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Planning is moving ahead

Okay, so I am getting excited. I went to REI yesterday and got mosquito repellent to spray on my clothes and a different kind for our campground rug. I also bought some thin socks with two layers to help prevent blisters. I am very prone to blisters and they sidelined me from long walks last fall for couple months. The idea is the two layers rub on each other rather then rubbing on the skin of your feet. I also bought a fancy version of a map wheel to run along an old-fashioned map to get exact mileage between points. Wanted one for decades. The final was a splurge on an REI purse that will hold my new mirror-less camera (without screaming camera case), ID, money, keys, iPad, etc. A plain dark grey, but quite functional. Really like the stiffness of the bottom that will protect my new camera.

Today I’m working on planning out the actual trip around like Michigan in my small motorhome Ecovision. This year I’m going to try to stay in as many Passport America campgrounds as possible. I’m a lifetime member and you get half off the normal campground fees. That said the discounts are often only valid Sunday through Thursdays and then possibly for only one to four nights. The other nights I hope to be in various federal and state parks, which I love. Most often at best you get only an electric hookup, but that’s fine with me.

Back to my maps, new map wheel and some of my favorite apps!

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Is it August yet?

Starting to plan my August circling of Lake Michigan. With sweet Henry Boy, of course. He’s (kinda) patiently waiting. Well he’s waiting.

I need to get Ecovision dewinterized and checked over soon. I plan to head west to the lake around August 1st and to be circling about 2 weeks. Happiness :)

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Being a photographer

New York Times photographer James Estrin was subject of the “original short” on Oprah Winfrey’s Super Soul Sunday today. His images and words are memorable as he captures the profound moments of spiritual experiences of people. He said something that expresses my own approach to photography: “When I’m photographing, my goal is to be completely present in the moment.”

I can never understand what people mean when they say a camera separates them from the world around them. For me it’s completely the opposite. I am never more fully present and intimately aware of those around me than when I am engaged in taking photographs. The lens forces me to truly see and experience what’s before me.

There’s nothing I love more than taking photographs of the beauty of everyday life even if sometimes it’s just taking a simple photograph of spring flowers in a neighbor’s garden with my iPhone on a morning walk with my dog Henry. Not great art, but allowing me, if only for a moment, to more intimately connect with, see and experience the world around me.

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Memorial Day Gratitudes

It has been a blur since I got back from North Carolina and Virginia. I think my first trip with Ecovision is going to be mid-June and not more than 20 miles from here. A new friend (thanks to Kathe for introducing us) who is considering solo RVing has invited Henry and me to camp on her property for the weekend. She has power I can hook up to and I understand she has glorious gardens. She can check out my RV and learn what it takes to manage one on your own, and I can enjoy a few days in Ecovision with my sweet Henry Boy in tow. We’re both very excited. I hope she likes Scrabble or gin rummy, which I find good on the road with new and old friends.

Meantime I’m teaching “Understanding the Great Lakes” followed by “Islands of the Great Lakes”. They each meet once a week for four weeks and the students who take these classes love the lakes and islands as much as I do so it’s deeply meaningful all the way around.

I’m also going to take an advanced class in digital landscape photography starting this Wednesday night. It’s six Wednesday evenings plus 2 all-day Saturday field trips. This is my final class in the series I put together with Bryce Denison of Midwest Photography Workshops. I created my own certificate program and it’s been a wonderful and challenging experience.

I’m always taking a class or learning something new, and now I’m teaching in LifeLong Education with people with a love of learning just like me. It is marvelous.

Henry’s just glad to have me back home with a knee to rest his head on each evening. Life is good.

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One last sunset on Currituck Sound

This is with the panorama function on my iPhone 5s, which I am enjoying very much.

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