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.

California Dreaming

Wilco // I'd like to rest my heavy head tonight
On a bed of California stars
I'd like to lay my weary bones tonight
On a bed of California stars

Sunset, Catalina Island

Been missing the magic of California a lot lately. I can’t get enough of all of the gorgeous sunsets. It just seems like everything is a little more beautiful there.

Even the little things.

See you soon.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you

Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,

If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,

But make allowance for their doubting too;

If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,

Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,

Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,

And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;

If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;

If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster

And treat those two impostors just the same;

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken

Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,

Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,

And stoop and build ’em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings

And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,

And lose, and start again at your beginnings

And never breathe a word about your loss;

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew

To serve your turn long after they are gone,

And so hold on when there is nothing in you

Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,

Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,

If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,

If all men count with you, but none too much;

If you can fill the unforgiving minute

With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,

Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,

And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

What a long strange trip it's been

Dead and Co., Camden NJ - 6/20/19. Celebrating 54 trips around the sun.

Blu

This dog. I was the one who said it was a bad idea. That it was going to be like having a baby, but worse. He would drive us crazy and take over the house. He did all of that and more. Yet somehow, he also found the way to my heart and became my new best friend along the way.

Despair

Mary Oliver //“You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body 

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Submission

Charles Bukowski // "Your life is your life. Don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission. Be on the watch. There are ways out. There is light somewhere. It may not be much light but it beats the darkness. Be on the watch. The gods will offer you chances. Know them. Take them. You can’t beat death but you can beat death in life, sometimes. And the more often you learn to do it, the more light there will be. Your life is your life. Know it while you have it. You are marvelous. The gods wait to delight in you."

Nachos Gordo

A Sunday afternoon trip over to Asbury Park turned into the best way to end the weekend. A sidewalk dinner of Nachos Gordo and a la carte tacos at Loteria was a delicious and relatively cheap meal. We even split two margaritas, which means I drank most of both. The usual window shopping almost got us a cool, green, mid century ashtray that we absolutely did not need.

Ecstasy

Jack Kerouac // "Everything is ecstasy, inside... Close your eyes, let your hands and nerve-endings drop, stop breathing for 3 seconds, listen to the silence inside...and you will remember."

Path

Carl Jung // “If the path before you is clear, you are probably on someone else’s”.  

Memories

Anthony Bourdain //  "Travel isn't always pretty. It isn't always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that's OK. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind."

I am a big fan of the road trip.  Road trips give you the opportunity to see other places, try new foods, and visit other areas of the country.  One of my favorite places to visit is Charleston, South Carolina.  This past weekend, my Goddaughter graduated High School and my family made a trip down for the weekend.  Some of the memories that made this weekend special were;

Shrimp and grits for breakfast.  Watching my mom beat my son at "flip cup".  The absolutely incredible burnt ends from @swigswinebbq. Playing corn hole in the blazing heat while we waited for a table for breakfast.  A few glasses of Mexican Cake from @WestbrookBrewingco. The ridiculous brisket @LewisBarbecue.  Sunday service at Seacoast Church in Mount Pleasant.  Our flight home even got cancelled, so we got to rent a mini van and drive home from Myrtle Beach.  Being able to share all of this with the people I love leaves a great big mark on my heart.

For me, a road trip with the people you love is always a journey that I jump at the opportunity to take.  I am not sure what I left behind, but I took a lot of memories home with me. 

- Jaime, Hayden and Hudson. Memorial Day, 2019, Battery Park, Charleston, SC.

Answers

Winona Ryder // “When you finally accept that it’s ok not to have answers and it’s ok not to be perfect, you realize that feeling confused is a normal part of what it is to be a human being. 

I seem to spend a lot of time lately dealing with the fact that I don’t have answers to a lot of the questions that keep coming up in my life.  It wasn’t until I finally accepted that maybe there weren't always answers, that it actually became easier for me to find peace with the situation and move forward. 

Being ok with not having the answers makes me feel vulnerable to something that is unknown.  When I am vulnerable, I am forced to be my true self.  Forced to remove the masks, pretensions, and time wasted trying to please others.  I am beginning to realize that it's only when I am being myself am I ever really going to ever be happy and that is a good thing.

- Image of the rudder and hull of a sailboat on Cayuga Lake, Ithaca, NY.  Spring 2019

Departure

Tennessee Williams // "There is a time for departure even when there’s no certain place to go

Blinders

Meryl Streep // "Put blinders on to the things that conspire to hold you back, especially the ones in your own head."

I see the lights of the school and the neighborhood houses blurred in the darkness.  This is the neighborhood where I take my nightly walks with the dog I really didn't want to get. The same dog who has quickly become my new best friend.

I see lights blurred by the blinders of so many changes that have taken place.  So many ups and downs.  These same blinders also show me the lights that lead me home.

Some people only see a blurry photo.

Some people don’t see anything at all.

Listen

Rick Rubin // "If you listen carefully, people explain to you what it is that they need."