Hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July.
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This is My World
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.
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Rusty Bridge
This image was taken on an overpass. The bridge really did look like it needed some tender care.
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Taking in the View
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.
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Room 265
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. 🙂 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!
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Oval Window
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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.
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Hotel Time
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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.