Avid Photog

My wife, Sally, spent yesterday with her friend Kris in a late--way late--Christmas celebration. When Kris and Sally get together I know I won't see Sally for about 10 to 12 hours. They only see each other a few times a year, for birthdays and Christmas, and they spend a lot of time catching up. We've all known each other a long time. Kris, Sally and I went to high school together, graduating the same year.

Kris is an avid photographer, spending a lot of time with her digital camera. She gave Sally some prints of pictures she'd taken at Farmington Bay Waterfowl Refuge, on the Great Salt Lake. The first one, the snowy egret standing in the water, was from a trip out there in the autumn, but the two others, the barn owl in flight and Northern Harrier on the broken tree were taken recently on a snowy, winter day. Click on the pictures for full-size images.

Kris is not just avid about pictures, she's obsessed. She told Sally she developed the pictures at Sam's Club. The store closes at 10:00 p.m., but Kris stayed at the photo machine until midnight, without the store employees still in the building knowing it. When she went to leave she startled the manager, who had no idea she was still in the store. He had to unlock the door to let her out.

As Sally and I would say, "That's just Kris."