Hopeless Geek

The wife and I were coming back from a movie two nights ago, the same day I bought my new-to-me camera, and on the overly-hilly road that gets us into the neighborhood we saw a Harvest Moon on the horizon. Well, what else am I going to do with a new camera, eh?

So I got the tripod out when we got home and went out front only to be saddened that no place on the street would let me see the moon because of the houses and the trees. No matter, I thought, we’re on one of those hills and surely I can go to the downslope of the hill and catch it. So I got into my car and drove (because I’m lazy) to the end of the street and then down the main street a bit until I came to the downslope.

I parked on a side street and went to the corner, camera on the tripod already, and started to setup when I noticed a patrol car whiz by on the opposite side of the street. My very first response in my head was “Oh crap, he’s going to bug the crap out of me, isn’t he?” He kept going for a bit and then turned around and whizzed by me again, this time heading to my right. Then his lights (all of his lights) turned off and he parked on the side of the street, maybe 50 ft. from me.

Meanwhile, I’m fighting the camera’s program modes to try and get a wide aperture and fast shutter even though everything else is dark (I’d yet to read the manual, so I completely failed to get any decent photo out of this). I notice that he’s sitting there and I smile and wave and go back to the camera. He sits there for several more minutes and we maintain a seeming “You don’t see me” attitude with each other.

Then, suddenly, he speeds off and then turns his headlights back on (yep, that order), and hurries around a corner down the street.

It appears that a guy taking photos of the frickin’ moon is suspicious these days. Part of me really wanted him to talk to me. The other part of me enjoys the freedom I retain from not having smart-assed a cop in the middle of the night. It’s a balance, to be sure.