The Gulf Fritillary and the Offering

Do you remember the old Numeroff books? There are a million out now, but I remember If You Give a Mouse a Cookie being read to my class at least once. I have a sneaky suspicion the new camera is my cookie. I started with the body and the kit lens, but then I needed a memory card as the camera doesn't work without one and I couldn't find my old one. And why would I buy an SD memory card when I could buy an SDHC memory card? Then I needed a bag to put my camera in. How else am I supposed to transport it without advertising "look I'm carrying a $850 camera, rob me!"

So I walked with my camera to work the other day so that after work I could stop at my local camera shop, called Looking Glass Photo and get an appropriate bag. On my way to work though I happened to see a creature that surprised me by staying still long enough for me to take a picture.

Luckily one of the science teachers at my school is a "bug expert" and was able to identify the butterfly for me. I was actually under the impression that furry bodies meant they were moths, but the true difference is in the antenna. This is a Gulf Fritillary, or passion butterfly. And while I am extremely grateful to catch a picture of a butterfly without even really trying on my second outing I was a little underwhelmed. I guess I'm just spoiled from growing up with Monarch Butterflies.

After work I successfully navigated the bus and local roads to the camera store where I acquired my camera bag. I have a feeling I am in trouble when the clerk complimented my choice saying I would have room to "grow" into it, as there is room for an extra lens and external flash. Then she told me about a new macro lens that should be coming out soon. My Little Ponies, anime/manga, now this. Why can't I ever learn to pick a cheap hobby? Or is the idea of a cheap hobby itself just silly? On my way home I ran across this statue, which isn't that weird for Berkeley. There are statues of lions and dragons all over the place, but I thought this one was really interesting because it wasn't just thrown into the yard and forgotten. Someone had purposely piled fruit there as an offering.