't like me hanging around with the riff raff who roam the streets at night. But I like these guys. The skunks are nice animals. They don't go 'round stinking on people unless they're provoked. And the bats have been eating the mosquitoes. The only thing on God's green earth that I hate more than mosquitoes is dandelions, so the enemy of my enemy has become my friend.

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As you may have surmised, these were taken with something more than just the pop-up flash on my point & shoot. I used an infrared slave device to trigger a stronger flash. The bats were really hard to catch, since their flight patters are so quick and irregular.

one more bat

What?? More bats?! No, not exactly. But in The Tiger and the Snow, Roberto Benigni's character Attilio verbally coaxes a bat out of a window for his frightened daughters. They are impressed by his skill with words. They ought to be. His character is a professor of poetry.

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He tells them a story about his youth. He describes an episode in enchanting detail about how a bird landed on his shoulder. But when the youngster told Grandma about it, her response was cold; she was not moved. Attilio does not blame her. He says that her reaction was entirely his fault because he did not choose his words well. The event inspired him to learn how to become a poet, i.e., to say things in such a way that the listener feels what he feels. Genius!

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I was moved by his clever story and how the movie was replete with examples of the amazing skill of this contemporary wordsmith.

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Image by: Welovedonny