One joy in photographing birds is catching unexpected “poses” like this duck. Drying itself after feeding in the water, it thrashed its wings rapidly. When a camera takes a series of pictures, each one at 1/800th second exposure, you can freeze the action. Like this.
To me, the duck is striking a pose like Batman about to launch… or the Ghost Busters facing another grim ghoul with ramshackle “inventions.” Duck-Busters! Will this catch on?
Though essentially improbable and fictional, we do love “superheroes” who will solve all our problems. From Superman to Popeye, we want more!
Expecting a small, purple-headed, duck to be our saviour is pushing it a bit. Yet we humans seem to be willing to go to enormous lengths to seize shortcuts instead of facing God and asking for His help. Why so? It’s a mixture of pride, delusions of adequacy, and rebelliousness. It’s human nature.
Here is a small part of the Old Testament which shows our typical folly:
“I gave you empty stomachs in every city
and lack of bread in every town,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord.
“I also withheld rain from you
when the harvest was still three months away.
I sent rain on one town,
but withheld it from another.
One field had rain;
another had none and dried up.
People staggered from town to town for water
but did not get enough to drink,
yet you have not returned to me,”
declares the Lord. – Amos 4 v6-8
Who YOU gonna call? Duck Busters?
All I need to do is cry to him—oh, praise the Lord—and I am saved from all my enemies! Death bound me with chains, and the floods of ungodliness mounted a massive attack against me. Trapped and helpless, I struggled against the ropes that drew me on to death. In my distress I screamed to the Lord for his help. And he heard me from heaven; my cry reached his ears. – Psalm 18 v3-6
The Reflectionary 