Ram Dass // If you want to change the world, don’t emanate fear, emanate love

The air wasn’t really cleaner; those images were fake. The hospitals weren’t really a war zone; those stories were hyperbole. The numbers were not that high; the press is lying. You didn’t see people in masks standing in the rain risking their lives to vote. Not in America. You didn’t see the leader of the free world push an unproven miracle drug like a late-night infomercial salesman. That was a crisis update. You didn’t see homeless people dead on the street. You didn’t see inequality. You didn’t see indifference. You didn’t see utter failure of leadership and systems.

Prepare for the ultimate gaslighting. From, Julio Vincent Gambuto 

The news lately is making people very anxious. Maybe you need some different news.

What is going to happen to football season?

bodega cats to help Hayden kill some time.

This Big Little Lies playlist on Spotify is on heavy rotation.

Incredible photos of traffic lights at night, by Lucas Zimmerman.

“The resistance to the unpleasant situation is the root of suffering.”
— Ram Dass

Emily Dickinson // Beauty is not caused, it is.

Happy Birthday baby girl. I love you.

practicing social distancing in the woods. photo credit - Hayden Frey

My weekly quality time with my kids has been going on a long hike in Allaire State Park. I have been going to work and they have been quarantined, so aside from Face Time dinners, this is how we get to see each other.

I read this article about cleaning up your phone and making it work for you. The whole idea is to make the main screen be a source of useful tools and not a way to jump into social media and get lost in a giant time suck. I tried this out, and it really works for me.

On the benefits of walking and having a happy brain.

A full body kettlebell workout for you to do while you are at home on lock down.

A big reason that I became obsessed with tracking my daily steps.

Cheryl Strayed // Trust the truest thing.

Beaches in Pt. Pleasant, Bay Head and Mantaloking close today to help prevent the spread of the virus. Hopefully will be able catch more of these sunrises in the very near future.

Stay safe.

These times can take their toll sometimes and I know you feel the same way too
It gets so hard to keep between the ditches
When the roads wind the way they do.

My Goddaughter goes to the University of Colorado. I took a trip out to visit her this past fall and I can’t wait to go back.

We also went to a football game.

And met some cool people.

Tell me again

How this story ends

Walks on the beach 

And nights on the couch

Building a life

Making a home

Show me that smile

That lights up a room

Trust me with all

Of your hopes and your fears

I’ll hold your heart

Tight in my hands 

Tell me again

How this story ends

Football and BBQ

Over the Christmas break, my son and I took a road trip to watch LSU play Oklahoma in the SEC Championship game in Atlanta. Every good road trip involves some BBQ and we stopped for dinner in Lexington, NC at the Lexington BBQ. North Carolina is famous for pork BBQ and The Lexington BBQ is known Nationwide for it’s food. “Known by the locals as the “Honeymonk” or “The Monk,” Lexington Barbecue was established in 1962 by Wayne Monk. Since its establishment, the white building on the hill has grown from a small cafe to a nationally known barbecue restaurant.

Our success is due to believing in quality customer service and staying with the true barbecue cooking tradition, meaning cooking with wood, not gas. We only cook pork shoulders and we only cook it over oak or hickory coals. We cook fresh everyday. We believe that true barbecue has different flavors and different cuts.” The place was very small and homey and the food was great. The slaw was red and something that I have never seen before. Apparently, it is a thing.

There is one in every crowd.

We found a BBQ place right at Olympic park that was in walking distance to the hotel. Twin Smokers BBQ. Their moto is Eat BBQ, drink bourbon. Done and done.

Then there was the game. The stadium was the coolest place I have ever been. It also felt like a home game for LSU which was nice.

Joe killed them.

We all know how this ends. Geux Tigers.

Cornell,

Hot spiced cider,

Apple Festival.

#sixwordstory

One more fiery sunrise from last week. This one is also part of my dawn collection and is for sale.

The sky was bursting with color on Thursday morning and I was able to make both of these abstracts just before sunrise while the sky was on fire. I added both of these images to my dawn collection and they are available as prints. I can do these in Acrylic, or metal in basically any size, or on a handmade 16x24 wood frame.

Contact me if you are interested.

Happy Sunday.

This blurry abstract was taken at Half Moon Bay, California, during a trip that I was lucky enough to go on with my daughter.

We mount and seal photograph on a 12x18 handmade wooden frame. $80.00. Drop me a line if you are interested.

Guess what? I am kind of excited to announce that I have prints for sale! I have a variety of prints on handmade, wood frames in both 16x24, and 12x18 sizes that are going up for sale in the next week. I am also going to be selling a variety of images printed on metal. I am working on having a store right here on my web site, but for now all of these prints will be available and listed on my instagram. So head over there and follow me for details.

six word story

Inspired by Hemingway’s famous six-word tale, “For sale: baby shoes, never worn,” I am working on a new collection of photos based on the theme. the “six word story” has served as a prompt for decades, testing writers’ ability to create their own succinct masterpieces with all sorts of clever results. My goal is to create a story, in six words, based on an image that I have taken.

tent for two,

fall colors,

memories.

Glamping

I took a trip up to Ithaca last week to Firelight Camps for an overnight getaway. Firelight camps is an upscale campground in Ithaca, New York. Firelight Camps is an elevated camping experience with graceful safari tents that are furnished with hardwood floors, king or queen beds, and include a private balcony. Located on the grounds of La Tourelle Hotel and Spa, guests share access with August Moon Spa and can dine at John Thomas Steakhouse. In addition, they provide a complimentary breakfast and wine hour around our nightly campfire. There is a full bar and our hosts made a few very tasty old fashions.

We spent the night rotating between the couch and the fire, which is roaring day and night and returned to our “room” for a bed. Sleeping in a king size bed, under the warm blankets, basically outside made for a very sound and restful nights sleep. There is a trailhead that leads to Buttermilk Falls, but we chose to sleep in instead of a morning hike.

Our tent for two

No better way to spend a cool October night

The neighborhood

Hello

If you are in the Point Pleasant area today between 10-2 stop by the Point Beach Farmers Market.  Christine and I will be there and would love say hello.  There are a bunch of vendors selling all sorts or veggies and goodies, along with cool crafts. We have abstracts on custom wood frames in both 16x24 and 12x18.  We have some 5x7 and 8x10 prints along with a few acrylics that are all for sale.

grandeur

Alberto Giacometti // "The more I work, the more I see things differently...everything gains in grandeur every day, becomes more and more unknown, more and more beautiful."

Vitality

Martha Graham // "There is a vitality, a life force, an energy...that is translated through you into action, and because there is only one of you in all time, this expression is unique. And if you block it, it will never exist... The world will not have it. It is not your business to determine how good it is nor how valuable nor how it compares with other expressions. It is your business to keep it yours clearly and directly, to keep the channel open."

I believe in life force and I also think that most of us block this energy without even realizing it. We don’t really understand what this energy is and we don’t let it out. I think that we judge these signals we are getting as to how they will play in society and that is where the issue is. We live our lives, largely dictated on what other people think and say. I believe that when this energy is trying to get out, we don’t let it through because we question how it will be received. I think that it is our job to not judge the message, or try to over process what is coming through. Our job is to simply keep the channel open.

At least that is what I think.

Woke up early for sunrise one day last week and got a bunch of great colors to work with.

Life is pretty good.