When I went a-wandering the other day, I took my new 55-200mm lens with me, hoping to see some nice birds. Like eagles. Or hawks. Or even acrobatic seagulls. I had not counted on the way in which the lens would let me take perfectly ordinary photos without having to stand up to my knees in the frigid Atlantic. I was able to snap the above mussels and barnacles without getting wet. Well, without standing in water. There’s no such thing as staying dry when you take a bouncy dog to the beach.

But anyway, I was able to snap the mussels and barnacles with a minimum amount of liquid contact and no danger (which is nice, because I’m not fond of danger). And I was able to stalk this crow, who decided that I was too slow in changing lenses and was about to take off when I finally shot.

And Rowan gave me a hand with this squirrel. She took off like a bat out of Hades across the landscape and then I heard this banshee-screeching shriek as the squirrel flung himself up into a tree and proceeded to spew forth a string of vindictive foulness that would have made a jailer blush.

He’s just lucky she doesn’t speak squirrel, because she CAN climb trees.