Things I do when I am not writing

THE ART OF PROCRASTINATION

[amytanposts]

THINGS I DO WHEN I AM NOT WRITING #3:

I swim with sharks. That’s me with the yellow fins. The other creature is a whale shark, the biggest fish species in the world. This was in open water off Isla Mujeres in Mexico.  I did not always swim with sharks. For one thing, I nearly drowned once and had to be rescued.  If I had not been my first book would have been posthumously published.  Also, ocean water was never warm enough for me. Then I discovered wetsuits.  Up to five years ago, I thought of sharks as swimming hacksaws.  I was ignorant. I saw those same movies that ripped fear out of my chest.  And now there is another screamer movie that again brings bad PR for sharks.  The sharks I have swum with are gentle. Most sharks steer away from humans.  They keep their distance. But if you’re lucky and they trust you, they will let you swim near by, saying twelve feet away. The whale sharks let you swim alongside them, and one even slowed down or stopped until I caught up to it and we were again swimming eye to eye. Next week, I will be in the Galapagos and if I’m lucky, I will  swim with hammerhead sharks--or rather, simply see them, since they shy away from those dangerous humans.  PHOTO: courtesy of Jim Abernethy for WildAid.  

[amytanposts]

THINGS I DO WHEN I AM NOT WRITING #2: 

I take drawing classes.  Nature journal sketching. Anyone can draw.  You just have learn some techniques,   pay attention to the details, and practice.  That means you also have to have patience.  And if you do nature journal sketching, you have to be outdoors, in nature, and you have to take notes.  I love drawing.  I love nature.  I love writing down details.  I can be patient when I love doing something.  

The first photo above is a sketch I did during a class on nature journaling taught by John Muir Laws.  I already owned all his naturalist guide books. He is a terrific artist and teacher--clear, encouraging, illuminating and funny as hell.  In one class, we learned about the behavior of prey and predator.  We also looked at the placement of eyes of prey animals--wide apart to look out for danger on all sides.  And then there are the eyes of predators--forward, focused on prey. 

The second picture is a drawing I did later that week, applying what I had learned in class.  I drew this from a photo I took of a cape buffalo in South Africa while sitting in a jeep.  It has the eyes of a prey animal -- see?--on the sides.  But it is actually the most dangerous animal you’ll see on land--more dangerous than a lion.  It has two speeds:  stand and stare,  and charge to kill.  That’s why I drew this from a photo.  Had I tried to do it outdoors, I would not be here to post this sketch.  

When I am spending too much time drawing, I tell myself that I am strengthening my observational skills, which I will use later when I get back to writing.  

[amytanposts]

THINGS  I DO WHEN I AM NOT WRITING #1  

I watch birds.  I look at how they behave.  Like how they hyperactively move their heads every quarter second. That’s why it is hard to take a photo of a bird.

Often, it seems  a bird will deliberately turn so that I see only the back of its head.  Ducks have a fiendish sixth sense about this.  Basically, you have to keep your finger depressed on the camera button and take multiple shots in hopes of catching a bird that is in profile or facing you.   I do not do that.  I want the challenge of the one-shot. I take the photo when the bird is not looking at me because I am counting on the bird turning toward me in that  fraction of a second when my finger depresses the button and the shutter releases. Makes sense, right? Sometimes it works.

Take a look at the first photo:  I was able to catch both birds in profile. I was lucky. 

About the next two photos: Often, the bird is very aware I am taking its photo. It will stare at me--or, rather, the me that is a camera head.  Sometimes a bird will give me a thug look.  If they were human, the look would mean he’s about to throw a glass of beer in your face.  But since they are birds, I just keep taking pictures.  

Just by looking at birds, I can go for many days without writing a single word.