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My heart goes out to you Norse. My sister and I were the caregivers for our mom for over 6 years. It can be very challenging and takes the patience of an angel. I remember every once in a while things seemed chaotic, very sad, and downward-spiraling, and I'd feel like I was living in the outer limits of darkness. Thankfully, I would catch myself and remember to be grateful for her being there every day because sometimes a loved one is snatched away unexpectedly and you never have an opportunity to say goodbye. Blessedly, I could say both hello and goodbye to her everyday for a long time. Keep the faith brother.

Great post thx Norse

You explained it very well. The part you missed is I said most mythical creatures. I did not say most bigfoot sightings.

We live at 4,400 feet in the Elkhorn Mountains about five miles SSE of Helena, Montana, where my wife and I grew up, and the mountain range is aptly named. We have two acres and a small creek and a tiny apple tree that looks half dead yet never fails to produce about four dozen small fruit annually. We don't put out any attractants other than an occasional bit of fruit or veggies that have passed their prime. Besides Elk there are lots of white tail and mule deer as well as black bear, lion, bobcat, fox and the normal small critters. Officially no grizzly, wolf or sasquatch though something large and powerful played pat-a-cake on our and our nearest neighbor's house late at night in the summer of '09 before running off fast over broken ground on two legs in the dark (we don't have street lights). The FZ300 does provide full EXIF data. Here's a bit of my photo background. I first became interested in photography in 9th grade, starting with an Argus C-3 that set me back $5 at a second hand store in 1965. Bought my first SLR, a Kowa SE in about '67, built a darkroom in the folk's basement, did Senior portraits for a few friends and had a weekly photo basics column in the school newspaper. Enlisted in the Navy in '69 and picked up a Canon F1 and extra lenses in Singapore. It's been a great hobby ever since, and after getting a Canon S2IS in '05 I've been hooked on digital. There's a bin in my man cave with an SLR, lenses, a couple of rangefinder and one point and shoot 35mm as well as a couple of flash units, and a case in the office with a Graflex Speed Graphic view/press camera and a couple of 120 roll film backs. Haven't exposed a frame of film in 14 years. In 2010 I went to the Canon S20-IS and in '12 added the T3i though still used the S20 90% of the time. I'm somewhat mobility challenged by arthritis so having the wide zoom range trumps a larger sensor for my purposes. I wanted a new camera before our 40th Anniversary Maui vacation in August of '17 and did a lot of research. I had about settled on the P900 when I came across a review of the Panasonic. The deciding factor was the lens maintaining max aperture throughout the zoom range and the Leica optics (Leica cameras are ridiculously over priced IMHO, but there is no question of their quality). The FZ300 allows me to make good prints up to the the limit of my Canon PIXMA PRO-100 (13 X 19) and has a number of unique features and programmable options. One of my favorites is having dual zoom controls, the usual around the shutter release and another on the left side of the lens base that allows a traditional hold with my left hand under the lens and thumb on the zoom switch while keeping my right index finger on the shutter button. I appreciate the low noise level compared to the DSLR and the lack of viewfinder blackout, especially in burst shooting with wildlife. I may eventually get a mirrorless, but for now this camera fills my needs.