July 15, 2020

Back to Door County

We had to get away. We just had to.

So we went back to the spot we loved two years ago: Door County, Wisconsin. Same cabin property, same bay on Lake Michigan, same rustic charm and isolation that we needed so badly then and now.

And socially isolate we did. We rarely left the property, opting instead to hang out by the lake, eat Wisconsin cheese, drink Wisconsin cider and beer, and let the kids play in the water. The few times we did go out to explore the peninsula, we stuck to state parks and little shops. We ate out twice. We played it safe.

It was nice to not think about what was happening elsewhere in the country, or work, or anything else. We made new family memories, enjoyed our solitude, and drove back rested and refreshed.

The weather was perfect: lovely Great Lakes sunsets, never getting hotter than 80 degrees during the day, no rain. We stayed in a new cabin (next door to the one we stayed in last time) so I could explore the summer light.

Just what we all needed.

photography 2020, photography, summer, travel, vacation

June 10, 2020

Fermented

My pandemic project? More cider making.

It’s easy: grab three bottles of Simply Apple, a bit of yeast, mix them together, and then wait a while. A week or two is enough.

After that, add something else. This spring, I’ve tried blueberries, grapefruit, mixed berries, and now honey. A few reusable bottles, a bit more time to mature in the bottle, and you have yourself a nice summertime drink.

It keeps me busy. I have the process down pretty pat by now. And with all this time on my hands, I’m experimenting with more fruits. Maybe a pineapple, maybe a peach when they come into season, or some tart cherries if the crop survived our late spring snowstorms.

Fruit, yeast, and time. All we have is time.

photography, projects 2020, cider, macro, photography, projects

June 4, 2020

Kids These Days

These days, it’s easy to appreciate whoever came up with, “Children should be seen and not heard.”

It’s barbaric, of course, especially now that we recognize children are miniature people. They have thoughts and feelings. They’re more than field workers or inconveniences.

Still, with every minute of every day spent with the kids, it’s an adjustment. Before, we worked all day, and we spent time with the kids in the evenings or on the weekends. Now it’s all day, every day.

Soon there will be no school work, no Zoom class meetings, no nothing. Just unstructured summertime. Luckily we’re in a nice time of year when staying outside and playing is a possibility.

Outside also means avoiding social media and the news. The kids don’t have any idea what’s going on in the world today. If they did, it’d be difficult to answer their questions. The virus? They know about that. They know its name. Everything else? Blissfully unaware.

Working as I do, each day at the kitchen table, I can watch them play in the backyard and live out their own adventures. They are little people, and as much as that old English saying makes me laugh, I don’t believe it. I didn’t get to hear it so much before. It’s good to hear them out there, playing and laughing and crying.

Inside, I can barely work because of my anxiety at the state of the world. Better for them to be outside.

photography 2020, coronavirus, family, home, kids, photography

June 1, 2020

Spring Flower Macro

A study of our kitchen bouquet. The best smells of the year.

Shot with my Canon EOS EF 100mm f/2.8.

photography flowers, macro, photography, spring, still life

May 28, 2020

Edge of Spring

We didn’t get much of a spring here in Michigan. After a flurry of snowstorms and chilly days in April, we transferred right into the heat of the summer.

That’s a shame. Spring is my favorite season, but seeing the lack of apple blossoms on the neighborhood trees, plus the pandemic, and some historic rainstorms, it’s feeling like spring never happened.

Except for those few days in April.

photography 2020, photography, spring

May 14, 2020

On Doing

“It’s the doing that allows us to become our best selves, and it’s the doing that creates our future.” – Seth Godin

Doing is more important, always.

Yes, doing is harder. It takes time and effort. But as Seth Godin says, you’re more proud of something you do instead of something you passively watch.

Lots of people say, “I’m glad I rewatched Mad Men.” But no one says “I’m proud that I watched Mad Men.” Instead, people are proud of making something. Watching something brings temporary comfort, and lets us relax. But I argue that making something brings far more comfort, and can last a lifetime.

Eventually, you get into the habit of doing. You try to do it every chance you get. You may feel guilty when you don’t (more on that later).

And yes, you dread it. You try to avoid it. But there’s something about making that keeps you going despite all of that. It’s active, not passive.

It’s what people remember.

photography

May 8, 2020

Contributions

“When we get to the other side of the slog and look back, what will we have contributed, learned and created?” – Seth Godin

Sadly, not much, but I keep trying. Every day.

photography

April 29, 2020

Watching and Waiting

I may have gone a little far on the snark in my last blog post. It was born out of frustration, and the all-too-human need to correct those we think are wrong.

It’s not like me to do things like that, but then these are weird times, aren’t they?

I’m facing a summer’s worth of working from home, no school for the kids until the fall (maybe?), and dumb people doing dumb things with little concern for the safety of others.

To stay occupied, I’m trying to pick up my camera more and try little things: taking photos outside while we enjoy the fresh spring air, or grabbing some macro shots of the hyacinths and daffodils sitting on the kitchen table. It’s something.

Each new day is just a day. We watch and wait for some good news in the world, but we’re more often disappointed.

photography coronavirus, photography

April 8, 2020

Into the Groove

It really is the new normal, isn’t it?

Not that being stuck at home is fun, or comfortable, but I feel like we’re starting to get the hang of things around here.

What’s helped me:

Establishing a daily routine for me and the kids
It’s spring, which means I can send the kids outside, and we can all get out and walk
Spring cleaning will keep all of us busy
Taking my own advice and giving myself some projects to keep busy: cleaning camera equipment, starting a new batch of cider, and getting back into the fitness regiment.

The situation isn’t great, but it’s not as bad as it was a week or two ago. And that’s something.

Life, overall, is quieter. On our walk this week, I only noticed two cars driving down our typically-busy neighborhood streets. I don’t have a commute anymore. Most of what I hear, day to day, is the birds chirping, and I’ll take that any day.

Spring has sprung. Can you imagine dealing with this in the arctic days of January?

photography

March 30, 2020

City Without Seasons

Last week, to get out of the house, I did the uncool thing and headed downtown to see what it looked like with our governor’s shelter-in-place order.

As Florence sings, it was a city without seasons. March is the November of spring – the weird in-between one. No leaves on the trees, no flowers blooming just yet, and streets as empty as can be.

The truth is that downtown Jackson is pretty empty on weekday nights after 5 p.m. But last week it was extra desolate. I stopped a person or two wandering around downtown, just like me.

Things really got interesting when a guy noticed me taking pictures. “Hey, want to take photos inside the theatre?” This is Jackson’s Michigan Theatre, the city’s lone operational classic theatre. The man was wearing a protective mask. I’m not sure what his role was at the theatre, but he had the whole place to himself. I got the sense, as I was taking photos inside, that the guy was simply lonely. Or he wanted to show off the place. I had to excuse myself after 10 minutes, or else the man would’ve given me the full tour of the place.

So I headed back outside, into the sunshine, to photograph our empty downtown.

With spring coming, and with more light, it’s nice to have the option to get outside and walk around.

Fresh air may be the best hope we all have of staying sane.

photography coronavirus, downtown, jackson, michigan, photography