Category: Photography

Happy Discoveries

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In case you haven’t figured it out yet, life is pretty short. I try to spend mine discovering anything and everything, big and small, bizarre and mundane.

No matter where I go—to and from work, out for a stroll behind my building, or walking through my neighborhood—I am constantly taking inventory. My eyes scan everything around me, detecting the least little speck of something out of place. (Ask Susanne—she’s witnessed me spotting the tiniest of things in the forest floor on many of our hikes together.)

So it was nothing new to… Read More ➤

Vermont Being Vermont

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So this winter seems a bit closer to how I always imagined Vermont. Snow started before Thanksgiving and has been on the ground ever since. It’s always been a little here, a little there, without any big snowstorms to speak of, though we came close this past week.

Thursday night through Friday we finally got a pretty big one, totaling about 14 to 15 inches here in Waterbury. Sure, we occasionally got bigger snowstorms in Delaware—I recall one storm that dropped 23 inches in two days. But here in Vermont, the snow lingers and becomes… Read More ➤

Magical Mystery Tour

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Anyone who knows me knows that, despite my Southern upbringing, I’m not a religious person. I do have spiritual moments, though, typically about the beauty, magic, and mystery that life sometimes holds. Last month, I had the good fortune of enjoying a good dose of all.

We were down in Worcester, Massachusetts, to attend an intimate wedding of my good friends Carla and Deb. The wedding itself was rife with beauty and wonder, perhaps amplified in the absence of any ostentation or needless formality. The ceremony was everything a wedding should be: two people in love formalizing their commitment to each other in front of a few good friends. The minister was… Read More ➤

That’s “Mr. Huffnpuff” to you!

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Despite being surrounded by nature that often seems boundless, I haven’t been able to hike much since moving to Vermont. For most of the summer it rained every weekend, and weekday afternoon hikes aren’t so easy, since most trails here are pretty hardcore. As I’ve learned, so are Vermonters.

Every time I’ve gone for a hike, I’ve been shamed by at least one person nearly twice my age. At Hunger Mountain, a few women in their 70s darted past us up the steep trail. They climbed the mountain so quickly that they later passed us going down…while we were still trudging up! At least one of them was close to 80, bless her soul. That hike is about two miles each way, with a climb of over 2,000 feet. Vermonters are… Read More ➤

Hope Springs…

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It’s getting a bit cliché, but spring means it’s time for renewal and growth.

This spring, that’s what I’ve been up to. I’m renewing myself, my dreams, and my goals—or trying to, at least. I’ve already been working on myself in a few ways, including health, attitude, and self-confidence. (I’ve been known to doubt myself on occasion.) I’m even renewing and refocusing my web presence.

Now I have to put the wheels in motion for more change… Read More ➤

The Journey

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“As a basis for change, we need to recognize that as long as we live in this world we will encounter problems, things that obstruct the fulfillment of our goals. If, when these happen, we lose hope and become discouraged, we diminish our ability to face these difficulties.”—His Holiness the Dalai Lama, The Compassionate Life

For me, life is all about the journey. When we think we’ve found contentment and comfort, that’s usually when unhappiness creeps in. If we are always striving for something better, we stay filled with hope, and life seems to have much more purpose. If nothing else, we stay too busy to let things make us unhappy… Read More ➤

Inspiration

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I love winter—I really do. I love the snow and brisk clean air, and I always have enough pockets to carry everything. (I lose things more often in summer!) But spring just inspires the soul so much more. It gives pause. Sometimes it even takes the breath away. But it almost always gives hope.

Perhaps spring just inspires the hope that all things can be reborn, at least with a new look or a fresh start, even if not with a new purpose. I keep waiting for my chance to burst out with a new identity or new direction. I keep feeling… Read More ➤

When I Ruled the World

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I pride myself on having no regrets or resentments in life. Every single thing that has ever happened to each of us makes us who we are today. If you’re truly happy with that person, then every struggle and every joy was well worth it. And I am mostly happy with who I am.

But this doesn’t mean I don’t miss a few opportunities I once had.

When I was a kid, I pretty much ruled my world. Everything was there for me to see, and there seemed to be few limits! I’m not saying… Read More ➤

Seasons Change…People Change.

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Autumn is all but gone. The colors seemed to come out of nowhere, bursting in beautiful intensity until all the world seemed to have a new coat of paint. It was magical—short, but magical. I really wasn’t expecting much this year, considering the near-drought conditions of summer that caused many trees to drop leaves a month early. But somehow, nature held back just enough for the big finale.

Isn’t that how life should be though? Full of… Read More ➤