Anyone else have days like this?
What was I thinking?
4:35 am
I am woken from a dead sleep to the trill sound of my alarm clock blaring in my ear.
4:41 am
After fumbling in the dark I somehow manage to disarm the alarm clock and pull myself from the warmth of my cozy bed.
4:42 am
I pull up the shade to allow in a small amount of light and stumble around in the dark in search of clothes realizing I should have turned on a light.
4:45 am
I found some clothes to wear and gave them the smell test to see if they were still useable.
As luck would have it they were clean!
4:46 am
I stub my little toe on the corner of my dresser and try in vain to supress the vulgarities that were to follow.
At this time my wife wakes up along with half the neighborhood.
I spend a few minutes assuring her that things are fine and she should shut off the light and go back to sleep.
4:49 am
I am finally in the shower and enjoying the warmth of the water.
All the time I am showering, I am running down a checklist in my mind of things I have left to do and things I have to remember to bring with me.
5:15 am
After a quick shower, I get dressed and head down the stairs.
I scour the fridge for something to eat for breakfast.
Cereal and milk it is!
I quickly make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and gather up my photography equipment, cell phone, binoculars, and heavy jacket.
5:35 am
After searching a few minutes for my spare compact flash cards and batteries, I realize I may have left them in my car the day before.
Bad feeling crosses through my mind that the batteries may need charging.
Once again I appear to have gotten lucky and notice the batteries fully charged still attached to the charger.
The spare cards were in my coat pocket! ...wooohooo!!!
5:45 am
My plan was to be on the road by 5:30 am.
Feeling a bit behind schedule, I decide there is no time for the normally scheduled morning bathroom break.
As I head off into the dark, I feel like I am forgetting something.
Camera...check
Lunch...check
Bateries, Cards, Cell Phone... check, check, and check.
6:30 am
After driving for 45 minutes I remember that I was suppose to put gas in the car.
I look down to find my gas guage reading almost empty.
6:45 am
Finally arrive at a gas station that happens to be about 15 minutes off the intended route.
6:48 am
All fueled up and back on the road again!
The sun looks like it may show its face.
This may turn out to be a nice day after all.
7:45 am
I arrive at my destination only to find the gate locked.
The man with the key eventually arrives and opens the gate.
Apparently his car wouldn't start.
I suspect his alarm clock wasn't functioning, but didn't feel like having that conversation with him.
8:00 am
I made my way down the winding dirt road and stopped at my familiar birding location.
I removed my blind from my car and hiked into the woods to set it up on the edge of the pond.
I then head back to the car for the remainder of my photography gear as well as my lunch.
8:30 am
I am sitting in my blind watching intently for birds to fly within view.
I now ask myself... what happened to the sun I made note of earlier?
The wind picked up and I asked myself what in the world I was thinking getting up so early and driving all this way just to photograph a few birds.
11:00 am
My stomack begins to growl, as I realize I should have eaten a better breakfast.
I spot a few coots fly in and land on the pond.
They are a bit out of range for my lens so I decide to start enjoying my lunch.
11:05 am
I set my camera on the ground and found my lunch.
I removed the lunch from my duck bucket and started to unwrap my sandwich.
I scanned the water while eating my lunch.
I watched with my heart beating as an eagle swooped in and tried to take one of the small coots.
I fumbled in the dark for my camera, placing my sandwich on my leg.
While trying to locate the eagle in my viewfinder, I dropped my sandwich on the ground... UGHHH!
The only images I managed of the eagle were its tail flying off into the distance.
1:30 pm
With only a few glimpses of distant ducks and a very small variety of songbirds, I felt a bit defeated not to mention a bit hungry.
I was tempted to pick the sandwich from the ground and eat it, but instead opted to place it back in the bag and stick it in my bucket.
I packed up my gear, slung my blind over my shoulder and headed back to my car.
2:00 pm
With my gear packed in the car I was headed home.
3:52 pm
I make it home safely.
I unload all my gear and my wife asks me if I had a good day.
I smile and tell her it was just another normal day in the bird photography world.
WHAT WAS I THINKING?
