Seven Miles in Annapolis

Today I got back on the road for what I believe is a round of credible training for the N2N-TCP.  I've certainly done more in the past...a lot more....but based on recent history, this was a good solid walk in one stretch, and it feels good to get back out on the road.

Walking has become the place where I can be myself.  The world comes at me more slowly. I seem to have choices in how to react. It's the one place where I feel like I can be myself on my terms. I don't get that in my home. In fact, I'm pretty sure my marriage is over except for the legalities. I've certainly played a role in getting that piece of my life where it is right now, but the lack of understanding and forgiveness on both my part and my spouse's part is the principle reason things are coming apart at the seams.  After a very unpleasant encounter where my contribution to the family was downplayed and questioned (once again) it was good to get out on the road and see that the world still spins.  All is not chaos. Things are actually pretty damn good if you just slow down a minute and notice.

Annapolis Harbor Skyscape

The sky was spectacular. You don't get this kind of all encompassing beauty on television. Not even close. What you get is your head passively crammed full of fantasy that, if you're really not careful, you'll begin to believe are representations of real life. What a bunch of horseshit. Real life happens out under skies like this one, and it's difficult to be lured into a sense of expectation based on unreality if you get out and put yourself under the hot sun of reality every day. Dialing back the television to almost nothing is one of the best things I've done for myself in a number of years.

Blue Crabs - Annapolis

Dealing with real life in Annapolis can take you from watching someone catch their own food in the form of Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs to the other end of the societal spectrum.

Art Deco "Graffiti" Wall at the Westin Annapolis Hotel 

The more cultured aspects of Annapolis include the Westin Hotel with it's very own art deco graffiti wall. Though a bit more contrived than the catching of dinner...let's face it, if you're commissioning someone to paint a graffiti wall, it's probably not really a graffiti wall...there is a reality on the lawn here that just can't be captured on television. The salty taste of sweat from my upper lip, the heat of the sun on my shoulders, the dampness from sweat between my backpack and my back, and the knowledge that if I went home by the most direct route from here I'd still have about two miles (and 32 minutes) to cover the distance.

It's good to get back on the trail. I feel suddenly more alive than I have in the last couple of weeks. I don't know what tomorrow will hold, but with any manner of luck, it will be more reality and less horseshit.

Glideslope Sunset

After a productive week in the south, I am home. The gifts that technology have bestowed on my generation are truly spectacular. I'm not at all convinced we're using this unique time in history to its greatest advantage. I'm struck by the wealth that is manifest all around me, and it makes me a little somber. With great opportunity comes great responsibility. It's hard to argue that we don't have great opportunity.

Sunset on the final approach to BWI

I am grateful for today and all that it's brought into my path, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow where I hope to live up to the challenges.

Caught Up in the Sunset

Posting has been light the last several days. Truth be told, I'm in a bit of a rut. Part of the trouble is weariness. I need a change of pace to refresh my creative spark. I suspect twelve hours of uninterrupted sleep would do me a world of good as well.

Be that as it may, I was talking on the phone with Rory this afternoon when I dropped off the line to take another call.  During the second call, I went on a mission to spot alligators, and eventually found myself in the back parking lot of a gas station overlooking Mobile Bay. Reading that last sentence, I understand how strange it sounds, but I assure you the experience was quite a bit more pedestrian than it sounds on the page.

My second call ended, and the sunset arrived. It took me twenty five minutes to call Rory back as I'd promised.

The beginning of the end of the day - Mobile Bay

I've probably mentioned this before, but if you want to capture a really good sunset it helps to have some broken cloud cover on the horizon. The clouds add texture and reflective surfaces and play with the light in a the way that a clear sky just cannot master.

Sunset - Mobile Bay

The twilight deepened, and the fiery display played out it's natural course. My imagination was hooked. The call back to Rory was swept away by the explosion of colors in the sky.  No filters here, although I did manage the exposure a little.

It's been a tiring week, but I continue to be blessed by the beauty that surrounds us all each and every day. As always, I'm looking forward to what tomorrow has in store.

Forty Three Years and a Sunset

Today I put forty three years and a sunset in the rearview mirror.

Forty Three Years and a Sunset

I don't know what adventure tomorrow may reveal, but I'm sure looking forward to it.

Summer in Fairhope

Got some walking done in one of my favorite places in these parts.  I going to just leave these right here.

Fairhope Median - Allergy Sufferers Beware

This is what summer should be about.

Airborne

Through a series of events that were beyond my control, I found myself taking the long way 'round to Alabama today. To be perfectly honest, I met this new earlier yesterday without a great deal of glee. Interestingly enough, as Anna Kendrick points out in "Cups" the long way round proved to be one of the routes with the prettiest of views. A couple of years ago, I would have boarded that plane with a chip on my shoulder, the window shade closed, and my nose buried in a book or perhaps, even worse, an extended round of Angry Birds. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing inherently wrong with Angry Birds (particularly the Star Wars series which is quite entertaining) and reading is a great thing to do, but I would have missed out on seeing this view.

Airborne - Somewhere between Baltimore and Chicago

I was reminded today how large the world is and how small I am.  Within a couple of thousand feet of the highest I'm ever likely to get from the surface of the earth, the climate stretched for as far as the eye could perceive. All of this, is contained in the miniscule dust mote as seen from the Voyager Spacecraft from beyond Saturn. The worst thing that happened to me today was I had to spend about four hours in Washington, DC followed by four hours in Chicago.

What a gift. Today was spectacular. I'm looking forward to seeing what tomorrow will create for me to enjoy.

Dumpster Diving

In Time Enough For Love, Robert Heinlein has the main protagonist Lazarus Long opine that once a place is crowded enough to require identification, it's probably time to think about moving on to different locales. I resembled that remark in spades today.

For reasons that aren't clear, I've misplaced an identification, and this one has avoided location for longer than these sorts of events usually last.  I've searched everywhere I can think to search including pawing through a trash can and doing a thirty minute spot of dumpster diving. I did not take the plunge onto a half full six yard dumpster without trying everything I could think of first. It was pretty nasty, and I spent about half the time choking back the gag reflex.

All if it has been to no avail, so I'm left to contemplate this branch in my path that the universe has thrown my way.  It's probably nothing, but it's also difficult to see this unfortunate turn of events as anything other than inconvenient. I know it's not just a hassle, but in the heat of the moment that's challenging to accept.

Tomorrow, I'll try again to rectify this loss, and I'm looking forward to sussing out the cause for this minor (I hope) fork in the road. Perhaps it's a reminder to heed the wisdom of Heinlein and cast about for a new destination. One way or another, it will be an adventure.