Category: ruminations

The Path Forward

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A few weeks ago I went out to camp near Lovelock, NV. Early one morning I got Sera out to hike a little and made this capture of camp. Captured with X-Pro3, 2026-09-06 07:52:08, 35mm, 1/1300sec, f/8, ISO-400, processed in PhotoLab7.

Thirteen-years ago, I was working through an accumulation of documents that spanned 40 years. They were the leftovers of Wife’s fear that there would be a document we needed from long past. It was also an incredible exposure of data that could be used for identity theft if just thrown out. Therefore, I was grinding those documents and discarding the chaff.

That rumination came up on my Dailies recently and reminded me that I am another juncture in life. I am completing another huge personal project that has gone on for a year and a half. It should close before the end of the year. At that time I can take on another large personal project — a move.

I need to leave this rental. It served me well and provided housing for doggo and I for ten years. (Actually, two doggos — Sera and her predecessor, Ki.) My problem is not simply that I have outgrown the space (I have). I do not want to live in the city. I do not care for city noise. And, although Carson City is not a large city, it is noisy. There is also not enough room for decent radio antennas and there is way too much radio noise for good hearing. There is also not enough room for The Girl to spend some time outdoors during good weather.

So, now I am faced with grinding through another project, this one to decide where to move, then find a place that I want to live in for the remainder of my life, then to execute the move. That sounds simple; it is and it is not.

I am old enough that I begin to be concerned about health. The what-ifs make me think that I should be closer to family, which means my children. If I should need someone to check on me or need a ride, then it would be better to have one of them closer. When I leave this mortal coil, it would be better for them if I was not on the other side of the country.

But, and this is a BIG BUT, they all live east. I live in the west for a reason, I like it here. I like the landscape and I like the weather. I like the availability of public lands where I can roam and camp.

Therefore, my heart is in the west but my reason says “go east”.

So, that is the plan. Regardless of my preference for geography, I am grateful. Life is good.

N.B. The image was made on a weekend camping trip a few weeks ago. My friends were out camping near Toulon, NV and invited me along. On a whim, I threw some necessities into the camper and headed out. That was the right thing to do.

August 2026 Monthly Bullet Journal Spread

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This is my monthly spread for August 2026. I decided to get started on the migration a little early. Captured with iPhone 13 Pro, 2026-07-27 16:45:21, 5.7mm, 1/60sec, f/1.5, ISO-100, SOOC.

July is rapidly coming to an end. And so, it is time to think about closing out the month and beginning a new one. Part of my ritual is to create a new monthly spread in my Bullet Journal. This gives me a chance to review the previous month and preview the upcoming month.

The last few months I noticed that my monthly ritual feels compressed. I have invoices to get out, time cards to complete (for one client), a monthly budget to sketch, and the monthly migration in my principal tracking tool — my Bullet Journal.

The compression makes the process feel rushed. What should be a positive exercise becomes a chore. The month change should be something to celebrate — there is work completed and work to anticipate. In this instance, I mean work as the progress of living, which includes my vocation but also my avocations and simply a celebration of life. Life is good!

So, this afternoon I was reflecting on the upcoming conversion and decided that I would go ahead and layout my August monthly spread and will prepare my paper budget as well. Both will be sketches to fill in as I migrate from July to August. But, August will fill in as I move into the first week of the new month. My prayer is that preparing the sketch a few days early will reduce the busy-ness to the extent that it will produce positive energy and make me feel better rather than pressured.

The Noodler’s Heart of Darkness is in the frame simply because it is the backbone of my journaling. It is not present on the spread. I used the deAtramentis Document Inks in Dark Blue, Dark Green, and Red. I do not think they produce a dark red or I would try that. I like the contrast the red gives the for day. The dark green is for my recycle days (I need a reminder).

I used a dip pen again this month. I overloaded the stub nib slightly, so the headings are a little blotchy. It is a kind of art (my poor attempt) so I do not care (really). The ink flow is good with the fine nib. The stub requires frequent re-inking; the fine nib less so (of course).

