Don't Fear the Reaper - 2/1/15 - Image-a-day

Today's image came from yesterday's long hike. It's an outdoor sculpture of a skeleton in the yard of a house along the Cape Henry Path in Virginia Beach. It's a larger-than-life metal rendering and I always see it as a Grim Reaper. A reminder of how brief and fragile this sweet life is. Hiking is a sensual act for me, something that connects me to the world and makes me feel alive. The samurai had a bushido saying, "That it is good to fresh one's mind every morning with death". That sounds morbid, but what it means is to not take life for granted. Today was a good day. I walked on the beach with my wife, worked on some art and ate a fine meal. I hope your day was lived as well.

OK HW

Nature's Catherdal - 1/31/2015 - Image-a-day

I've been behind in my hiking/walking/running miles this month. My goal this year is eight hundred miles, so I need to average about sixty-seven miles a month. Today I got out for a big hike, thirteen miles, which brought my total for the month to fifty-seven miles, so ten miles behind.

It was a cold, crisp day, perfect for a long hike, so I started from my house in Chick's Beach and headed to the Virginia Beach oceanfront via First Landing State Park. I took the "Long Creek Trail" which runs the length of the park, much of it along the water. One of my favorite sections wanders through a stand of Spanish Moss covered trees. There is a scared atmosphere to this area. The grey, shroud-like moss gently moving with the breeze suggests a living cathedral. I wonder if the native American Indians who lived here before the Europeans came, considered it holy ground?

OK HW

Bulls' Eye - 1/30/15 - Image-a-day

I was very happy to find real, steel-tip dart boards in Pleasure House Brewing tonight. Too bad I didn't have my darts with me, but next I will. The electronic boards have become the standard these days I think mostly because they require quarters to use, but the steel-tip boards are the one and only true dart game in my book.

OK HW

Farewell Mike Larsen - 1/29/15 - Image-a-day

This is a wood sculpture by Michael Larsen. Mike was a friend and brother-artist and he died this week at the much too young age of forty-four. I knew Mike from working with him at Virginia Scenic where we both carved theatrical set pieces. We always had a friendly competition and would trash talk each other's work, but when the rubber-met-the-road, Mike always was generous of spirit and a supportive colleague.

I don't know why he left us too soon, but the world is a better place for the lovely art he created while he was with us.

Rest in peace my friend.

OK HW

Shadows on the Wall - 1/28/15 - Image-a-day

Never doubt that you are always surrounded by art. You just need the right eyes to see it.

OK HW

First Snow - 1/27/2015 - Image-a-day

Woke-up this morning to find our area was brushed by the big winter storm. I love snow, so was happy to see the white stuff, but I know for many folks in the Northeast, it's a different story. There were dire predictions that New York City would get two to three feet and the Governor of Connecticut shut the whole state down last night around nine. I was hoping for a full on snow day, but alas, all we got was a two hour delay.

OK HW

Jeff Maisey - 1-26-15 - Image-a-day

I hung out with a very old friend tonight and it was good. We reminisced about some old adventures and mused about all the possibilities for journeys to come. A true friend is a rare thing in this life. Jeff and I have had some ups and downs, but we're still amigos and I am glad for that.

Zahdah,

OK HW

What Attracts Me - 1-25-15 - Image-a-day

The sun was out today, though winter's chill is still in the air. I got a seven-mile hike in today, starting on the beach with my wife along for the first mile or so. She turned back down the beach and I continued on for the longer route, cutting back into a neighborhood heading south. On one of the side streets, I passed a tree with peeling bark and had to stop and get a photo. I love textures like that, peeling paint on an old building, weathered stone on some ancient ruin, anything that catches the light and weaves a pattern that shows the hand of life and time passing.

OK HW

Arches - 1-24-15 - Image-a-day

I got out for an eight-mile hike today. It was a cold, grey, damp day, perfect for a long walk with some podcasts in my ears and a warm, familiar ache filling my legs and feet. Check here to see my stats and a map where I went.

I made a pass through the new Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Brock Environmental Center in the Pleasure House Point area and found this super cool drift wood archway on the path leading up to the center. I like how this rustic arch mirrors the sleek, futuristic arches of the building. The center is powered by wind and solar energy. The wind turbines were spinning fiercely in the strong north winds. It made me feel hopeful.

OK HW

Friday Crush Hour - 1-23-15 - Image-a-day

I have a long commute to work that takes me through a tunnel and the traffic is often disagreeable, especially on Friday's. I always check the traffic cameras before I head out and today I was glad I did because it was a parking lot out there. There had been a fatal car crash earlier in the day that had brought all traffic to a full stop while the authorities did their grim work. By the time I left for home, the traffic was moving again, but the back-ups were long, so I had to use every shortcut I know.

Happy Friday!

OK HW

Populuxe NASA-Style - 1/22/15 - Image-a-day

Last year my office at work was moved into a new building. It's a big building, very modern with long hallways and random hang-out and work areas scattered around. In one alcove on the second floor, I found this populuxe-ish light display.

OK HW

Bow Before Your Alien Overlord - 1/21/15 - Image-a-day

Just rollover and let them take control. Things will be so much easier...

OK HW

Deer Corpse - 1/20/15 - Image-a-day

This shot wasn't taken today, it was taken in Mississippi on my "Red Clay Walk". I was about a mile into my walk when I spotted something in the ditch. Upon closer inspection I found it was a corpse! My overactive imagination pulled me instantly into "Mississippi Chainsaw Massacre". The scene a lone, lost person on a desolate country road finds a body in a ditch then the sound of a revving chainsaw and strange laughter... Luckily, it was just a deer carcass, dumped by some thoughtless hunters. I always wonder why so many hunters and fishermen litter and despoil the countryside and shores, yet talk about "loving nature".

OK HW