Saturday I went with friends Becky and Marla to Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge, about 65 miles southeast of Indianapolis.  It was warming up but there was still about eight inches of snow on the ground.  If there was one lesson for the day it was to be ready with the camera, starting at the very beginning of the trip.  The first stop was in Indianapolis.  Traffic was blocked because a foot race was in progress and we got to watch the runners and walkers go by.  We were stopped by an apartment building and the reflections in the windows were interesting.  I took several shots (there were lots of participants in the race) and then I saw this shot.  That is a green soda bottle in the tree.  I think it had been a bird feeder at one time.

Reflections were not going to be the order of the day but they would pop up again, for example at the Myers’ cabin at Muscatatuck.  It is part of a historical preservation.

We have had a lot of below freezing weather in recent weeks the temperature seldom getting as high as 30 degrees, but it got up into the 40s on Saturday, and snow was melting.
Most of the time I was using my 17 – 85 mm lens but since I had it along, I got out my 120 – 400 mm lens, a pretty hefty telephoto.  We were in the last part of the trip and we drove by a pond where Becky spotted an otter.  We stopped and I got this shot out the window of the car.

I find I do better with the camera when I am open to the moment.  One part of me says to go out there with a plan while another part says to stay loose, stay awake.  I do in fact go out with a plan now.  The plan is to know what the camera settings are (I’ve had several disasters when I thought, for example, the auto focus was on and it wasn’t) and keep the camera handy, ready to shoot.  Then go wondering.