This process gives me a certain pleasure… a satisfaction of progress and keeping notes of things that are important to me. It relieves the stress of remembering (hat tip to David Allen for brain dumps) tasks and appointments and provides a solid record of what I did with my time.

I made the image with my iPhone 13 Pro. The only post-processing was to crop ever so slightly and resize the image. Yes, I keep an iPhone in my inventory for now. I have my old phone number, also for now, as a backup because so many people have that number. I do not want to miss an important contact.

As I reflect, I remember to be grateful. Every day is a gift. Life is good.

Happy New Year, 2026

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I might have posted this before. I cannot recall. But I was looking for an image to post to Vero a few days ago and found this one. It was made with a Lumix G3 that I had a few years ago and I think a Wollensak 25mm f/1.9 8mm cine lens. Captured with DMC-G3, 2017-11-17 14:01:14, 1/1300sec, ISO-160.

Here it is, a new year. So, Happy New Year!

So, now what? The changeover of the calendar year is something of an event, even if it is just another day. We place a great deal of significance on the ticking over of a year counter. This has been the way, or a way, for a long time… certainly longer than my time.

I do not think this is a bad thing. I think there are good reasons to stop, pause the daily regimen, and reflect on a week, a month, or a year and determine if a course change is needed. It is an opportunity to make an assessment1. I use this time every year to start a new Bullet Journal (my adopted approach to managing my calendar and my projects) and think about the year past, my goals, my accomplishments (or lack thereof), and my intentions for the next year.

There were things I did not do enough of in 2025. These include my guitars and my radios. I found the demands of work and a substantial personal project to demanding to allow adequate time for either of those important hobbies. I did manage to make more photographs because I do that when out and about for other things. I particularly like to carry a camera when hiking with The Girl.

Two videos caught my attention (ahem) yesterday. One was by Rick Beato and is a practice regimen to rebuilding guitar skills. It will serve as a good practice for me, particularly with an electric guitar that is not so demanding of hand strength. I have this bookmarked os I can return to it.

The other was by Pal2Tech, a favorite photographic channel. His encouragement is to make specific efforts to eliminate the pressure of social media on photographic choices and refocus on developing one’s own vision and skills. I like what he says.

I already started reducing the potential impact of social media (which I often call antisocial media) on my life. I have only two outlets that I regularly use — Vero (no algorithm; only see what one signs up to see) and YouTube (beware the algorithm as it induces doomscrolling).

I really enjoy, and am inspired by, some of the photographers I follow on Vero. It is what Instagram was when I first discovered it. Then FB bought it, promised no changes, and turned it into a monster a couple years later.

For YT, I follow a few musicians, a few photography channels, and fewer entertainment channels. The trap is the algorithm, that constantly monitors what I watch and then offers me related videos at the end of each. This is a serious trap and what caused me to abandon IG. So, I will have to be careful, very careful.

The page after the Future Log in my new Bullet Journal is labelled Intentions. I am borrowing from Ryder Carroll’s palette and abandoning Goals for Intentions. I will be working on those, my Future Log, and my January Calendar/Log today. I think that the Intentions page will take some time to fill in. But, I will start with a couple of statements about what i want to be by the end of 2026 and see how that works for me.

My Bullet Journaling approach is still developing. I can see how it has changed over the years as I learn more about what works for me. I think that a few more changes are necessary to make it work better (for me). And, I am working through his book to see what other nuggets of wisdom he might have for me.

In the meantime, have a Happy New Year, figure out what is important and do that. Life is good.

1Hat tip to the Legend of Old Gregg.

Ending 2025

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This is not a photograph of me. It is an AI interpretation of a part of a photograph of me. It is an imposter.

This year, 2025, has been a very strange year. The Artificial Intelligence craze hit early and caused me a lot of consternation. (Note: It still causes me a lot of same.)

It was at that time when M$FT started pushing Copilot, hard. It was also a time when the scraping of data, not necessarily public, by Big Tech also got my attention. It was enough impetus to much me toward making some changes to reduce my digital footprint.

