Finding Groot at Natuurgebied Huis ter heide
Our first trip to St. George, Utah to photograph (and camp in) Snow Canyon was in May, the year we got Beast. It was the last of the stops for that first big trip. It being May and our camping spot being in a place called Snow Canyon, you might have thought the temperatures, though desert, might be what one could call pleasant. Nope. When I was working in Iraq I used to say, “It isn’t hot until it hits 110 degrees.” Well, St George was hot. At least during the middle of the day. Mornings weren’t too bad, evenings were a struggle, sleeping was rough (at least until it cooled down a bit), but the days were unbearable. We managed to get some photography done, but we know when to call it quits. So on one “hot” afternoon, Ann and I decided to go watch a movie (read: go sit in a movie theatre with air conditioning) for a few hours. The movie we opted for, not one we were particularly planning on seeing, was Guardians of the Galaxy. Talking about things working in your favor - the place was cool and the movie was great. Drax had the best lines in the movie, and you had to love Rocket’s attitude, but if you know me, you’ve probably figured my favorite character of the movie was Groot. And you would be right. I have even memorized all of his lines from the movie! Ok, “I am Groot” in various intonations isn’t that difficult to memorize but still - I know all of his lines. Oh yeah, there is the one line “We are Groot!” There! Proof I’m a dedicated fan.
So flash forward almost a decade and here we were in the Natuurgebied Huis ter heide, a place that someone had recommended from the natural area Ann and I had spent the better part of the weekend at (the full trip story is coming, this is just a filler until I get that done). We’d met a hiker/photographer who recommended this place to us. Since it was kind of on the way home, we took a bit of a detour on Sunday to check it out. Not a big place, but it was a nice place to take a walk. Ann and I had decided to go lightweight, so all I had was my phone and the Lumix. I must say, we really enjoyed the variety of trees we saw there.
As we were making our way back towards the car, I noticed a hollowed-out tree that was just calling my name. As Ann will tell you, when something catches my eye, I make a bee-line towards it, looking to see if there’s an image to be made. As I approached it, I saw him. Who would have figured? Groot hiding out in the Netherlands!
Sure, you might say I’m anthropomorphizing things, but it called to me and I’m sure it said, “I am Groot” (yes, that’s Rocket in the background translating it as, “Hey, old guy, come over here and take my picture!”). Who am I to say no? It’s Groot! Probably the most famous person I’m likely to photograph here in the Netherlands.
Ann, of course, knew exactly what was up - I’d seen a photograph that needed to be made, so I was off and running. In response, she made one herself. As you can see, Groot’s hiding place was pretty darned good, though he really should have picked a tree farther away from the walking path.
I stayed there a bit longer, because there were other compositions to make with that lovely tree.
While I was taking my time, three women (Ann can correct me, but surely an older mother, daughter and granddaughter) stopped and asked Ann, “What is he taking a picture of?” They thought perhaps I’d found a nest, given there are a lot of woodpeckers in the area (as there are in Didam). Ann replied that I was photographing the abstract textures of the bark. They seemed interested (as did a couple of women the day before) that I would take the time to photograph something like that. That’s one of the things I like about the Dutch, they’re very straight-forward. They’ll ask you a question that’s on their mind. Sometimes it sounds a bit direct or abrupt, but the frankness is refreshing (so long as you have a thick skin and don’t mind people telling a joke at your expense). Usually, the question is genuine and not judgmental. Just don’t be doing anything stupid, because they’ll surely tell you that you are.
Naturally I didn’t tell them exactly what I’d been photographing. Groot - your secret is safe with me!
I’ve finally downloaded the images from the trip and, given this was such an easy post to do, decided to get this one out because I had a very busy work week. Hopefully the trip story will come out quickly, but I have another idea for a shorter blog post using another image from the trip - so don’t hold your breath for it. But it will come, I assure you.
Until then, if you have no idea what I was talking about, do yourself a favor and go watch Guardians of the Galaxy. It’s our kind of movie!