Apparently the theme that I’ve set up for this blog works better if I have a few pictures speckled across the entry adding color and space to an otherwise black and white reflection. But since I am not a professional photographer the photos I take often have no relation to the blog entries I make or, putting another spin on this, I don’t write entries and then go around taking photos that reinforce my words. It would make more sense if I were to post the photos separately interspersed with written material.
That doesn’t make a lot of sense practically. I don’t want this to be some kind of a photo blog since my photos aren’t any good to stand on their own. I don’t walk around with a camera for starters. If I happen to see something and, and this is a really big AND, if I have a fairly easy access to a camera at the moment, I click the picture. But I don’t ever remember rushing home to pick up the camera and then running back to take the photo.
One alternate I can think off-hand to pull myself out of this rut is to post photos laying around before me irrespective of the theme of my current blog entry. I’ve seen a few blogs out there which aren’t trying to force the photos they post with the subject being discussed. Both run independent and often for the better since conformity among different media isn’t forced.
With that in mind, the photos included with this entry are shot outside the house during the monsoons. This year we’ve had very good rains and can assume that there will be water enough for the whole city for the upcoming year. All our lakes are at their full capacity marks. This is rare because there is still about 25 days left for the monsoon season to get over and the rains don’t seem to be abetting. Usually we have a defecit every year. But I digress.
The photos are close-ups of moss and a good looking caterpillar which come around only during heavy rains in Bhopal. There’s also a photo of a plant which I can’t identify but also comes around during the rains. Once the rains are over, all three forms of life here will vanish overnight. The moss dries up to a dark brown patch with a consistency of peach fuzz within a single sunny afternoon. The plant with the small leaves (they’re less than a mm in actual size) shrivels to a single long petiole as the leaves collapse on each other and form a long stringy stem which detaches from the ground and flies off with the wind.
The caterpillars also disappear when the rains are gone. I suppose our local birds eat most of them because I have never seen their cocoons around here. Right now there’s tens of these small critters crawling around the wet moss and algae areas. I just happened on one with a few red ants crawling around to give an indication of its size. While the small colorful stingers all along its body are too small to penetrate our palms, I think they would really cause itching if rubbed against the bare skin on the arms and legs. They are much too brightly colored to not be poisonous.
And I guess that’s about it for this time. Everyone have a good one.
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