Yesterday morning, I missed a Romp. A Romp is the group name assigned to River Otters when they are on land. When they are in the water, they’re called a Raft. But I digress. Yesterday on my morning walk at Ferrari Pond, I saw a River Otter cross the trail in front of me, followed by two more, then a few seconds later, a fourth. It was my first time seeing River Otters here. As I fumbled to get my phone out of my fanny pack so I could take a record shot, all four stopped, looked at me with great curiosity then, when I finally extricated my phone, they disappeared into the tules. I’ve been going there for a few months, driving then walking the loop. I’ve gotten some memorable photographs but I stopped driving over with my heavy camera and lens because I wanted to focus on my walk so I walk there now without my camera, a 3 1/2 mile round trip. A recent visit to my doctor resulted in her admonition that I lose at least 35 pounds and that I continue walking (“How fast do you walk?” she asked me.) She didn’t seem too impressed that I completed the 3 1/2 mile round trip in about an hour and 10 minutes, or 20 minute miles. I didn’t think that was slow but I guess I will have to work on it. Now that driving over again is out of the question and that I need to keep up my walking regimen (I’ve walked over 10,000 steps each of the last seven days), I needed a lighter weight photography solution other than my cell phone which camera I abhor. I remembered my friend Emerson had a 28-400mm telephoto that weighs about a pound and a half. I contacted him to see if he would recommend the lens. He did so I hightailed it over to Action Camera, my local camera store, and bought it along with a sling bag to replace my fanny pack. I got home, went outside with it to check on the hummers and one of the male Anna’s Hummingbirds was cooperative enough and turned his head into the light for me. Hopefully, tomorrow’s post will be River Otters! So far, the new lens gets an A.