It's May 17, 2020. My last post was longer ago than I hoped. We are in the middle of a worldwide virus pandemic and very few people have been out or to work or much of anywhere since the middle of March. Here in Oklahoma, restaurants are starting ease back open but with half capacity. I have been "working" from home since March 13th. Sounds great, except, on April 6th, my wife and I were in a pretty bad car wreck and I was limited on what I was really able to do. Bed, couch, recliner, try to walk a bit, bed, couch, recliner, soft foods and no pain killers. I am about 95% now. Today, I walked about 3.5 miles. That's the most I have done in months. Just gotta keep moving.

I have been real antsy to get out and go camping, although, I still barely get comfortable sleeping on nice soft surfaces, even with an air mat, sleeping on the ground might be challenging. During all this "work" from home time, all the campgrounds have been closed due to the virus, oh and gas is as cheap as it's been since high school ($1.25 /gal). I want to get out soooo bad!

Since we have been relegated to the house, I have been shooting around the house and our neighborhood pond. It has been nice to go out for walks in the morning with my camera and just see what I can find. We've had a mated pair of mallard ducks, turtles, a rabbit, egrets, blue herons, a green heron, geese, a dead rat on the side walk (very strange), snakes, great sunsets, and thunderstorms. I did some night photography along with some long exposure shots with panning too.

All of the spring/ summer art festivals and shows have all been canceled so I have been working on the Etsy shop. I have added new note card packs and a bunch of new art. Now through the rest of May, most everything in the shop is 25% off and free shipping!

Thank you for staying with me. I hope everyone is staying healthy and practicing proper social distancing.

Peace!

     Back in May of 2007, I had been living in the Seattle area and was a total rookie, wanna-be photographer. I would frequently go on exploration hikes. I would get in the Jeep and drive to some general idea of a location. This was usually as defined as, I'm going west today and see what I find. I was always looking for someplace pretty to explore. It was a time before I considered myself a photographer or had even really thought about what that meant. I was on the look out for an afternoon get-a-way. I had a camera and a tripod although I really didn't know how to use either very well. On these explorations, I would drive until I found something that looked interesting, stop and check it out. On this day in May, it was a beautiful spring day. I had stopped earlier at Lake Cushman. After spending maybe an hour here, I decided to move on. Hopped in the Jeep and headed into the Olympic National Forest. This is a lovely drive. Everything was green and lush. Eventually I ended up at a sign for Mount Ellinor. The peak is only 5944' I thought. It's a beautiful day and early enough let's do this. If it gets hairy or looks like I am going to get lost, I can always turn around and walk back down this trail. Easy day hike!

     I jumped out of the Jeep, grabbed my light corduroy jacket, backpack with camera gear and strapped on my tripod with a bungee cord and headed up the path. This is nice I thought. There is no one out here. I can hear wild birds chatting with each other. As expected, there was a slight uphill climb on this trail. About 15 minutes into my relaxing hike, I saw a small patch of snow in the shade of a fallen log. Cool, snow! As I continued along, more snow. And more snow. And more snow. It was getting thick but I was on a well defined path.

     I have had a personal blog for years that while some of it pertained to my work, some of it was more personal than I wanted to share on my photography site. Here is the new blog. I may carry some of the stories over from the old, but this page will be about photography, exploration and adventure. I hope you enjoy this journey with me.