The Narrative Image

“After listening for 10 minutes, I realized it’s not so easy." - Some old guy with all the best words   Male blue-footed booby assuming display posture . Blue-footed-booby-doing-mating-display portion of photo (lower half) Credit: Dawn Cerrone. Diving-blue-footed-booby-portion of photo (upper half) Credit: Scott Dietz.     Human male assuming display posture   (Picture posted on MadSci Network – not attributed) That reminds me. Sgt. Rock asked me about my trip to the Galapagos.  With a perplexed forehead he said, “Why did you go to the Galapagos?” which to my ear included the subtext, “…when you could have laid back in St. Martin, sippin’ gin and juice?” (Editor’s note: After some reflection, it should be noted that the phrase, ‘sippin’ gin and juice’ would be more characteristic of something Kip might say.) I suppose I could have explained how a tropical paradise holds reduced appeal for old fat men who haven’t come to terms with their di...

WHY THE GALAPAGOS? A blue-footed booby. This picture is inexplicably composed to exclude the signature bright blue feet. By then, I had already watched boobies ham-footedly seducing each other with incongruous bright blue feet, disappointed pirouetting sea lions with my graceless, spastic snorkeling — unable to join in their joyous dance — and seen the fork-tailed silhouettes of magnificent frigate birds gliding beneath a near full-moon. That evening, we (me and eleven other travelers) sat in the common area of a 75 foot catamaran being introduced to the crew.   Crew of the Nemo III with our guide Veronica acting as translator Through our guides, the crew asked us, "Why did you come to the Galapagos?" Up until that point, I'm not sure that I had ever put my reasons into words — and as I stuttered and paused too long looking for the right ones, I began to realize that it wasn't just for exotic 3 species tacos, it was because I wanted to articulate a...