Harry the Heron at Twilight

Call it a bad day -- a gloomy Saturday when the work world was going a little crazy and nothing else (like trying to hook up my internet at home) was falling into place. More on that another day.

So, I decided a long walk was in order and headed to the Ditch (thank you, Rick) about eight blocks from where I live for a few laps.

I thought on one lap, I might want some photos, so I took my camera and am I ever glad I did.

We're nearing the end of the fall color here -- a good windy day and much of it would be gone. So the purples of the asters just seemed to pop against the gray sky.

And the red trees with leaves -- well, they were practically preening, begging for attention!

The browns. Every shade from deep mahogany to pale wheat.

And musty grays and whites.

The ducks were begging for attention, too -- and I was disappointed I hadn't slipped any contraband bread crumbs in my pocket for them.

But it didn't seem to matter -- they were finding things in the water!

And I do love this duck! He or she is the only one with these markings.

And then I saw him -- Harry the Heron was back. And he was posing.

Now these photos were taken with my instant camera, its zoom maxed out to 40x. (I don't understand how it does that, since it's a 10x zoom, but that's what it said.)

And Harry tends to hang out right in the middle of the pond. No matter which side you're on, you're about the same distance.

That said, it was mesmerizing. He cleaned every inch of himself.

He posed.

He watched the water intently and then with a swoosh grabbed one of the orange koi from the pond and flew into the reeds.

Another walker/photographer with a far better camera than mine was there, too, and we strangers stood together, waiting. Her photo of the flight and fish was far better than mine (so was her camera and lens), but I was happy.

We didn't see him eat the fish, but soon he was back, and we waiting again, shooting like crazy.

I have to say... my day got a lot better after that!

And the next day? Sunny and bright!

The sumac was wilting, but still was dazzling against the sky.

The contrasting colors of late berries against gold and the rich blue of the sky.

And yes, I was still very happy!