That journey began a couple years ago with my reading of Cal Newsome’s Digital Minimization, which I wrote about before. It resulted in me abandoning Instagram and Twitter/X and looking to reduce my use of a mobile phone for other things besides being a phone. With the realization that Google, Apple, and M$FT were likely all scraping *my* data, I decided I want out to the extent physically possible.

I was already unhappy with paying a subscription for M$FT Office tools. I was not using any in-house browser, instead using Firefox to reduce my exposure. I decided that I want to go back to Linux as my main operating platform and then work out how to use required tools to get my work done.

I am still working on this. I do have a working Linux laptop I bought used as a test bed. Unfortunately, I was so busy with work that I did not make much progress on this important personal project. But, some progress was made.

I did buy a new Android phone and install GrapheneOS on it. The phone was much less expensive than an iPhone, much smaller (in size and memory), and I have substantially restricted what is installed on it. I need a smartphone for a few necessary apps, but I do not want to be attached to it for hours each day. The computer is bad enough.

I eschewed most social media. YouTube remains an issue as it is a source of both education (how to do things) and entertainment (favorite content creators). But, there are also channels there that I need to leave behind or restrict as time wasters and negative energy producers. I ended my Facebook account.

I had a call from a potential client/partner to compete for a project in Texas. They asked for a headshot. I do not really have one, so I grabbed a selfie and sent along one I made while hiking in the field. One of the team leaders told me “no problem, I will fix it with AI.” The header image is a result. This image is not me; it is a heavily edited version of an image of me and demonstrates some of what the tools can do. Those who know me will recognize it as a likeness, but will notice subtle differences that make it more of an interpretation than an actual image of yours truly.

I am not sure this is a good thing. And, I think that is enough to say.

Nonetheless, I remain grateful. The Girl and I love life and love being together. Life is good.

Thunderstorm Sunset

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Here is another capture from my time in West Texas. It was from the same outing that produced the image of the Cumulonimbus cloud. Captured with NIKON D100, 2004-05-26 20:29:00, 200mm, 1/400sec, f/8, ISO-200, SOOC.

Besides the Spring (mostly) dust storms, the other spectacular weather event was the Summer thunderstorm. The Texas Panhandle is no stranger to extreme thunderstorms and they could be spectacular. My lovely BMW 330i had some hail dimples in it, like most Texas vehicles. If you live in Texas long enough, you will drive through a hailstorm.

While there I did not take sufficient advantage of the photographic opportunities that the storms presented. The frame from a few days ago and the preceding frame earlier are a couple of examples of when I did. On the same outing that gave me the cloud image, I was blessed with a gorgeous West Texas sunset. There are some tendrils of clouds kicked up by the oncoming storm visible in the frame. I noticed that interaction developing and waited for the right moment.

I was then blessed with this image. Wife and I stood there beside the highway taking it in. Then the Sun descended and a few minutes later the light disappeared from the cloud. So, we loaded back into the car and headed on towards home.

This is the season when I miss Wife the most. She loved the holidays so. I loved that part of her. I have been working through my digital image archive when I wake early. There are quite a few good frames in there and many that simply document family. I really need to develop (hah) a system for organizing and sorting those frames. Then there are the thousands (probably) of frames of physical prints and many of the source negatives in my closets. I do not have time to completely deal with those, but I want to.

Christmas comes and with it the celebration of the Christ Child. Alongside that joy is the somewhat sobering remembering of Wife. The two are intermingled in an inseparable fashion. That is OK.

I remain grateful. And life is good.

A West Texas Sunset

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I made this capture many years ago when we lived in Lubbock. Captured with NIKON D100, 2006-05-26 19:39:57, 400mm, 1/4000sec, f/20, ISO-1600, SOOC.

This is an old image from my archive. I do not remember the specifics, although I have a vague recollection of the day. I think Wife and I drove out of town a little, expecting a sunset. I had the D100 at hand and a couple of lenses. I think it was one of those dusty West Texas spring days. Boy howdy, we had some dusty days in Lubbock.

This seems like a lifetime ago, and it is nearly 20 years. I had no idea what was in front of us, and me. A few months after making this capture, I was on my way west to Nevada. My family followed soon after.

That is the nature of life — it is dynamic, always changing; it is not static.

