If Critters Had Cameras

  The hidden critter game that I recently created for my grandkids has proven to be more difficult for me than for them.  Finding and photographing critters blending in with their surroundings is not as easy as getting a clear picture.  My photographic skills have taken a turn for the worse, it seems.  The kids can spot critters a mile away and I cannot seem to get one to hide from the camera.  They all WANT to have their picture taken.  Perhaps this generation of "selfie" photos has gone too far.  If critters had cameras, I can only imagine what would happen.

  This afternoon, I hiked back down to the creek just for the purpose of finding another camouflaged creature.  While there were critters galore, none wanted to play "Hide and Seek".  It was rather like "Hi there!  I am a warbler!  Take my picture."  This was the thought as they nearly flew in to sit on the camera lens.  Then, I spied a red-bellied woodpecker.  Aha! The laddering colors on its back should help it to blend in with the tree bark!  It did......but that bright red head was a dead giveaway.  There was no way that the kiddos would miss that!

  After an hour of tromping in knee deep ferns, arrowhead plants and spider lilies, I aborted the mission and headed back to the house. Tomorrow is another day, I told myself.  Tomorrow, I will find the coyote crouching beneath the magnolia limbs or the fox hiding behind the palmetto fronds. Tomorrow, I will stumble across the alligator sunning next to a rotted log or a bobcat dozing between the gnarled, old oak roots.  Yep, tomorrow is another day.

Try, Try Again...

  Years ago, I tried to emphasis diligence to my kiddos.  I wanted them to grow up realizing that not all things are easy but that does not mean that they are not worth doing.  It goes back to that old saying, "If you fail, try again."  Pop never let us give up on anything worth doing so I wanted to instill that same idea into my kids.  I think I have succeeded.  They do not let things get the best of them.  If something seems daunting, they sit back, look at their options, think about it and then tackle it head-on. They are each successful in their own ways...ways that are very different from each other but still successful in doing what they want.  

  Now I am applying that same thought to my own efforts.  For the grandlittles, I have started a new phase in photography.  Where I used to wait for (sometimes) hours for the perfect shot, I now strive for the opposite.  A new game, "Find the Critter", has me striving to take photographs of animals in various stages being hidden from the world. Whether the critter is simply hiding in leaves or using camouflage to be unseen, the kiddos goal is to locate and identify it.  This is harder than you think.  The finding is not hard, the photography is proving to be a challenge.  It is difficult to NOT try to get the "perfect shot".  I am working at it.  

  The grandlittles seem to enjoy searching the photographs for critters and now it seems that I have a new following of a few other kiddies doing the same.  Using social media can be fun for things like this! While I do not really encourage the overuse of electronics with little ones, a bit now and again is not terrible.  My aim with this little game is to instill a love of nature in the grandlittles and other tykes.  I also want them to be aware of their surroundings and to actually be able to "see" things and not overlook the little things.  Life is pretty wonderful and Mother Nature sure does her part to make it interesting.  Now if I can learn to photograph the not so obvious.