I have a newfound appreciation for wildlife photographers. Frankly, I’m not much of a photographer. The trips I’ve been on in my life demonstrate this again and again. Lots of photos with my thumb or pointer finger somehow in the frame.

But since I started hiking I wanted to try to capture more of the sights I see. The problem is, some of the sights are pretty insistent on not being photographed. 

I have no illusions of creating great photography. But I would like to just get one single photo of one of the birds I see! I’m not even that into birds, but having started walking more in the winter (now early spring), birds seem to look cooler to me now. Or maybe it’s just easier for them to look cooler against all of the gray and brown.

Even now, as some of the trees start to bud, there’s still a lot of gray and brown. And so when I see woodpeckers spread their wings, black and white, it’s really cool thing I’d like to try to document. But every time I do try, I swear those little jerks basically squawk “no paparazz!” before spreading their beautiful wings and flying off again. So I’m left to rely on my faulty human memory of the experience, which honestly feels like another mockery of the bird. Like they’re squawking “forget! Forget! Forget!”

Joke’s on those feathery little fiends, I don’t have to bang my head against the trees for food. Instead I get to try to force words out, even when they won’t come, which might be worse, so actually, it’s more like birds 2, me 0.

Anyway, trying to actually photograph wildlife has made me appreciate wildlife photography a lot more. It’s hard, man! It not only requires skill, which I don’t have much of, but patience, which is also not a thing I’m great at. Also the ability to move quickly if needed? Ugh, forget it.

Maybe that’s why I’ve also developed a newfound affinity for moss. Moss is pretty easy to photograph. It just chills. Hanging out. Doing the whole interior design thing, but, you know, exterior, and adding a pop of color as forest carpeting. Need to cover up that old rotting fallen tree trunk? Moss is on it. It’s basically a forest throw rug over the (what you hope is) wine stain in your apartment.

And think about all the fancy gardens you’ve ever seen! Botanical gardens, fancy gardens at important historical locations, even just rich people gardens that they pay to make look nice, there’s moss! Moss says, “this could be grass, but grass is so basic.”

But I also like moss because I got curious and looked it up and apparently moss can survive all kinds of temperatures and they don’t even need all that much soil or anything. Which is pretty cool, honestly. No matter the climate or circumstances, moss just finds a way to vibe. I can respect that.

Also, moss is super soft. It feels as soft as it looks. And also kind of weird, but mostly soft.

Maybe that’s why my dog decided he had to roll in moss the other day. Super soft and kind of weird is basically my dog in a nutshell. Anyway, I hope you find some moss, today. And by that I mean, I hope you find something simple that quietly makes you happy. Or, in my dog’s case, something that loudly makes you happy to smell even weirder.