Hmmm, is being a left-handed monkey wrench your badge of honour?
My interest in insects and photographing them occasionally garners strange looks from casual observers. People who see me walking nature trails with my telephoto lens generally assume I am birdwatching. I mostly let this misconception stand as it avoids awkward exchanges.
But when I kneel down and point my camera at a tiny insect that escapes casual observation, raised eyebrows and puzzled expressions are common. I can sense the voice in their head. There is nothing there. What the devil is he photographing?
This tends to happen even more at this time of year. In cooler weather, insects that are still active are mostly found on artificial surfaces warmed by the sun: sides of buildings, windows, wood or metal railings. I have staked out a few natural areas that have these kinds of surfaces.
A strip of Confederation Beach Park in Hamilton is one of my regular, cool weather haunts. In particular, there is a restaurant (closed in the winter months) constructed of concrete painted white. It also has a patio with a half size, white concrete wall around it. These white wall seems to attract insects and accordingly attracts my interest.
On a warm day earlier this week, I was scouring the walls of this restaurant with my camera at the ready. A man standing out in front of the restaurant (I suspect he was the owner or manager) was giving me that puzzled expression. The following exchange occurred.
“What are you looking for?”
“Insects. The white walls of your building seems to attract them.”
“Is somebody paying you to do that?”
“No, it’s just a hobby.”
I could read his mind as a suspicious expression emerged on his face. I don’t believe that for a minute. He’s up to something nefarious and I don’t like it. I smiled and moved on so I would not draw his ire. But I did circle back later, when the man had left, for a closer look.
My interest in insects is relatively new. But strange looks from other people are not. The fact of the matter is that I am a bit south of normal. I sing a different tune. I am a sore thumb. A unicorn. A left-handed monkey wrench. Pick your metaphor of choice.
It can be disconcerting when you fall into the category of a puzzle piece that does not fit. But eventually, with the wisdom of age, you come to terms with the fact that you are who you are. You learn to be comfortable in your own identity even if that identity puzzles other people.
Frankly, I have come to believe that being normal, a relative state at best, is overrated. It does make you blend in with the crowd which is comforting. But some of us were not meant to blend in. We were meant to go our own way however off the beaten path that may be. We accept puzzled looks and raised eyebrows as a badge of honour. Our motto becomes:
This is who I am. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. But that is your issue, not mine.
~ Now Available Online from Amazon, Chapters Indigo or Barnes & Noble: Hunting Muskie, Rites of Passage – Stories by Michael Robert Dyet
~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel (now out of print) which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .
~ Subscribe to Michael’s Metaphors of Life Journal aka That Make Me Go Hmmm at its’ internet home www.mdyetmetaphor.com/blog2. If you’re reading this post on another social networking site, come back regularly to my page for postings once a week.
Tags: left-handed monkey wrench · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · singe a different tune · sore thumb · south of normal · unicorn · walk a different pathNo Comments