I am a phone photo fanatic—so many precious moments of family and friends not to mention an abundance of nature shots.
For me, what to do with all those photos is agonizing. To keep or not to keep? Delete? Forward? Post? Print? Too many decisions to make. So, in an effort to simplify, I have decided to press pause on all photo taking for a month. What would it be like to just enjoy the moment?
My first test came while recently kayaking on a Northwoods lake. I spotted a pileated woodpecker tapping away at an old stump along the shore. Normally, I would have taken a dozen photos of this elusive bird, but instead I just sat still and watched his long beak hunt for bugs, his red head twist in comical maneuvers, his black and white feathers flit and flutter.
Not long after, a mother duck with a bevy of tiny baby ducks swam by. So cute! But I stayed true to my pledge and only admired their V-shaped wake upon the water as they paddled busily away.
My photo moratorium, however, was severely tested a few days later. When out on a sunset boat ride with my husband, we spotted a pair of magnificent swans swimming languidly by a pine covered island—a rare photo opportunity! We cut the motor and quietly admired the gracefulness of their long white necks, their tandem glide across still waters, the way they stayed in sync together.
I like this new plan. For although I have no photos to show for these beautiful nature encounters, what I do have is what poet Wendall Berry so aptly described as “the peace of the wild things.”
