Butterfly or Moth...

I don't only catch snakes and lizards.

Today, at Alum Rock Park, I caught a butterfly. Or a moth. 

I wasn't sure.

Either way, Angie was pretty impressed that I caught one with my bare hands.

Mrs. Remington was my High School English teacher.

She always said, "It's a sad day when you don't learn something new".

It's probably the best advide I've ever received... 

So I decided to learn something new.

I googled "Butterfly or Moth" and found out that this is probably a butterfly, because:

1. It has knobs on its antennae
2. It sits with it's wings upright and closed

I had no idea those were the discerning characteristics of a butterfly... but now I do!

How cool is that? 

God is in the Details

A River stone adorned with a natural lei

While I'm gregarious and fascinated by people, I love solitude - the kind of solitude that Edward Abbey so perfectly captured in "Desert Solitaire".

I hate it when Angie goes home to see her parents. I miss her constantly (she is - literally - the yin to my yang), but it's good for me.

Today, I went for a hike. Alone. Where I might usually be chattering to Angie, today I just wandered quietly, looking and listening. It was a sunny warm day with wildflowers bursting everywhere. 

Wildflowers in Alum Rock Park

German Architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe said, "God is in the Details". It's a quote that was often applied to Frank Lloyd Wright's obsession with detail.

Today, I lingered on the details.

Caterpillar walking

Lingering on details is something I've tried to do more of at work. More quiet. More listening. More thinking. More reading. Allowing more space for details to emerge.

I'm not good at it, but I'm working at it. 

Surprises emerge, and that's a good thing.

By looking for details, I also found a gray fox, which just goes to show that the search for detail can sometimes lead to big things as well.

What is Change?

Everything changes. It's just the way of things.

If you don't like the way it is now... wait... it'll be different soon.

Not better or worse - just different.

For example, now it's fall.

The parks are emptier.

The days are shorter.

And the squirrels are squirrelier.

In July, no squirrel at Alum Rock Park would come within 10 feet of us. I guess there were plenty of nuts around. They didn't need us.

This weekend, the squirrels were all around us.

This guy hoped I'd be sharing my jerky. He was wrong.

Woodpeckers were everywhere it seemed, chasing the Steller's Jays.

We enjoyed the noise and the action.

Because soon, it'll change.

What's Your Core Message?

Where do you do your best thinking?

I do mine when I'm hiking.

Today, Angie and I covered about 5 miles in San Jose's Alum Rock Park. There was wildlife exhibit today, with birds and snakes on show.

We didn't linger at the exhibit, but I couldn't pass up an opportunity to schmooze with a true American Icon - Smokey Bear.

Last week, my colleague Ken and I led a presentation class. In the class, we strongly emphasize the importance of having a 'core message'. 
The core message is that one thing you want your audience to remember when they walk away.

Smokey has one of the strongest core messages that I know of. You probably can hear his booming voice reciting it right now, right?

"Only you can prevent wildfires" is a great core message - short, direct, and memorable.

Do you have a core message? If so, how does your core message compare to Smokeys?

Three Reasons Why This Was a Great Sunday...

1. The NY Football Giants won a thriller over Cincinnati, in overtime, to go to 3-0. (if you didn't know, I'm from New York)
2. The NY Yankees won the final game played in Yankee Stadium, while giving the 'cathedral' the kind of farewell that only the Yankees seem to do right. As Derek Jeter said to the fans after the game - "Pride, Tradition, and the best fans in the world..."
3. In between #1 and #2, Angie and I squeezed in a nice walk at Alum Rock Park, where I caught the snake pictured above. While it smelled like demon spawn (seriously, I've never smelled anything this bad... I immediately had to wash, twice), it was a beautiful snake, and very generous with the whole 'forked tongue' routine for my camera. When I got home, I found out - courtesy of my Audubon reference book - that garter snakes emit a musk when irritated.
   So, I've been musk'd!
   

Learning, Unlearning, Re-learning

Angie and I were hiking yesterday at Alum Rock Park, in San Jose, and I had carried my camera for more than half the hike without taking a picture. This was annoying me, as I have a fairly heavy camera.

I justified that there was nothing to shoot, as we hadn't 'seen anything interesting'. When I say that, it usually means that I haven't spotted any wildlife - my primary objective when hiking.

I continued walking, and for some reason started thinking about how photography = 'light writing' in latin. I always tell beginners that the lesson in the word photography is that there is no 'writing' - or photography - without light.

That reminded me to look for interesting light for the rest of the hike. I took the above photo about 30 minutes later.

The lesson this photo taught me wasn't about photography. It was about the value of reflection and re-learning the lessons that we've learned before.