Revelations from a Praying Mantis

There were few opportunities to get outdoors and enjoy photography this week due to the weather.  Being that it is mid to late September, one would expect pumpkin spice, sweatshirt type of weather.  Not so, we got our first rain since August on September 22nd and the temperatures have sat at the lower 90s.  Given these circumstances, I chose to remain at home enjoying the air conditioning.

When I did go out to gather the mail,  I was suprised by a four to five inch long praying mantis scaling the wall of my home.  While I enjoy photographing all kinds of wildlife, I have taken very few photos of insects, and to have such an unusual visitor come to me was quite an honor.   Since I don't see a praying mantis often I was curious to learn more about them.  Immediately, I discovered that I have been misspelling their name which is "praying" and not "preying".  While preying is what they really do as one of the world's most prolific insect killers,  I doubt whether they have any ethical feelings about their behavior that would cause them to pray.  In fact, their method of disposing of their prey is to bite their heads and suck out their brains.  ( I can recall sitting through long meetings where the speaker, a decendant of the mantid genus, sucked out the brains of the participants as they were held captive.)  

They hold their front legs in a folded position which makes them appear to be praying.  Those front legs are armed with spines that are used to grasp their prey securely while they use their camouflage and slow movements to spring suddenly upon their prey.  Of the 1500 mantids worldwide, only 20 are found in the US and of those 20, only three are found here in the upper midwest.  This guy is a Chinese Mantis which was likely introduced to the US in the late 1800s to help control garden insects.

It's nice to know that I could gain such revelations from a prehistoric, religious looking creature scaling the walls of my home on a sorching fall day.

 Fade Away Fast, Please!

Nature Reclaiming the Garden Hotel

First of all, please pardon my whining this week. I chose a photo of the deteriorating Garden Hotel this week because it seemed to communicate with my underlying feelings. This photo is not even one of my favorite photos taken this week.  I pass by this place frequently and each time I do it taunts me by saying "You're tired of seeing me aren't you?"  

Right know I am experiencing an undercurrent of that message with my photography.  I am tired of seeing the images that I am creating.  I haven't lost my interest in photography, but I seem to be at that train depot waiting for new inspiration to arrive.  I am carrying my baggage with me in the form of  projects I still want to complete but haven't due to a number of excuses --  not reasons.  In the meanwhile, I am making myself busy with what I think are semi engaging images that keep me practicing my photography in order to be ready when the grand, inspiring idea comes along.  A published writer of novels tells me that she writes every day for one hour even through those uninspired periods.  Dieters, athletes, students, musicians, and photographers go through these plateau periods perhaps to gain footing for the next stage while holding on to hope the next stage will appear at just the right time.  Even the act of writing that last sentence felt a bit therapeutic.

The Garden Hotel which itself  has become an overgrown garden of mold, weeds and rubble like my image filing system.  Demolition of the building is scheduled to begin this month and is to be completed by December this year.  My eyes will be glad to see it gone and just empty space remaining.  I will enjoy seeing snow rest on the ground where it sat all these years  For me, the vacant land will present itself as a fresh canvas inviting new ideas.  

 Riding on the Edge of a Moment

On  Sunday afternoon, I was on my way to Nygren Wetlands to see what birds may have dropped by for a visit.  Before I could make it there I heard the whine of engines being pushed to the max.  That is when I made a detour to nearby Blackhawk Raceway where the track was hosting sportbike track time.  Watching them blur by seemed like watching a medieval battle with the knights racing to seize the victory while displaying the flowing colors identifying their own unique coat of arms.

During my short time there I came away with several photos that capture the color, speed and intensity of the event.  If you ever wondered what it is like to cling to a rocket made of carbon fiber and aluminum riding on the edges of physics,  just look at the intensity in the eyes of riders.  I had a great time that day proving that it is wonderful to be an opportunistic photographer.  Who could have more fun in just under an hour's time?  Sometimes it is what we do in those stolen minutes that injects energy into life for the week.