Actually, I had a story to tell. A lot of oaks are dying in my neighborhood. Cycle of nature or environmental tipping point? Also, there is evidence of the deadly forest fires that terrorized millions of Southern Californians in 2003. The fire tightened its noose around our town from three directions, and came within one mile of burning it to a crisp. There were the blackened husks of trees. But there was also ample evidence of regrowth and regeneration.
I was providing my own running narrative as I was shooting. Good practice for the APA.
Then I positioned myself on a narrow bridge, tried to ignore the traffic, and pointed my camera at the stream below. Suddenly, an unmistakable shadow flitted across my viewfinder.
Hawk!
Suddenly, I was pointing my camera at the sky. Where did he go? A quick black flicker across my display, then - nothing. I kept the camera rolling. There he is! Just over the trees.
Yes! I had him. Then, just like that, he was gone.
I put my camera down and soaked in the view. Cobalt blue sky, distant peaks, mountain valley. Was that shot actually in my camera? With the hawk? I didn't dare do a quick playback. Knowing me, I would erase everything on the hard drive.
With great trepidation, I hooked up my camcorder to my desktop, praying the camera wouldn't explode. The clips started loading. Then after completion of the load, my iMovie program froze. I had no choice but to hit "Force Quit."
I restarted iMovie, then held my breath as the application completed the load. The clips were all there. I opened my hawk clip and ...
Now I know how Hemingway felt after landing his first marlin.
Everything was there. The tell-tale shadow against the sunlit grass, the frame suddenly shifting to blue sky in hot pursuit, the bird against the tree tops, the bird against the mountains, then a black speck against a spectacular mountain-valley panorama.
I did it!
A little bit of editing and I had 16 seconds of amazing hawk footage.
Me! John McManamy! The Executioner!
Okay, there is a lesson in all of this. Something about never being too old to take on new challenges in life, to push the envelope, to get out in front of your illness and keeping moving rather than staying still and letting your illness overtake you.
Maybe someday, I'll get my thoughts together and write about that lesson. But not now. It's a beautiful day outside. The sun is bright. The birds are chirping. I'm going to grab my camcorder and find me a unicorn.
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