Just as we stepped onto the trail off Chuckanut Road, I noticed this scene. The interplay of light, shadow, texture, and color caught my eye.

I met friends for supper at Red Lobster last night. While the Girl and I waited outside for a few minutes (after a nice walk around the perimeter of the property), I noticed the juxtaposition of the flags, mast, and moon in the darkening sky. So, I grabbed the capture.

The lesson, or at least one lesson, was to be aware. So many times I wander through this world too far in my head. I don’t let me eyes, and more specifically my mind, venture out from the inner space between my ears and take in this great big world. I finished Kennerly’s book a few days ago. One of his big themes was to look, because photographers have a different way of looking at the world. They see color, contrast, geometry, moment, composition, and a host of other small things that go into making a good capture, a good photograph.

That cannot happen when I’m in my head. I lose awareness of what’s going on about me and I lose connection with this world, God’s creation. I know I’ll drop into a reverie this morning when we walk. It’s part of the walking process for me. I like to think while the Girl and I are exercising.

But, I also like to interact with her while we’re exercising. She’s very interactive, when she’s not in Full Terrier Mode. We have a lot of fun interacting and the play time at the end of the walk is good for both of us.

A tired dog is a happy dog… And, I think, the same goes for an old man. But, even more than that, there is a time to spend in inner space and a time to be more aware of God’s creation — to take part in being in that creation, to be thankful for that gift. I’m learning.

While searching for the answers to log an Earthcache, I was also overwatching Germany Valley in the Appalachian Mountains. I had driven down U.S. 220 from Keyser, West Virginia (and stopped to see President Lincoln’s mother’s cabin) and then turned west to cross the mountains, heading for Missouri to spend Thanksgiving with my in-laws. I wanted to log a geocache in West Virginia and this one seem to be it.

It was a cold, snowy day at 3,300&nsbp; feet. The gray skies coupled with the leafless trees gave the scene a deep sense of bleakness. But, it was still a good day and I’m glad I stopped.

I am not sure where I came across the following set of rules for pilots, but they seem appropriate for so many things. Therefore, I thought I should share:

• Rule Number 1: Keep the aircraft in stable flight.
• Rule Number 2: Should the aircraft depart from stable flight, see Rule Number 1.
• Rule Number 3: Any landing should be considered safe if the aircraft and pilot both survive in flyable condition.
• Rule Number 4: It costs nothing except pride to go around for a second approach if the first (or nth) approach does not appear to be viable. See Rule Number 3.
• Rule Number 5: Do not run out of fuel. Heavier than air aircraft are called that for a reason. Gravity still works.

After ending 2013, I woke early 1 January 2014, made a cup of coffee, and sat down to think about the upcoming year. I remember that my dad was born on New Year’s Day. He would have been about 80-years old, give or take a few years. He died too young and I still miss him. Although he was not free with his counsel, it was his thoughts I sought and miss. Although he was not highly educated formally, he was highly educated in the school of hard knocks. He had wisdom that was hard-gained.

My brother-in-law called me on New Year’s Day. It was a good chat and he’s a man I respect and who also has seen plenty of hard times.

I then dug into my financial review of 2013 and my financial plan for 2014. In poking around for a budget planner for Moneydance (my accounting tool), I came across a link to You Need a Budget (YNAB). I read through some of their materials and downloaded a demo copy of the software. Their approach is based on four simple rules.

It took me most of the day to get my head around how their approach works. It boils down to “budget the money you have today.” This is followed by “spend last month’s income this month.”

This is an interesting approach and one I’ve been thinking about quite a lot. I haven’t lived from paycheck to paycheck in a while. But, last year I managed my cash flow very carefully because of Wife’s final medical bills, in part, and because I think I was compensating for my loss by spending money. I wasn’t stupid, but I wasn’t necessarily wise. My plan for 2014 was to be current and have enough cash in my checking account to cover the month’s expenses at the beginning of the month. The plan was to not be concerned about cash flow.