This was a good memory and I came away that evening with a few nice captures. Although it is now ancient history, the D100 made some good images.

I am grateful. Life is good.

I Remember

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Another Acros with red filter capture up near Spooner Summit. Captured with X100VI, 2025-09-10 10:57:02, 23mm, 1/28000sec, f/8, ISO-4000, in-camera Arcos Red Filter conversion.

We are clearly entering our Fall weather season. The mid-90F temperatures left a week ago (although they might return) and we are having a few more clouds. On our Spooner hike a couple of days ago, I looked over my left shoulder and noticed the Sun and clouds. On the way back from the turn-around, I paused because I liked the scene even more than I did on the way out. I made this capture, using the in-camera Acros/R film simulation.

I also will spend a little time today reflecting on that day in 2001 when we were attacked by enemies who despise our way of life. They want us to be afraid. I am not.

I am also reflecting on a heinous act perpetrated, most likely, by either an agent of the far left or by a maniac inspired by same. I am unconvinced that it does not matter if it is the latter because the horrendous tone taken by the far left is responsible for this evil.

I never saw Mr. Kirk be disrespectful or mean-spirited to anyone he engaged. It was part of his approach that I genuinely admired. What happened to him was evil and the perpetrator and his/her motivators are responsible for that evil.

It is a sad day for our nation, when we have come to the point that intelligent voices are silenced by violence.

This is not good; it is evil. Nonetheless, life is good.

Strawberries!

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I worked up a box of strawberries to use for my lunch. Captured with X-T5, 2025-08-14 12:38:27, 60mm, 1/70sec, f/8, ISO-12800, post via PhotoLab7 using Fuji Velvia film simulation.

It was actually a few days ago that I bought my first box of strawberries for the season. It had been a couple of weeks (at least) since I hit the grocery store to reprovision. It has also been bloody hot here in Carson City.

I decided that some Greek Yogurt, strawberries, and granola would make a decent lunch without a lot of bulk, sugar, or preparation. So, I bought the first box of strawberries of the season.

The next day about noon, I remembered the strawberries. I got the box out and began working them up, removing the remainder of the flower and cutting them up into chunks. This resulted in a recollection of Wife’s mom, my beloved mother-in-law, and her daughters working up strawberries from the berry patch they kept in their garden.

As I worked up my own, store-bought, berries, I recalled watching the technique and could see myself replicating what I first saw all those years ago. This made me smile and made my heart hurt a little.

Then I remembered strawberry pie. OMG, Mom’s strawberry pie was one of my favorite things. Her blackberry cobbler was right up on that list as well. (Best warm with vanilla ice cream and coffee!) But, my mind went to the strawberry pie with the reddish tint to my fingers from working up my berries.

I then thought “I could make a strawberry pie!” And that made me think of my sister-in-law, whom I had not contacted in a minute. So, after working up my berries and making a parfait for lunch, I sent her a text and we chatted a bit.

They are well, which made me happy. I asked about the pie and she sent me her recipe for the pie and the crust.

Then she sent a little lagniappe — a recipe for easy biscuits.

I usually use frozen Grands as I can make one or two. But, I also long for homemade biscuits and I think I can cut the recipe such that I can make two or three readily. I am going to try.

My mind sometimes goes into a stream-of-consciousness mode. My thoughts leap from one point to another, sometimes leaving even me feeling a bit dizzy.

Also, I think I’ll make a strawberry pie this weekend. I can make it with Sucralose and keep my sugar intake under control.

Mom sure made a killer strawberry pie. When I went to visit, she always made one. With whipped cream and coffee, it was a perfect treat.

Wife, Mom, and Dad are all gone now. It is a pity. They are greatly missed, all of them. They were my family, all by law. But, they might as well be blood. That is how I feel about them.

Godspeed, my loves, Godspeed.

I am grateful to have had those people in my life. Life is good.

So is strawberry pie.

Valentine’s Day 2025

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I have probably posted a billion images from The Red Hut Diner here in Carson City. There will probably be another billion posted before my expiration date arrives. There is always an opportunity for street photography there. Shot with Fuji A7iii and a new-to-me Tamron 70-210mm f/3.8 Adaptall-2 zoom lens. Post processing on my iPhone to render a black and white image with a tiny bit of grain.

