So it beings again

Tomorrow at 5am, I go from Katie, the mild mannered Ph.D. candidate, to Katie, the swamp creature.

Many people have remarked to me that they never would have imagined me as a nature enthusiast mucking around in the wetlands (swamps). To a certain degree, I have to agree with them. By appearance, I am a demure petite woman who on most days is poised and polished. On other days, I show a different facet of myself.

But that is not untypical. Like facets of a stone, I show something different depending on the angle that you look upon.

I suppose this particular facet of me has had some chiseling in my childhood. I was the girl who went to the pond looking for frogs and toads—and not afraid to touch them. I was the girl who caught crickets and brought them to class for show and tell. I was the girl who upon seeing a spider, would look at it closely and marvel at its intricate web--and yes, I was the girl who absolutely loved the story of Charlotte’s Web. I was also the girl who annoyed my mother to no end with all the things I caught—my favorite being the Praying Mantis I brought home to her.

I can’t describe what it is that drives me to explore places most people would not want to set foot in. There is something almost sensual about being so closely connected with my surroundings. The smell of the pristine earth fills me with the sensation of a primeval home. There is a sense of pride knowing that I allow myself to experience the various forces of the environment where others fear to tread. There is the metamorphosis that occurs when I allow the adventurer in me to surface. It is the visual textures that delight me and drive my passion to photograph them. My passions drive me to compose some of my pictures in a way as to make people look at things in a different way. My excitement is like that of the big game hunters even though my subjects are for my macro lens.

This facet of me is still being polished. I have yet to see what it will be like when it is finished--if it will ever be finished.

(Picture taken 07/06 with 105mm Nikon macro. Click on for a better close-up.)