Wednesday, December 21, 2022

The Macro World of a Wet Backyard Mango Tree


 After a long walk, and a long think, I got home.  I have many long walks, actually four a day minimum, and as a result I am lucky enough to have a lot of time to think.

Truth be told, the mind wanders when I bike or skate since I stopped listening to music when I go forward.  Since I'm typically on a public trail, it is for the best.

I had gotten home thinking about what to write, and frankly most days I sit at a keyboard and a blank screen and unless I prepared something, I "Wing It".

Creativity is that way.  You do your best work when you are allowed to be unconstrained by conventionality.

Getting home just as the 8AM Zone 3 watering happened allowed me to go out and inspect the gardens.  In the middle of the yard there is a Mango Tree that I am very happy to have.  It's its own world and has fed me many times of some wonderful fruit.  Trust me, if you have not had a fresh mango that just has dropped to the ground, you are missing a treat.  That can be said of any fruit you enjoy as well, I am sure.

I got out there and the world was still drying off.  Shades of green sprayed with water tend to take a while to shake things off.  The overnight rains gave everything a good strong soak.  I am still waiting for things to dry enough to go out for a workout as it is.

But under a dark green leaf was an eye looking back at me.  Or so my own eye thought.  It turned out to be a water drop reflecting the scene from behind in miniature.

"I really need my macro lens" I said to Rack the McNab SuperDog (TM) and went back into the house to prepare.

Now that macro is not a really good one.  22 times magnification that clips onto the back of a smartphone camera.  But it gave me a view into a world at miniature.  I could see where things were hazy before.

My favored tree was growing happily.  Putting out buds in the December Morning.  I'm thinking it will be an early fruiting season since the big trees nearby already had an inflorescence, but I could be wrong.

Walking around my world in miniature, I wandered into a web.  A Crab Spider.  We have many of these creatures near us here in South Florida.  They are small spiders, about the size of your smallest finger nail.  Multiple colors and really not harmful at all.   They can bite but their fangs are too small to do any damage to you or I.

But they are fascinating to watch if you are willing to take the time and slow down to nature's pace.

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