“Sometimes strands spend a long time seeking each other, fumbling without light, and interweave without knowing that it is exactly what the web wants.” 
― Emmi Itäranta

I can’t even comprehend the connections in this tent caterpillar nest that I discovered along the trail today. As a child, I recall poking and prodding at them, breaking them open and watching the caterpillars fall out in numbers too large to count. This nest was unmolested by young boys with sticks and the light caught it in such a way that it twinkled against the dark bushes behind it.

I stood transfixed by the complexity of it, as if a microscopic universe danced before me, small particles trapped within the weave of filaments, including a spiky seed which must have floated into the nest and became trapped. I’d never considered just how beautiful a caterpillar nest could be, but the right light made it into something completely different, especially close up.

Nikon D800
Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro 1:1 (272ENII)@90mmm
1/250 sec, f/8.0 ISO 100

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