my head is spinning

there is so much going on with our country lately: rights being trampled and obliterated, freedoms slipping through our fingers, moral lines being blurred beyond recognition, God being erased from our country's history, so many injustices being signed into law...with more on their way and no end in sight — it makes my head spin. so much going through my mind at any given time, so much emotional turmoil, so much anger and sadness. i can't process it all. it's information overload. my inner voice is screaming for outlet... but i don't even know where to begin.

that's why i'm going to post a picture of a belted kingfisher or two, instead.

because the belted kingfisher is part of nature, and nature has a way of taking the edge off and reminding us that there are forces at work in this world that are far bigger than us, and that long after we're gone, nature will still be alive and kickin', and indifferent to the fact that we're not even around anymore. nature has a way of sustaining itself, despite the many obstacles thrown in its path; it always finds a way.

like this kingfisher, for instance. it always finds a way to elude me. now, you may be thinking, "it eludes you, yet you got a picture of it?" well, yes. i did get a picture of it. HOWEVER, i'm after the perfect picture. and it knows this. therefore it roosts in a tree on the other side of the lake. there are trees everywhere, and i'm sitting stock still, but it knows. it knows i know it knows, too, and it mocks me with its rapid-fire chatter. see? his mouth's open. he's saying, "i bet you wish you had a 1.7x teleconverter in front of that 500mm lens, don't you chump? oh well, you win some, you lose some. in your case, its just 'lose some.'" he then follows that up with, "hahahahahahahaha!" as he flies off to an even more remotely located perch from which to watch me amusedly.

then...i got this.

you might say, "well that looks mighty good to me. mission accomplished." to which i would reply, "thanks for the compliment on my photoshop work." lotta post necessary on this one, i'm afraid. though, i did track him pretty well. it's just that the background wasn't very appealing — didn't have quite the right amount of motion blur — and the bird wasn't as sharp and colorful as i would have liked.

and mr. kingfisher knows this, too.

but that's ok. he's part of nature, and a failure to capture the perfect shot is actually a win for me, as, either way, i get to witness its beauty and wonder, and, for a time at least, the raging storm inside is pacified.