Grace is in the eye of camera

You know how those airplanes shoot out of the airport and then make a sharp turn to avoid making a lot of noise over a residential area. That's kind of what the Great Egret on the left is doing. After taking off, he is trying to bank away from the dock and out over the water. Of course, noise is not an issue for this 10-foot-wing-span bird -- they move as noiselessly through the air as a feather moves down a stream.

The fellow on the right however, is trying to look as graceful as he can, clinging to a boom. I suppose he can't hang on by facing perpendicular to the pipe because it its too slippery to hold on to. So he chooses the parallel method, bending both knees out to try to get some opposible pressure to keep him up. Luckily it was near night fall with little wind.

The Photo is from the area of Des Allemands -- a community Southeast of New Orleans in the bayou country.

--steve buser