Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Cheryl Boardman
Monday, March 4, 2024
The photo is of the American robin. This is not to be confused with the European robin. Other than being birds, they are not related at all.
I think that, as people, we like to categorize things and name them. People build hobbies and careers around this sort of thing: birding, shelling, stamp collecting, egg collecting (it used to be more of a thing than it is now, but I did see an interesting collection in San Bernardino, CA), rock hounding, coin collecting, mountaineering, book collecting, antiquing, thrifting and fossil collecting to name just a few. Some people like going to car shows or boat shows or sporting events and concerts. Then they collect all of the memorabilia to go along with the events or trips or whatever. You can go to zoos or museums to see collections of these types of things.
I was introduced to the National Geographic magazine as a child. We didn’t get it but friends of my parents did. I found the photographs amazing and a window into the world, seen and unseen, around me. Even photographers generally have some sort of specialty, whether they like taking pictures of people, people in different cultures, pictures of their own families, wedding pictures, nature, scenery or things seen at the microscopic level. Drones available to everyone, and digital cameras, have changed the whole way we even do photography (and collect photos) in the last few decades.
Sometimes our focus changes on what we like to see and collect. I used to collect stamps and initially started with the whole world and then narrowed my focus considerably when I realized how much time and money could be spent on that rather than just focusing on a smaller area. I don’t really collect stamps anymore although I still find myself occasionally cutting around a really good stamp I receive on an envelope. The hobby has sort of gone out of favor, at least in my circles, but I don’t think it was a waste of time. Stamps of flags and heads of state never interested me much, but I learned a lot about places (and the existence of some places) from their stamps of the nature around them and the art and industry and people.
The amazing thing, particularly in nature, is that there is such an infinite variety of things to see and experience. Think how boring it would be if there was only one kind of flower and one kind of tree and one kind of cloud and one kind of waterfall, one type of fruit and one flavor and one kind of animal and one kind of bird. You get the picture. I get bored going to the same grocery store every time. Sometimes, it’s good to just see what’s out there!
O LORD, what a variety of things you have made!
In wisdom you have made them all.
The earth is full of your creatures.
Psalm 104:24 (NLT)