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Notice me

I browsed through my gallery and checked what photos have I taken August last year. The lead image was taken in our yard among the leaves of *sayote* I think or *alugbati* (Malabar spinach). These flies are busy doing their business out in the open. I'm sure they didn't mind being photographed. Why else would they not do it somewhere discreet.

The top photo was taken around 5:45 a.m. and the one below was taken around 6:00 p.m. Both of these photos were taken on August 5, 2020. Even then, the sky was grey but at least there were some interesting colors unlike today where it was grey all over. Around this time, I haven't had yet the courage to go out. I was still cooped up in our apartment. I wouldn't even dare go out to the stores nearby as much as possible. Good thing I don't need a lot since I work from home anyway. Mostly, I would send my partner to do my banking for me those that I can't do online. It was just this year that I started going out for jog/walk. However, it was halted again since the start of the monsoon season. After looking up, let us look down. Our phones and cameras can't always do the job that we want so what do we do? We buy accessories. The photos below were taken using my mobile phone with a clip on macro lens attached to it. It was Bloghound who recommended a shop online where I can order it from so I ordered right away. I had to wait at least two weeks I think before it arrived due to the restrictions and such that caused delays in deliveries. When it did, I tried it right away. These photos were taken days after. However, just like with toys, I quickly grew tired of it. Now my clip-on macro lens is sitting somewhere collecting dust. I had to crouch down to take these photos for they were really tiny. Good thing the apartment we moved into had a small garden and our landlady had some crops planted that time.

I don't know what kind of insect was this. I like its transparent iridescent wings though. As much as I wanted to zoom in closer, I can't for it kept flying away. I tried but this was the closest that I can get. If I crop it, it will be blurry. This is as clear as it can be. Plus, the macro lens is not that compatible with my phone. It works better on other phones like my brother's phone. Times like this I wanted to have a better phone or I wanted to own a DSLR again. Since I am not better equipped, I just have to do the best that I can with what I have.

This is a *sayote* (chayote, Christophene, mirliton) flower. *Sayote* grow wildly here in our province. You can see it everywhere. There are some farmers who grow this for a living. The plant we have in the garden is not that healthy though for the leaves are small and the fruits are small. We have this growing around the house back home. I grew up selling some of the fruits. I remember my mom would ask us to pick *sayote* for we have a lot back then that we can't consume it all. She would then ask us to go sell it to the stores in our area. Me and my brothers were would pinpoint who would approach the store owners. I remember we would be so relieved and happy if we sold them for we felt a mission has been accomplished. I remember it was sold by kilo then as cheap as PHP6.00. However, over the years, they looked sickly and didn't grow as healthy as they were before. We have tried changing the seeds that we planted but they still didn't grow like they used to. The fruit of this is used as vegetable here. We boil it, sauté it or add it to other dishes. I saw some eat this raw but I haven't tried, have you? Do you have *sayote* where you live?

I have posted variations of these shots in other platforms. Again, I don't know the names of these. Maybe you can help me out and name them in the comments. These were tiny beauties that I have learned to appreciate through macro lens. They grow wildly like weeds but as we know sometimes the wild ones are the prettiest. Take for example some of the collections that plantita/plantito/plantparent (these are terms we use for plant enthusiast and collectors) have in their collections. Most of them used to grow along the road never being noticed before and now they are being collected and cultivated and sold. Is it a fad? However, fad or not, it's good that we are making our environment greener. Maybe we have saved some of these from total destruction. Same is true with these little ones. Small or big, nature gives us a lot to appreciate. Look around you. Notice the little things.

How was your day going so far? It's now Thursday here but it feels like Friday. I always have that kind of feeling when Thursday arrives. In a few hours, it will technically be Friday. I started writing this past 6:00 p.m. It was not as busy as it was last week so I am grateful for I can have more time here and in noise. I can only spare a few hours in these two platforms. I keep seeing more familiar faces from noise starting to write here in read as well. This is one of the days where I can't think of what topic to write. I find photos to be helpful during days like this. That's why I don't delete photos right away for they might come in handy. I would like to thank my ever growing followers and supporters.

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