Living one shutter at a time
There’s magic in every sunrise. The aesthetic beauty of light bending and reflecting through layers of gaseous atmosphere paints with ever-shifting brush strokes of reds and purples. Each shutter captures differing images of this short-lived, quickly changing, and tricky to capture light. It feels as though time slows as each breath becomes sweeter than the next. I get lost in these slow, peaceful moonlit moments of solitude. Read more
Setting up our campervan, the smell of BBQ was undeniable; the seductive scent of giant pits carefully preparing chosen cuts of meat. Meats slowly cooked into submission, seasoned to perfection, and smothered in homemade super-secret sauces. In the South BBQ is an art-form, a near-religion, and all preparations were being made to usher us into heaven. Read more
Cutting through a carpet of water plants, yet having them close in as if to hide your path is somewhat unnerving. However, the balance and beauty of this place assures its visitor that respect will be respected. To one who knows the rules, Read more
I felt the arid heat of this terrain drawing vitality from us as it’s splendor encouraged exploration. The sun lived in this valley, against its rays my pale ginger skin stood no chance. If I removed my shirt at midday the radiance of my pale glow could blind everyone, at-least for the two minutes before I burst into flames. Read more
A snake in the tent, a random blizzard, or attracting the undesired attention of a large predatory cat, and yes all of this has happened to me. By its nature Adventure requires random variables which surprise and at times frighten us. I am a meticulous planner, an obsessive details driven, often over-prepared person. Yet somehow Adventure always finds me, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Read more
Ecology and Environmentalism are topics I am not qualified to discuss. Yet, after the semantics, who with any sense of conviction doesn’t love nature? I was raised in deep South East Texas a place where hippies don’t chain themselves to trees in protest of deforestation. As a child we burnt our trash in a metal 55 gallon drum; on a side note there is nothing more redneck than throwing aerosol cans into a fire. It is safe to say my views have changed greatly. But, then again no great southern story ever starts with a deeply studied, well dressed gentlemen saying, hold my salad and watch this? Read more
I was one of those lucky kids whose parents took them camping every summer break. Now to context that statement, long rides in a cramped vehicle drive me insane. It was always she’s touching me, and are we there yet. As a ginger before SPF 60 I would smolder and smoke in direct sun light; so I was not allowed to leave the camper from 12pm-5pm. I watched as other kids rode bikes and swam while I took extended classes to combat dyslexia. I would complain but reading and writing is so much better than melanoma. Read more
Charlie, Zach, and Ray, had never been camping, yet for some insane reason they excepted our invitation to car camp and hike Boykin Springs. Ray quickly caught on to the axe wielding lumbar jack bit, as Zac set up tents, and Charlie as our little sister somehow managed to watch as we worked. Around the campfire Lauren and I shared the history of Boykin Springs from the lumber boom to the C.C.C restoration project my grandfather had worked in planting trees. I told one of my many how not to hike stories in which I was stuck in a giant briar patch during sleeting rain with only a compass and an off scale map. Sometime around 9:30pm I emerged upon a dirt road looking as though I had lost a Mortal Combat death match with 1000 crazy ninja cats. Read more
I am a planner: food prep, the right gear, and long range forecast in relation to altitude, distances, and accessibility to water are in my opinion what keeps me from having to use the rescue me” button of shame“ on my Spot beacon. For all my planning and preparation I often overlook the important details. Thus I was wearing a pair of boots I couldn’t remember buying. As I mocked Ben for wearing old basketball shoes. Little did I know upon my feet were a pair of meat grinders ready to enact karma from the ankle down. Read more
Enchanted Rock is a formation one begins to experience long before they exit the highway. A solid pink granite dome lifting 425 feet above a terrain of rolling hills seems so foreign some assume it long ago fell from the voids of space rather than lifting from the depths of earth. Like most state parks it’s well maintained and held within the constant balance of public use and preservation. There is a consistency to Texas State Parks, a fluidity in the architecture, and infrastructure, however, each park has its own identity and character. Read more
Little Adventures 