I was out, living life...

Have you embraced the arrival of a new season?  Are you ready to...Fall?  

I am!

Yet...what a summer it was for me...what a fine, full summer it was, indeed. 

I'd like to linger in it, just a little bit longer so that I could continue to roam out west &

celebrate out east & take photos of all that full living...just a wee bit more.

Vacationing is good for the head & the heart while traveling is food for the soul.  

I had been so busy but,  in between the months of hard work,  I was fortunate enough to take some time off & take a few trips.  I had the chance to visit beautiful & special places right here in the U.S.A.  I took adventures that rewarded me with spiritual, soulful & heartfelt gifts.  I met really kind people throughout my journey & stayed in very gracious communities. When I returned home, I was invited to celebrate love with dear friends & photograph their weddings (2 of them)!  This was a magical, memorable summer & it was also a photographic dream for me! 

I meandered down hidden Chinatown streets & through thickly wooded forests of 

Northern California.  I sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge...oh yes i did!

I shared a quiet little river bed with a spotted owl one afternoon 

& 

a smashing moment with a Moose as we watched a tail smacking beaver make waves
one early evening.

I huffed & puffed my way up towards the timberline to watch the western sunset, 

and I comfortably collected beach glass, at sea level, along the Pacific Ocean.

I visited Mesa Verde & was enamored with its beauty.

I cried at Point Lookout during the golden hour.

I climbed ladders up into Ancestral Puebloan cliff dwellings 

& I prayed, 

overwhelmed with their glory.

I connected with the red rock, the silence & the solitude. 

 I dusted off my rough outs, slipped into my western soul,  

& I felt at home 

in the vast mesa valley. 

I donned my vintage aviators, melted into the saddle of a black mustang & rode like the wild wind.  

I brought back souvenirs: one of a fallen feather, one made of white buffalo turquoise,
 a ground pound of Sinful Delight 

& 

over six hundred digital images...

but it's the lingering fullness within my heart,  

the feeling of "being home," that means the most to me.

I captured tender moments & gracious gestures that filled with me pride: 

lovers saying "i do," 

symbolic rings being slipped on steady fingers,  

first kisses given & taken as husband & wife...

but it's the lingering fullness within my heart, 

 from loving friendships, that means the most to me. 

I was out, living life & living it in the details.  

Looking through these visual images
I can take a step back in time & linger...just a wee bit longer,
in the moment, at the places & with the people that made up my

beautiful summer & filled my heart.

PS: Dang that Sinful Delight is goooood coffee!!!