Around the Corner – Day 1028

Spider Climbs to Venus – Photo: L. Weikel

Around the Corner

Our walk tonight was spectacular. For one thing, the weather was just cool enough to warrant me wearing a sweatshirt, instilling an air of coziness and hinting of the change of seasons just around the corner. Wispy clouds embroidered whimsical figures overhead. I swear they were forming a grand circle above us, not unlike a zodiac projected onto the early evening sky.

On the first leg of our journey, five or six massive dragonflies vied for our attention. They were darting and dive-bombing and moving so quickly, it’s a miracle I managed to catch them at all with my iPhone. I did snag one midflight – and it looks eerily like a massive Army helicopter. The funniest part about the dragonflies was how they lost interest in us as soon as we’d captured a few photos. It really did seem like they wanted to flirt with the camera.

Venus

As we neared the crest of the final hill of our walk and were engulfed in the vast western sky, Venus grabbed my attention. I asked her for patience, as I knew I would take her photo as soon as we moved beyond the typical obstructions of poles and electrical wires.

Finally, I looked across the grasses sprouting an evening dew and saw an exquisitely delicate process taking place right before my eyes. It was in that moment that I realized how sacred everything is that we encounter on our walks. Here we were, just walking along and found ourselves witnessing a spider literally spinning her way to Venus.

We saw her drop down quickly, as if sliding down the pole of a firehouse, then swing back up, drawing herself closer and closer to the distant planet apparently calling to her, as well. Yet again, I wish I could share the live action of my photos because this spider truly was choreographing something special.

Bats Galore

And then, after oohing in appreciation of the sunset’s palette and the sweet juxtaposition of the spider and Venus, we finally turned and set our sights on the penultimate leg of our journey. This entails entering a tunnel of trees that, earlier in the season, yields hundreds of lightning bugs rising from the forest floor on either side of the road.

Tonight, instead of lightning bugs, we were escorted and entertained by bats fluttering above our heads. Karl swears they’re attracted to my hair. But the thought of bats getting caught in people’s hair is, I’m fairly certain, a myth. These creatures are expert flyers – I’m not going to waste my time worrying that they’re going to miscalculate and get tangled in my hair. (And if they do? Hmm. Well. I’ll deal with that as it comes…)

In the meantime, I tried to get a photo of them. They were darting, bobbing, and weaving even more than the dragonflies had been earlier. I took a bunch of photos, mostly on instinct. And that’s what I love about the ‘live’ photos taken on an iPhone. It’s possible to go into edit mode and isolate a ‘still’ of one of the string that creates the illusion of a live photograph – and sometimes you find you’ve captured magic.

As you can see, I did get a shot of three bats at once. And the other photo gives you some sense of how surprisingly large some of those bats appeared.

Play More

I have to say, though – just as the dragonflies had done earlier, the bats seemed to be expressing a distinct sense of playfulness.  They were clearly dancing and flirting with us – almost daring us to try to get a photograph of them.

Perhaps they were conspiring to remind us to play. Or dance. Or just zig and zag and goof around a bit. I don’t think we do that nearly often enough. And who knows what’s waiting for us just around the corner.

(T-83)