Tales of Tenth Grade

During this strange and frightening time I had to adjust by finding more activities to keep me busy. So it all started when I was sitting casually outside after taking a walk. "What should I do now?" I thought to myself. Then I saw my phone and it hit me. I should do some nature photography! And that is exactly what I did. You see, I used to take photographs all the time, I have a ton scattered throughout my camera roll. I have so many pretty pictures from places I went to, but I also have a lot from the outdoors. Unfortunatly, I have not been keeping up, especially since I haven't been going anywhere these last few months. I remembered how fun it was doing this, so on May 27th I decided to continue taking nature photos to add to my collection! A quick disclaimer, I never said I was a top notch photographer necessarily. It is just a hobby of mine! I do not have a professional camera or adobe photoshop; from taking photography in freshman year I learned the amazing cre...

It should have been home to none. The land had nothing to offer, nothing to give. It is here the days blend into weeks, blur into months, bleed into years until time ceases to have meaning, ceases to exist. Naught but the fever trees and marulas and aptly named whistling thorns may grow, albeit sparsely, their scrawny sun- darkened limbs hesitantly reaching to greet the eternal dawn. It is in this place the sand has long ago molded into a solid mass, and unforgiving and harsh it yields to none. Cracks run across its expanse, crumbling bits of sand into motes to be spun around by the fury of the wind.  Inhospitable. Here the days give rise to nothing but half-hearted winds and temperatures so sweltering they render the already harsh land all but uninhabitable. The nights offer little reprieve, the cloak of darkness masking all former signs of warmth a little too well, drawing the land into a frigid embrace. Water is even scarcer than the starved trees here, a ...

Warm orange flames danced amongst the treetops as darkness approached.  The setting sun was darkened by billowing black smoke that emerged from the forests of Northern California.  In complete silence, the distant crackling of brush burning could be heard coinciding with the sirens of the panic within the human population.  However, as many homes were evacuated by both people and animals, we started to converge on the fire with a gathering excitement. The excitement built with each increasing degree of heat. As we neared the fiery destruction, a wave of black emerged from the forest, chased by licking flames.  We swooped down and feasted on the crunchy insects as if it was Thanksgiving! Weighed down with delicious food, we returned to a safe nesting area in close proximity to this wonderful gift. After several days of waiting, nature finally dialed back the intensity of the flames.  With the flames extinguished, it was time to feast again, bu...