The second part of my plan was to clear all obligations except for my house and my car. The third part was to maximize my 401k contribution and regularly put money into savings for emergency use.

After reviewing the YNAB approach and the software, I bought a license for Young Son and myself. (It helped that Steam had the software on sale. I spent a good part of the day setting up my accounts and planning the next couple of months as well as a general plan for the year.

By the end of this month I will be clear except for my house and my car. I will meet one of my goals early this year. The maximum contribution to my 401k will hurt my disposable income, but I’ll be fine. I’ll adjust my spending and choose wisely how I spend my income. I probably won’t make my savings goal by the end of this year, but I’ll be better off that I was. This is a good thing.

After all of that work, yesterday morning I decided that the Girl and I needed a change of venue for morning walkies. So, we drove over to Jacks Valley Wildlife Refuge and walked out there. The Girl had a blast and I blew my legs humping it up the hill. But I found a couple of geocaches and had some nice views. I’ll post a couple of pictures over the next few days.

Another of my goals is to spend time making images. I intend to do that with both film and digital cameras. We’ll see how I do this year.

Merry Christmas and remember why we celebrate the day. It was a baby boy born some 2,000 years ago that changed the world.

My friend Jimmy loaned me a Tokina build 70–210mm f/3.5 Vivitar Series 1 zoom lens in Nikon mount a couple of days ago. I was complaining about Tokina lenses. (The truth is I have another Tokina-branded lens in about this focal length, but a bit slower, and its sharpness is nothing to write home about. But I digress…) He told me to go shoot it and then report back. So I did.

It was a bit late for good light, but I noticed enough interesting contrast on the hillside a mile or so away to make a capture. I wanted to play some with black and white conversions in Photoshop and needed a few frames. So, here is an early example of a Photoshop conversion to black and white. I used a bit of curves to adjust the white and black points. I adjusted the contrast curve slightly. Then I used the Photoshop black and white tool to make the conversion.

It’s basically the equivalent of a yellow filter (for film) with the yellow dialed back just enough to moderate the highlights in the brightest of the rocks. I’m taking a class to learn to do some of these things. I’m not really Photoshop literate. I think it’s time I learned something about this tool.

The Girl came home from the vet hospital yesterday afternoon. Young Son and I drove down to Minden to retrieve her, after her vet called and indicated she could be released.

I finished what I was doing, showered, and we drove down there. They were only moderately busy, but it still took a bit before we saw the vet. He gave us discharge instructions and a prescription for her antibiotic. We drove to the isolation building (separate from the main facility) and waited for the Girl.

One of the techs brought her out. She noticed the 4Runner right away. When Young Son and I got out of the car, she started wagging. The closer we got, the more she wagged. When we were at contact range, she wiggled. She was one happy Girl to see her peeps. I was one happy old man to see my Girl.

She looked thinner to me. I think she lost a couple of pounds over the last few days. She’s a svelte Girl, so it shows when she changes her weight. This was a tough bug and treated her badly.

We drove home and went into the house. She had to check out everything. Then she told me it was time to be on the couch for awhile. I fixed her mat on the couch. She hopped up there and curled up, then looked at me. Yep — puppy-dog eyes were used.

They worked. So, I parked it on the couch with the Girl.

I spent a couple of hours there with her, just enjoying her company and her heat. We both napped for awhile.

But I had to get out. I needed to fill her prescription and gather a few supplies. So, I left her with Young Son and drove to the pharmacy for her medication. I was also able to get about everything I needed at the pharmacy. So I did and came home.

We walked a bit last night. She was happy to be out and about. But it was a lot for her and she was tired when we got home.

I spent a good part of the evening with her on the couch. I read and stroked her side. It is really good to have her home with me.

She’s subdued today. She’s tired from fighting the infection. She’s eating OK, though. We walked a few times today, nothing too long, just enough for some exercise and some sun. The vet called awhile ago. All seems well.

I’m glad to have my Girl back with me. We belong together.