I seem to recall that it was in Douglas Adam’s novel A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy that the advice “always know where your towel is” was given. This afternoon, I found myself in the uncomfortable position of not knowing.
However in my particular situation, perhaps not unlike some mysterious sub-textual meaning in Adam’s novel, my “towel” was a metaphor. I found myself being faced with a moth perfectly positioned for a photograph and I found myself at a loss as to the whereabouts of my camera.
Fortunately, the camera was not lost; unfortunately, it was not within reach – being in my shoulder bag in my car that was parked across the street. However that knowledge in and of itself was not immediately helpful. Thus faced with the choice of capturing a poor quality image of the moth or none at all, I chose the former and reached for my BlackBerry. The results are not impressive. It is likely a member of the Geometridae but beyond that I can’t determine and from this photo will not be likely to do so regardless of the reference material consulted.
Now I am well aware that the designers of the BlackBerry did not place “must be able to capture up close images of members of the Lepidoptera” on their list of technical requirements for the built-in camera. However should they ever wish to expand the feature list for a future model, I humbly offer to them that suggestion. I’d certainly upgrade to such an enhanced model.
Sadly, I suspect that such a feature upgrade is not likely to be soon forthcoming. Thus I must simply remember to always know where my pocket digital camera (my “towel”) is, and to have it with me. I get it now Doug, I get it.
Moblogging from the Garden Writers Association 2008 symposium, peace and good bird watching.
