Run First, Fly Later

Hi Everyone! Happy Easter, if you celebrate 🙂 I am more so like a leaf twirling about in the wind when it comes to these things, but! I was pleasantly surprised yesterday:

I finally received my “Run First, Fly Later” mug in the mail!

This design started a few weeks ago, after learning that baby barn owls
run before they fledge. The original photo was taken by Hannie Heere,
an amateur photographer with a penchant for wildlife.

Heere said that she snapped the photo from about 16 ft. with a Canon 5D Mark IV, using a 70-200mm lens. She was laying on the ground.

“This young bird could not fly yet and was not afraid,” she told PetaPixel.

Imagine snapping a photo like that as an amateur! Coolness indeed.

Being smitten as I am with owls—and especially their “sneaky” ability to run, I was inspired to create a wallpaper based on Heere’s photo. It was mostly an off-the-cuff thing, driven by inspiration. It occurred to me that so much in life is like that: one needs to walk before learning to run; one needs to run before learning to fly.

Maybe that’s part of the reason why Heere’s photo is so interesting: she captured one of life’s essential maxims in action.

(Bonus points for cuteness!)

Well, as a celebration of life, baby barn owls, and Hannie Heere’s photo,
I am making this wallpaper available for all to download 🙂

I became so happy with the wallpaper that I decided to make a mug out of it. It took some adjusting of the design for better fit into the longer mug template, but I think that it turned out pretty cool!

The mug was designed for personal motivation (LOL) and is currently unavailable for purchase. Nevertheless, I’m grateful that such a cute moment was captured on camera, making barn owlets a fun source of motivation for years to come.