The other day my wife, Brenda, and I took a trip to Bombay Hook National Wildlife Preserve to check out the potential for photography.  Needless to say, I took some camera gear along.  I also took enough money ($12) to purchase a pass for the year only to discover that since I’m 62 or older I could buy a lifetime pass for $2 less!  (You just gotta love this senior citizen scam!)  Well, there was more good news…plenty of birds.  We came to a pond and there were at least 6 or 7 varieties of birds resting, feeding, and flying around.  I set up my gear took some shots mostly for identification purposes and moved on only to come upon another pond with egrets galore, Greats and Snowys (read big and little).  They were in the pond.  They were in the trees.  They were strutting and flying and yes, one even appeared to be posing.  I had a great time.  As we were leaving the preserve I noticed, out over the water, what appeared to be an eagle so I set up again only to lose sight of the bird but then, what should come flying along, but a group of egrets and so I fired off a series of shots in the hope that something might be decent.  A great day!  Until I got home and downloaded the pics.  For some reason, no doubt because of operator error (I screwed up) every shot, except one, was blurry!  Now please…I know how to operate my cameras!  But…evidently, I wasn’t paying attention.  Apparently…I was a tad bit over-confident and overlooked something ridiculously simple and basic.  The results were more than disappointing

We do that a lot in life.  We take things for granted.  We overlook the obvious.  We become over-confident when dealing with the routine and then…oops!  Moral of the story…stay humble…pay attention…avoid the silly little mistakes that can ruin a good day. 

So what about that one pic that wasn’t blurry?  Well…you tell me.

That photo just goes to show that even when we’re not at the top of our game every once in a while we can be lucky!

            Recently when I posted this pic of a Praying Mantis on Facbook, my favorite Irish Buddhist Monk (yes, I really do have a favorite Irish Buddhist Monk!) commented that it should be known as a “preying” mantis.  I’ve been thinking about his observation all week and wondering whether many of us spend more time “praying” or “preying”.  It’s pretty easy to keep track of our prayer time.  Generally, that’s something that we can measure with a watch or a clock.  Oh sure, we sneak in an extra minute or two when we pause to look at something beautiful or spend a moment reflecting on the meaning of life and love but in reality most of us could, if we’re honest, put a number on our “prayer” time.  But how about the time we spend “preying”?  I’m talking about those moments when we take advantage of others or put our own desires ahead of someone’s genuine needs.  What about the times when we obnoxiously impose our opinions on the people around us and overlook or ignore the pain we have caused through our actions or inactions.  And yes, let’s not forget the countless times that we speak in anger over a perceived slight, a petty annoyance or just because it makes us feel righteous, important or momentarily (and falsely) powerful.  Do we spend more time “praying” or “preying”?  It’s not mine to judge…except for myself.  Hope you do better at “praying” than I do!