Hiking.

We finally managed this weekend to go on a "more-than-one-day" hiking trip - more or less right outside our front door, less than 50 km away as the crow flies. There were spectacular rocks and lots and lots of flowers in full bloom (which meant that the walking was periodically paused, and time was spent admiring the flowers, and the scenery).



To our great delight, we also saw a few rare flowers - Türkenbund and Waldvögelein - as well as lots of (rather common) fish. One Anguis fragilis crossed our path, and there were many butterflies, some of which we hadn't seen for so long that we both didn't remember their names (like the "Kaisermantel", literally "Emperor's Cloak", Argynnis paphia). There were also a few fields lying fallow or, rather, planted with cover crops - these cover crops being bee-friendly flowers, and blooming abundantly. In the non-fallow fields, there were more flowers growing than a decade or two ago, pointing to the use of less herbicides these days. All in all, it did make me feel that there still might be hope for our world and its wildlife. On our last evening, we also spied some signal crayfish (unfortunately not proper European crayfish, but the invasive North American species).



I didn't take many photos, so you've now seen most of the actual good ones that I did take. I'm not very good with using the phone camera; in fact, I'm not very good with a lot of cameras, my "proper" one being the exception. It's rather large and heavy, especially with my favourite macro lens, though, so I'm only taking it along when I plan to actually focus on taking pictures, and not on most holiday ventures.

I've also found out that I look at things differently when planning to photograph, and that I have a different mindset as well. I like taking photos in general, and I do enjoy hunting for good motifs, and good angles, and getting lovely pictures. Especially macro and portrait photography do tempt me, and I've hade a lot of fun with both. However, when on holidays, I have found that both the way of looking at things to evaluate their picture-worthiness and the corresponding mindset are, for me, at odds with winding down and enjoying the scenery. This is the main reason why I have stopped to take a lot of photos when on holiday trips. Occasionally I will pull out the phone, or take our (small) camera and snap some pictures, but it's mostly the Most Patient Husband of Them All who does the holiday photography, and I'm very content with that.