Planet Earth

When I was young, I could not understand why my dad loved to watch nature programs on TV. Nature was boring and something for older people, I concluded. Fast forward twenty years and I'm the one who watches nature shows on the tube. For the past three Sunday nights, we have been glued to the TV to watch the Planet Earth program on the Discovery channel. It is a fantastic, although sometimes disturbing, show and the photography is spectacular. Never before had I heard of elephants in the desert or camels in snow. The other day, my husband asked me, "Why do we hate predators so much?" I had no answer. We humans aren't really innocent creatures. Animals, after all, only kill to feed themselves and their young. Humans, on the other hand, kill animals without need and without thinking about the consequences. When I thought about the predators of humpback whales, for example, I could only come up with one: humans. So--who are we to judge when an animal who has gone hungry for days kills another animal to feed itself and its young? Survival drives all life on earth.

Personally, I was hoping that I would be photographing birds by now, but winter has made another appearance here and the temperatures are still hovering in the forties. While this would be decent weather in January, it's a bit harder to take in April. Everything that was getting ready to bloom either froze or came to a standstill. I can't wait to see blooming and green trees. It's no surprise that the juncos are still here and I'm worried whether the hummingbirds will survive their spring migration. I guess I will hang up my feeders a little later than usual.