“Well that’s a very good question.”
“I’ll just lie down here and consider it.”
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“Maybe I’ll research the matter and get back to you.”
So what was the question?
Which is more interesting, the view through a telescope, or under a microscope?
As I don’t possess either one, it’s hard to have an informed opinion.
But I can imagine.
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In the 50’s and through the 60’s it seemed everyone was interested in Space, the final frontier.
Journey into Space, Star Trek, the Outer Limits, Babylon 9, 2001 Space Odyssey, the list was endless.
And there was the real thing. People walking on the Moon.
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Then interest in it all seemed to fizzle. People became more interested in computers, technology in general.
At college I took a course in Astronomy to satisfy a requirement. I used to sit there shivering, with my hair dripping wet, having run across campus from the pool where I was satisfying the swimming requirement.
You had to be able to swim to graduate.
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The course was very light weight. No-one was there out of interest, so why put any effort into the presentation?
However it taught me one thing I have never forgotten; the line up of the planets and how to remember them:
Students May Very Easily Master Astronomy, Just Stay Up Nights Practicing.
The A was for Asteroids.
And yes, Pluto has been downgraded:(
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It was an interesting subject but vast beyond my capability, so I settled for spending my life gazing at the night sky whenever I have the opportunity.
From a ship far out to sea, from somewhere in a desert and from the slopes of the Himalayas.
Riding in a bus from Kathmandu to Lhasa was a long journey that involved two night stops. Those were the darkest nights!
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At an altitude of over 12,000 ft, you felt you could reach up and touch the stars.
It was the sort of experience that touched a part of me that is very emotional.
Where I live now I have a broad view of the sky and the nights here are dark too.
I don’t have a telescope but that’s alright. Too much thinking about Space bends my mind.
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Now, I don’t have a microscope either, but there isn’t much I would be able to do with anything that small anyway, so I satisfy myself with perusing the garden with my macro-lens.
Which makes it possible for me to view interesting sights I would otherwise overlook.
Ice and water. Yes!
Maybe I am attracted to shiny things…
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…to anything that reflects…
…flowers not yet in bloom…
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Flowers in bloom strike me as too perfect.
Whereas buds are full of promise. And symmetry.
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Past their prime, the lilies seem more beautiful…
As a child I didn’t like things that weren’t perfect. Now I prefer things that aren’t. Hm.
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Toby was sitting in his favourite spot this morning. Watching a Zoomer hole.
Then repaired to another favourite spot.
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Meanwhile I was talking to small fly. Fry.
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This small fry was a little startled.
When you see them up close, many have quite sweet faces!
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I always say I cannot abide flies and yet I cannot kill them. I catch them and escort them back outside.
They are welcome to lodge in the milkweed.
Doesn’t this look like a cartoon character?
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I’m working on my attitude toward flies.
We must be at least as annoying to them.
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This plant is “unauthorised”.
It’s Mullien.
My mum would have detested it because it’s an untidy sort of plant, big and floppy.
It grows a long stalk which eventually produces a few small yellow flowers.
The plant may be used for medicinal purposes, coughs and diarrhea and topically for skin problems.
Mullien grows wantonly, all over the property. But as long as it doesn’t impede anything else, it may stay.
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After all, how could I evict these guys?
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Till I looked through my lens, I’d no idea the plants was occupied.
It just goes to show that every plant you remove is very likely home for some innocent creature.
Just because they are small doesn’t mean they don’t matter.
Today, Carolyn, you have crossed the barrier to masterpiece! From the pictures of the Full Moon, to the flowers and the “sweet faces” of the insects. My problem with a fly is she does not washes her hands. Your narration is brilliant! Thank you.
Joanna
Thank you. It is not hard describing what you care about, I think.
It always amazes me how tolerant they are of having a lens poked towards them!
I always assume we are too big for them to see, that when they fly off it’s because they sense us some other way. But I know nothing about insects. Except when they bite.
The line up of the planets – now, that’s quite interesting! I think I like your macro lens too … to capture things you normally don’t see, that’s brilliant!
You had to swim to graduate? Just as well I wasn’t there, as I have never learned to swim.
Flies outside can live, but not inside the house. They are filthy things, and I duly swat them. If there is a Hell, I wil spend eternity covered in the flies I have killed.
Best wishes, Pete.
Yes, I can’t stand them buzzing around indoors. You never know quite where they may have been.