Reflections on the Twelfth Week of Fall

 

On Christmas Day 2012, Spence gave me a tripod. Since I didn't get around to figuring out how to use it in 2013, learning in 2014 was a New Year's Resolution–along with writing two new stories and asking a lawyer to draw up wills and medical power of attorney papers. The stories and legal papers were finished by July. Friday morning, I pulled the tripod out of its carrying case and moved levers to see what they did. Spence helped with the mounting platform, and Google clarified puzzling parts. I learned how to adjust the height from three to six feet; how to attach the camera; how to move the camera up, down, left, and right; how to tighten parts so they didn't move; and how to loosen parts so they did. I had to unlearn trying to move the camera instead of moving the lever to move the mount to move the camera. I was ready. I set the camera on the tripod at five feet, focused on the bird feeder, and washed the sliding glass door. Between bird feeding frenzies, I wrote Christmas cards by the wood burning stove. When birds arrived, I slowly stood and clicked. Chickadees and titmice pecked and posed. A male cardinal came close enough for me to distinguish individual feathers in its crest. With nineteen days to spare, I finished my 2014 resolutions. Now I need to reflect on tasks for 2015.