Category: Commonplace Book

Montezuma Well

~ Ben Messick

Another section of the Montezuma Castle National Monument is the well. It is not attached to main Monument and requires a 15 minute drive. The "well" is actually limestone sinkhole fed by an underground spring. The spring produces 1,500,000 gallons of water per day. Unlike many springs, the water contains high levels of arsenic and is unsafe to drink. If you look at the top left of the picture, you can see a small dwelling in the side of the cliff.

I took this photograph last week at Montezuma Castle National Monument near Rimrock, Arizona. I used a Nikon Z5 camera using a NIKKOR Z 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 S lens (1/125 sec at ƒ/14, ISO 100, 24mm). I edited the image in Adobe Lightroom.

White Pelican

~ Ben Messick

American White Pelicans have beautiful black feathers that are only visible when they unfurl their wings. While their body is squat, their wings can span 9 feet! Look at the top of the bill of this bird and you can see a plate or "horn" forming. After breeding and laying eggs, this will fall off.

This was taken at the Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas, Texas. (Nikon Z5, 1/500 sec at f/7.1, ISO 100, 400mm)

White pelicans soar high,
Over Gulf waters they glide,
Texas coast in sight.

~ A haiku by ChatGPT

Being a good neighbor

~ Ben Messick

Eric McCarty for Art of Manliness

There’s a mentality in our culture that being a good neighbor means you don’t bother anyone who lives close to you. That’s passive neighboring, not good neighboring. Being a good neighbor means you think ahead, initiate, and deepen relationships with those around you. It means you’re often the first one to knock on the front door. It means you’re proactive.

rather than…

~ Ben Messick

Erik Kim on his Blog:

  • Rather than contemplating on what new camera to buy or lens, just go out and shoot with what you already got. I’ve found the best cure to GAS is to just go out and shoot, as once you fall into the “flow” of shooting, you totally disregard what camera you’re shooting with.
  • Rather than wasting energy and time on camera review sites and rumor sites, instead look at great photography (Magnumphotos.com)
  • Rather than checking the likes/favorites/comments on your photos, print out your photos, figure out how to edit and sequence them, and possibly exhibit, publish, or print them as a book. Or figure out who you can donate or give a print to.
  • Rather than wondering what trip you can go to (in a foreign county) for street photography, figure out if there are some other areas close to where you life that you haven’t shot yet.

The Indispensable Man

~ Ben Messick

Sometime when you’re feeling important;
Sometime when your ego’s in bloom;
Sometime when you take it for granted,

You’re the best qualified in the room:
Sometime when you feel that your going,
Would leave an unfillable hole,
Just follow these simple instructions,
And see how they humble your soul.

Take a bucket and fill it with water,
Put your hand in it up to the wrist,
Pull it out and the hole that’s remaining,
Is a measure of how much you’ll be missed.
You can splash all you wish when you enter,
You may stir up the water galore,
But stop, and you’ll find that in no time,
It looks quite the same as before.

The moral of this quaint example,
Is to do just the best that you can,
Be proud of yourself but remember,
There’s no indispensable man.

~ Anonymous