A very interesting ride today. Short but filled with high emotions. Was it the wind? The barometric pressure? Me? Who knows but for some unknown reason I felt as if I was soaring high on the crest of a super wave. The air felt explosive and the intensity was literally as if I was on an active volcano. Normally, a day like this has me wanting to take broad and expansive pictures. But today, I was thinking super macro, microscopic. I had images of diving deep into the molecular and sub-atomic level and then everything bursting forth up out of the ground, expanding from its tiniest form in a colorful fiery display. I wanted so desperately, with my wholly inadequate camera for such a task, to capture that very tiny world.
Everything seemed to be happening quickly and when the collapsed Bud can caught my eye, I quickly pulled out the camera. The pictures seemed totally inadequate when I was taking them. The next picture seemed to reveal a secret code that I did not see when I was taking it.
A number, barely visible. And the etched lines in the metal. But, the next picture really took me my surprise when I saw it on the computer.
What a great face. Of course, I saw none of this when I was taking the pictures. I rode on feeling stifled by the shots I took and I thought of the term "Carpe diem," "Seize the Day." But, the opposite felt true today. It felt as if I was letting the day seize me and in a very good way (thus, the title of today's ride, "Let the day seize you." I relied on an English to Latin computer translator, so who knows how it really translates.)
Today's ride felt almost dangerous because it seemed as if that volcano could explode at any minute. I stopped very quickly a couple of other times to take a picture, once of the clouds building up on the horizon that looked like mountains. But they translated very poorly into photographs.
Then, with only about 10 minutes left in the ride, it seemed as if what I was looking for to photograph made itself known.
The blue bird appeared to have died very recently. I wasn't even sure at first if I would photograph him as I'm not inclined to take pictures of dead animals. But I picked him up and he was so beautiful. The bird felt as if he was the essence of what I was feeling earlier where molecules are thrown together into a jar, mixed up and then thrown out with everyone awaiting the results.
The texture of the feathers in the close up really surprised me. They appear bristly, like pine needles but the bird most definitely felt very soft in my hand.
Part of its wing and body.
This is an interesting shot to me because of how big and lethal its claw seems compared to the bird's beauty.
Thank you, my blue friend. I placed him further off the road in the grass and rode on, my emotions an odd mixture of still riding high but certainly feeling tempered by my time with the blue bird. About a mile further down the road I came across another feathered friend whom I've been trying to photograph for a while now. I slowly came to a stop and quickly dismounted while reaching for the camera. I didn't think there was anyway that the flycatcher was going to stay put long enough for me to zoom in and focus, certainly not with the wind blowing as it was while he was perched on the flimsiest of stalks.
But stay, he did. I tried moving closer for a better shot but that was too much too ask.
Today's ride: 71mins. 13.21 miles. 67 degrees. 15+mph wind. Miles YTD: 2,573.41
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