A best buddy just sent me a couple of images of he and his wife at Valentine’s Day lunch. It looks like they had bar burgers. I responded that I am a little jealous.

Had Wife lived, we would have done something special for the day, even if it was just lunch of bar burgers. Or, we might have gone to supper and braved the press. This was one of the things I loved to do — celebrate special days or special occasions with her.

I am sorry that those days are gone. It is not that life is not good; it really is. I am truly grateful for the days, even when they are difficult or I feel poorly. But that communal life was something that I deeply enjoyed and I miss it.

I had breakfast at The Red Hut Diner this morning, or probably better to say brunch. I did a bunch of work early and when the meeting ended I was hungry. I decided to treat myself to breakfast (and bring a treat home for The Girl). I did both. The biscuits and gravy were good, as usual.

And, I came away with a nice capture.

Life is good.

Goodbye, Old Friend

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I shot this through my front screen door using a Nikon D800E and a Voigtlander 90mm f/2.8 Skopar at f/8.

I woke a few minutes ago1, rolled over, and decided I wanted water. So I got up, emptied my bladder, and got some water. I then sat down at my worktable and noticed my open journal. At the bottom of the page I had written “Vaya con Diôs, mi hermano. I love you forever.” I then remembered that my best buddy in high school died Sunday night. A cancer got him.

I did not get south to Corpus Christi on my last trip east. I made it as far south as Lubbock for a few days before heading west and home. Work called me home. I thought I would get back east and make the leg south this year, but then the workload increased enough that I could not leave.

Then he posted he was sick. A week or two later he posted he could no longer deal with social media. That was the last I heard from him. My text message went unanswered. My intuition told me things were bad. They were.

I can only hope he passed peacefully without too much pain. He had enough pain in his life. I prayed for him once I learned of his illness. I prayed for healing and I prayed for his peace. The healing was selfish and the peace was all I knew to offer.

I met him over 50-years ago. My dad moved us to Missouri to follow his dream of working a farm. That was either brave or foolish of him, to leave a life in surburbia and a job as skilled labor (heavy equipment operator) working as an independent contractor to pursue a life in rural Missouri working a farm.

That took me from the California school system (high school) to a rural high school in a town of 2,500 souls. It made me the odd man out and most of the townie boys were either hostile to the new guy or indifferent. A few were more open minded and friendly and my buddy was one of them.

We spent a lot of time together in high school. After high school we went our separate ways… he to the service and me towards engineering. I did not hear from him for many years until I found him on Facebook. That reopened the connection and we stayed in touch.

I attended our 50-year high school reunion primarily because he said he would. I had a project in Corpus Christi, so I made it a point to stop by and see him for a few hours before I had to leave. We kept up via FB after that.

Now there is a void left behind. The loss is not as savage as some in my experience, but there is loss nonetheless. I use aphorisms, generally with some light humor about them, and one is that the thing about living is that you never get out of it alive. One of the lessons for me is to live it, to make sure that I do some of the things I love every day… be sure to tell my loved ones that I love them, often… be kind to those around me… pray, thanking God for all good things… interacting with The Girl, playing, walking, snuggling… the list continues, so induct.

It has been colder here, not that biting cold of deep winter, but below freezing in the morning and only a bit warmer during the day. But the Sun is shining and walking The Girl gives us a chance to absorb its generous heat in the cool air. The image above reminds me that just a few months ago it was a lot warmer and the Sun rose early. I miss it a little bit as we approach the Winter Solstice.

The Girl is lame in the port aft leg. I think she damaged her CCL (ACL in humans) and will need surgery. Her vet will do his workup on her today and then I will know the options for her treatment.

So I have to be careful with her so she does not damage it more. She will probably have surgery to repair it and then go through the healing process. So, we are in for a bit of work. But that is OK. I do not mind working with her at all. She is worth it.

And despite the loss of my friend, I remain grateful. I had time with him. He was my friend and brother from another mother. And life is still good.

1I wrote this about 0200h.