So then what do you do at home, after taking your online classes? You can't step outdoors, nor meet others, thanks to lockdown and social distancing. Staying at home would be enough to drive anyone crazy. But then, there are ways for keeping busy ( apart from getting to connect with your family) and for me, this includes taking photographs from my home of things around me. Looking at the branches of a distant tree with parrots darting, diving and dancing in the air, or perhaps even an ordinary jumping spider trying to grab a fly for breakfast (though unsuccessfully as the fly flew away each time the spider almost reached) would teach you a lesson in patience.
I wonder what makes the golden spider golden! This tiny creature, barely a few millimetres in size might escape notice but for its sparkling flash of gold. I used flash, sunlight, macro, manual, everything that I had to get a decent enough shot of this interesting arachnid. Unfortunately, all the snaps were taken hand-held.
And then just when you are done taking photographs of the golden jumping spider, you spot a metallic greenfly that is again so tiny that you'd miss it if it were not for that bright metallic colour that catches the last rays of the sinking sun, a veritable jewel of amazing beauty! Again, you are hard-pressed for time and who'd miss the opportunity of taking a few pot-shots of this amazing work of art! I just couldn't miss it, even if it meant that I would have to shoot handheld!
One the days I caught Clarence the jumping spider trying to capture a fly for breakfast. Unfortunately, each he drew close to breakfast, it would fly away. He did keep trying and I gave him company till in the end even I lost patience and decided to go indoors.
Talking of parrots, well they can be noisy, full of energy, and yes, they bully their own friends. Now, these parrots are different from the Alexandrian Parrot that I photographed some time back. Alexandrian parrots have a crimson ring around their necks and a slash of crimson on their wings.
Of all things beautiful, even ordinary plants and common flowers have a quality about them which is amazing. It is surprising how we often take such things for granted during normal times. Unfortunately, it takes times of crisis, lockdowns, and pandemics we are forces to stay indoors and it is during such times we realise how beautiful nature is. We have neglected our duty towards protecting and preserving nature. We have drained out our wetlands, cut down trees, destroyed birds and wild animals and soon even the parrots will be gone. Life after the Corona Virus Pandemic will never be the same. I just hope that we learn to be better and more responsible people once this crisis is over. Life is what it is all about, and appreciating life in all its forms is our beholden duty.
Life is indeed precious and one should each breath that one takes. Looking at the rainbow and perhaps taking the time to look at the clouds scudding across the skies might be some of the best things that we can do during trying times. We have all become so obsessed with work, grades and deadlines that we have forgotten the essential naturalness that exists within each one of us.
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