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Hello friends - while 2022 was a banner year for travel it was not a particularly good year for my photography. I have gotten to the point in life where if I start reading a book and it doesn't grab me? I just put it down. In years gone by I would slog through but these days - hey life is too short. Same with my photography. Truth is I seldom go intentionally looking for photos - I try to let them come to me. Nevertheless - I DO travel often and I DO enjoy taking photographs - I think this will always be so - so, as long as I am upright, I'll keep 'em coming. These are my faves from this years batch in no particular order. I hope you enjoy them. I'll start with a photo I made on a rainy winter day at an isolated and lonely spot on the Oregon Coast. Somehow, this photo resonates with me and my occasional dark moods. It is the only black and white of the bunch and I think 2023 may be the year of the black and white. I'd like to work at that.  Next up is a bright and hazy morning at my desert home away from home - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.  The following photo - taken out of the window of Amtrak's Empire Builder doesn't quite capture the stunning beauty of the Columbia River Gorge -it is a magnificent place - but it'll give you a taste.  The next photo is a photo that no one liked on social media so maybe you had to be there! Nevertheless the Hōlei Sea Arch in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park is a sight to behold. I am told it may not be around much longer due to the relentless pounding of the surf - so - I was lucky to see it like this.  Speaking of luck - the Nahuku Lava Tube also in Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park was closed a week or so after I made this photo (it has since re-opened).  More Island of Hawai'i here. This is famed 'Akaka Falls near Hilo. The green and the falls are cool but I love that ominous sliver of sky too.  Here's another photo I took from the train. This is the Rockies in Autumn and the Colorado River near Kremmling, CO from the California Zephyr headed west.  One last photo from the island of Hawai'i. This is the Waipiʻo Valley Lookout near Honokaa. Located on the Hāmākua Coast, the Waipiʻo Valley was the boyhood home of King Kamehameha I.  You didn't think I could go year without a photo of roads and telephone poles - did you? Here ya go... from the great Midwest.  In the years I have been doing these lists (is it SEVEN now?) I don't believe I ever included a photograph from my iPhone. That changes this year due to this image of the sunset while waiting for a train - the Southwest Chief - in Fullerton, CA last October.  And there it is - another year flown by. It was quite a year... I am not a big fan of self promotion but these photographs and more are available for purchase by clicking here. I am grateful to have sold several photographs in the last few years and for those of you who have purchased you are appreciated and help me keep traveling!
Speaking of the years flying by - I feel myself slowing down a bit. I have big plans for 2023 but not as big as 2022 and my hunch is 2024 will be a bit less than 2023. As my Pop told me, "The years have a way of catching up with you". Yes, sir... they do. I wrote these words to express my gratitude to you for following along with my adventures - my friends - new and old - you have enriched my life immeasurably - thank you and may good fortune smile upon each of you. We deserve it. Let's make 2023 a damn good year. Much, much love to all.
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My 65th year on the planet started fabulously. For many years I have wanted to be with my family in my favorite desert place - Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. It was a dream that, candidly as the years have gone on, I wondered would come true. And while my daughter was stuck in Corvallis amid the omicron variant mess, my boys, their wives, my grandchildren and Lupe were all able to join me. It was a slice of heaven! My only wish is that we could have spent more time out in that glorious green desert. I have decided that, for the foreseeable future, I'll be spending at least two weeks every January in the Sonoran desert. So...who knows - maybe we will be able to do it again. And why don't you too come out to visit?!    Also in January I got a new iMac computer which I needed. Sadly and ironically, I lost much of my music library on Apple Music making the transition from PCs to Apple and was told just yesterday by a "senior advisor" that, "Sometimes at Apple we can't solve everyone's problem". Wow. I could spend hours writing about how technology has plagued me for the last few years but that is NOT the point of this post - I mean if we want to hear complaining we can just go on social media, right? Suffice it to say - you know how much I love music - and this has been a setback - fortunately, there are lots of choices for music streaming out there - and I prefer the ones where I can hear Neil Young and Joni Mitchell. My road trip playlists will carry on! Enough complaining... As I mentioned my daughter Lilly wasn't able to join us in the desert so I decided to drive to her in Corvallis. She is in her junior year at Oregon State and is doing beautifully. I couldn't be more proud. The only problem - and it's a serious one - is I miss her like Hell. So, I drove up and we went to a basketball game and hung out - she showed me around town and it was fantastic.  The weather, as expected, was chilly. I did bring the camera and made a few photos. Here is Mt. Shasta from Highway 5.  I decided to take the coast road home. It rained from Newport to Gold Beach. I was, as always, stunned by the beauty of the Oregon coastline.  Here is the Heceta Head Lighthouse from a distance.  The next day I drove to Fort Bragg and, when I got to California, the sun broke through the clouds - just for me.  Just last week I made my last desert trek of this winter at Anza Borrego. Marty and Dell joined me and it was a kick - until I hit a rut at speed in my truck and ripped off the bumper out in Blair Valley. But, hey, if you're gonna off road... it's all part of the deal.  Here are my two buddies Dell and Marty - for a couple of city slickers they're not too bad. I can't wait until we do it again.  Thanks, as always, for coming along. Next up is my dream trip - a cross country train trip on Amtrak. I'll be on 8 trains and passing through more than half the states in the USA. As the years dwindle in my life I'm trying to get in as much travel as I can while I am healthy. I do love it so. I'll be making big stops in Chicago, Cooperstown (Baseball Hall of Fame), NYC, New Orleans, Memphis, and Clarksdale MS (Mississippi Blues Trail). I can't wait to tell you all about it.
Much love and best wishes to all who read these words. May 2022 be a beautiful year for each of you. |
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