Oysterville Church by Bob Duke

Bob Duke stopped by the other day to give me the most amazing gift – a photograph of the church as seen by a passing bird. Actually, four photographs (all variations on one image) and, actually, as seen by Bob’s drone with its attached camera. It is a view seldom seen by us earth-bound folks. I wonder if the crows and eagles and swallows appreciate it as much as they should – or do they even notice?

The Oysterville Restoration Foundation has been trying to get estimates on some church roof repairs – or maybe on an entire roof replacement. There has been reluctance expressed by some of the local workmen about getting up there and taking a look. It occurs to me that Bob’s drone probably wouldn’t express its opinions about such tasks.

Charles Howell by Russell Ginns

I was happy to learn that Bob is jumping through all the necessary hoops to get his FAA authorization so that he can do commercial work. (Yep! There are regulations for operating a UAS (unmanned aircraft system) for civil (non-governmental) purposes other than for recreation or hobby.) It seems to me that there are a world of opportunities out there – realtors wanting to present aerial views of a site or environmental groups wanting detailed information on inaccessible areas are two that come immediately to mind.

The same day that Bob came by, my son posted a most unusual image of himself on FaceBook with this comment: “Man with Seven Eyes” – acrylic and charcoal on canvas, by Russell Ginns. An artist, who lives on the east coast and whom I only know through Facebook, took one of my head shots and made a painting out of it. I saw this tonight on line. Completely out of the blue. I am strangely flattered – in a weird-but-wonderful way. I wonder if Picasso’s or Braque’s models felt the same way.

It’s actually growing on me.  I’m also wondering if that’s how we might look to a grasshopper or to other creatures with multifaceted eyes. All of which reminds me of how very egocentric we humans are when we consider our surroundings from our own vantage point.  I’m grateful to the Bob Dukes and the Russell Ginnses of the world for expanding our horizons.