PHOTO-A-DAY CHALLENGE

Calm Rivers and Wildlife in the Countryside

Week 93 of the photographic documentary of my daily life

I’m adjusting my life around sunshine, rainy showers, and windy days. Living in such a small space as a trailer I really don’t spend much time indoors. Whenever possible, I’ll head out into nature.

Looking for a new adventure.

Those adventures can be as small as a walk around the block. I mean the small forest bordering the trailer park we live in. There’s no real block. There’s no housing or other settlement nearby.

But sometimes we also go on bigger adventures. Paddling in one of the countless canals to be found in the countryside. Or we drive to a nearby city.

But some days are also a bit boring, exhausting and actually quite annoying. Like today. We were on hold for the entire day. Being on hold means we can’t leave the site and need to be ready to go up for a skydive at any time.

And they kept us on hold until 5 pm. Then they just canceled the day. I tell you what. That was annoying. And I might have been a bit more than just frustrated. But what can you do?

At least I had snapped this photo during the long hours of waiting for nothing. This is the dropzone cat. Like at every airport I have been to so far, there is always a cat around.

And that cat runs the place. Always.

This specific cat also controls the mouse population in the neighborhood. Not just in the trailer park but all farmlands surrounding the airfield are being hunted by the misses. She brings every day at least one mouse in. She eats them as well.

I guess this cat realized skydivers can’t be trusted and decided to look for her own meals. Which is smart. We often forget to eat. How should we remember to feed someone else?

Friday was a different day and since they told us on Thursday already that work had been canceled we had our plans already set. After a relaxed breakfast, we jumped into the car and drove to a nearby lake.

The weather wasn’t for paddling or going on a bike trip but we explored the old town of Waren (Müritz) instead. And between sunshine and strong winds, we met this lone swan in the rain shower looking for shelter.

The weekend was busy. I did not take any pictures on either Saturday or Sunday except for the ones I took for work.

On Saturday I took the selfie above (among countless other videos and photos) and on Sunday I took the picture below. I was filming another instructor when I captured this scene just as we were leaving the plane.

Monday is my weekend. It’s the only day of the week I am officially off and I am making a point of using this day for my own physical and mental health.

Nature is the best medicine and that is why I packed the paddleboard in the car and went for a relaxing expedition on one of the countless canals in our region.

Tuesday I was back at work and rather busy with one student getting him back on track. Lots of training on the ground and especially a lot of talking from my side.

Towards the end of the day, I was finishing off the work when this rabbit was hopping past the buildings. At first, I thought I had no camera with me, but then I remembered I was holding my tablet in my hand.

It doesn’t have the best quality but you can recognize the animal.

There are so many rabbits (or hare) in this part of the country and I love seeing all the wildlife right in front of my doorstep.

When I work as an outside camera flyer capturing the tandem skydive of a customer I do have certain situations that need to be on film but in between those scenes, it is up to me how and what I film.

And as a nature photographer, I like to bring in some seasonal flowers and different perspectives. Today I was on my knees behind these spring flowers when a bee came to sit down on the blossoms.

And there I recorded.

This has been my week in photographs. 7 days. 7 photographs. Anyone can join. Once. Or weekly. It doesn’t matter. We welcome everyone! Dennett was the one starting this photography challenge in 2020 and many have participated ever since.

Erika / Eileen / K. Barrett / Juan / David / Mia / Susan / LensAfield / Kim / Barbara / Diana / Barb / Sandra / Shruthi / Ellie / Pene / Olive / Gustavo / Jane / Penny / Jillian

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