My online journal where I share my interests in photography, nature, journaling, fountain pens, bicycling, coffee life, spirituality and the mystery of it all.
I spend a lot of time in hotels and airplanes, about half the month, actually. I’ve had people tell me they could not do what I’m doing and at the age of 60, I’m surprised I am to. But the variety of people I encounter each day and the places and sights I get to experience have added immensely to my life. Sometimes they are the just the small insignificant things such as my hotel room. The views from hotel windows, both looking out and in, are awesome. The evening this image was taken was just before the sun dropped below the horizon. I just loved the color of the sunlight against my bed and pillow. So, I spot metered and added one extra stop of light then went back to reading my book in the warm sunlight.
Working as a flight attendant offers a good study in personalities as we watch how people react to situations or we watch for body language and what that can tell us. Here are some of my observations working on an Embraer 170 and 175 Regional jet that seat 76 or 86 passengers.
It’s interesting, and sometimes entertaining, to observe passengers trying to place a 14 inch bag in the 11 inch overhead space. Oh, and the look of confusion, then frustration, and some embarrassment when we realize it will not fit, even if I’m told it fit before. I enjoy watching the elderly gentleman walk on board the aircraft, ticket stub in one hand reading glasses in the other and no baggage. đŸ™‚
Weather delays or mechanical delays can mess up the best laid plans for travelers. It’s not unusual to have passengers hitting their call buttons to ask us about their connecting flights. We can feel helpless in these situations as we know very little about what is going to happen 1-2 hours from now. Time travel is what people want rather than being present to where they are, after all they are taking traveling. My response; turn you phone off and fasten your seatbelt. We go nowhere until they do. Just kidding. đŸ™‚
Some passengers wear suits or a sport coat, nice dresses, casual slacks, and loafers. While some passengers wear pajamas, really short shorts/mini-skirts, or pants halfway down their butts (which requires one hand to always hold them up), flip-flops, and tank tops. The second group almost always asks for blankets and pillows then get frustrated because we do not carry them on our size of aircraft. Dress for the occasion: layer next time. đŸ™‚
But, and there’s always a but, we do feel for those who have been traveling for the past 20 hours and sometimes with small children. Or those who are on their way to a funeral, or going say good-bye to a dying family member or friend, or carrying the ashes of a daughter killed in a war, or are afraid to fly, or have constant back pain, a bum knee. The list could go on but will say that a good flight attendant will observe body and facial language. When we see those signs we try our best to make the next hour or two a pleasant experience for them. More importantly we want to get them to their destination safely because maybe they are going to see their new grandbaby.
Not really a post about photography but what the heck, it was on my mind. Okay, I’m done ranting.
Wow, I’m sneaking up on my 60th birthday this summer. Gasp! Where has the time gone? Even at this age I ask the questions about where I’m at in life and where I’m going. The life I live is not what I dreamed or envisioned in my youth. I know I cannot live in the past nor in the future but every once in a while I venture to those places. The only life I can live is the present. I must always remind myself to stay here.
I’m nomadic at this time in my life. After my divorce and selling the house I drove away from that chapter of my life with all my belongings in the back of a small pickup. It was a freeing moment. Of course, I’ve since added a few items to carry around with me so I may need two truck now. I spend half my month living in hotels and flying with passengers in a long metal tube. For the past year I’ve started carrying a laptop, an iphone and my journal along with my camera wherever I venture. I search out images of the world in front of me, the people or places or objects or patterns I see. This is the present, this is my world.
While in Burlington, Vermont on one of our overnights we enjoyed dinner at a small Italian restaurant called Bove’s. After indulging we needed to walk off the pasta so our path took us towards the lake where we found this lady enjoying the sun and looking out across Lake Champlain. It really was a wonderful day, enjoyed by all.
This is a familiar scene for those who travel and stay in hotel rooms. The number will change from night to night but the scene is almost the same. My work as a flight attendant, has required me to sleep in hotel rooms somewhere between 10-13 nights a month. There have been times when I’ve awoken at night completely disoriented as to where I am. I have also stepped out of my room looking right then left, not sure which direction is the lobby. And, there have been many times I needed to look at my key to remember which room I was in. Those moments happen less and less as I accept this nomadic life.
While shooting film I was not one of those photographers who wrote down important information so when the slides came back I would find myself disoriented. I may like an image but I did not know what shutter speed I used or what aperture I used. I was bracketing almost everything looking for one good image and hopefully a few compliments to boost my ego. With the advent of the digital age and all the information we have immediately, I’m not so disoriented anymore. I no longer wonder what aperture or shutter speed I used. I can adjust right there and take another image. I’ve also learned to use those tools to create the images I want.
However, I must admit that every once in a while I still get disoriented in the field and have been known take a longer route back to my car and not by choice. đŸ™‚ I took this image after I had stepped out of my hotel room to take my camera for a walk and looked both ways to orient myself. I giggled to my self and thought why not take a photo. So, this is really nothing more than a snapshot. I do hope you have a wonderful day and don’t get lost!
I have the opportunity to look out a lot of hotel windows. It comes along with the line of work I do. I must say there are some very interesting windows out there and some pretty boring windows. All kinds of shapes and designs. Some windows will have wonderful views while some will have crappy views. This window has both, a wonderful design and view. I discovered this window while on my search for breakfast. Some may not believe this, but do I like to use the stairs while in hotels so I can get in some much needed exercise as it helps keep my pants from shrinking as quickly. On this particular morning I opened the door to the stairwell and wall-ah, there was this oval window looking out over the wooded valley with the American flag proudly blowing in the light breeze. I excitedly ran back to my room, as if the window was going anywhere, and grabbed my camera then happily took a bunch of photos. I eventually walked down the four flights of stairs and ate breakfast, which was pretty good, and then took some more images on the way back. Now back to work.
Hotel time. As with many who travel with their work, we can find ourselves spending some alone time in our hotel rooms. As I have written about before the desk in our rooms can be a place to relax, journal, read and find quiet time. On this trip I brought along my laptop because of my recurrent training and study.
A friend of mine travels with his work and was venting some frustration due to mechanical and weather related delays on his trip home. I can relate to his feelings of frustration as I work as a flight attendant and face those situations on a regular basis. Wouldn’t it be nice to conduct our business on a local scale and not have to commute great distances. Think about this: Get up in the morning, take camera out and shoot a few frames, come back to the house, download the images while I take a shower. After shower make a latte then sip on my latte while I sort through my morning shoot. Do it again the next day.
I had the opportunity to do that for a while and loved it. Just outside the front door of my condo in Colorado is a pond where geese and ducks hang out, they’re always chattering about something. While a couple blocks away is a paved path I like to walk and winds through the city following a small creek. I would use these two locations for photo opportunities. That’s where I got the shot of this mallard. It’s an easy commute to either one of them. Since I’m walking there’s not going to be any mechanical delays, well maybe a few creaky bones and an ache or two from aging. If the weather is bad I can dress warmer, take an umbrella or, in the most severe cases, just stay home. That’s a delay I can easily live with and the delay occurred at home.
There is no major travel in that scenario, nor delays, nor much income. đŸ™‚ Just some thoughts. Hope everyone has a good day!
