Traveling the road with no destination.

Sitting here tonight, listening to my tunes (I love iTunes), just contemplating what's happening in my life.

I'm working hard on my website (http://www.avianphotography.com) and at the same time gathering all the high-res images for the book in the process.

I'm getting up early again tomorrow, for the 181st day in the last 15 months to head to the Forsythe refuge with my cameras.

I have no idea where this all leads me.

No idea if I will make it.

No hint of what is to come.

I just know that it's what I need to do, what I should do, what I love to do.

I have to believe that the best is yet to come.

But more importantly, I am taking the best of what I can experience and enjoy while I have the day.

Sometimes I think I should be spending all day long hawking recruiters for a job in IT.

I've sent out close to 100 applications in the last 6-7 months. Not so much as a phone call.

I don't really want to ever work in IT again, anyway.

I can't stomach another clueless suit masquerading as a manager.

I can't deal with more corporate bullshit or corporate-speak.

I won't be harvesting the low-hanging fruit. Or examining the economies of scale. I won't be exploring the synergies. Or working proactively. I won't be wasting my time doing worthless bullshit for worthless people in a worthless company.

I'll be living, breathing, loving my life and what I see, hear and capture with my cameras.

Even if I don't have a dollar to my name, or a future.

Because I live for today. Every day.

Once in a lifetime moments....

Today was the most incredible and most spectacular day I have ever had out with my cameras. In awe of the natural world, I stood witness to so many incredible sights.

All in the course of about 8 hours of my life.

I saw so much. I captured so much. I learned. So much.

I watched as a Peregrine Falcon sat on a Speed Checked by Radar sign...from 4 feet away. For 10 minutes. I have photos where you can see the details of the iris and pupil of his eyes.

I spent 4 hours...watching and photographing Osprey in a courtship ritual. But not just any courtship. A female being pursued by 2 males.

There were chases. There were fights. There was even a time where one male and the female grasped each others talons in mid air, then tumbled to the ground.

This went on so long during the day that my good friend who was with me, Joe Campbell, had to go take asprin because the adrenaline and stress of shooting the action for so long gave him a headache.

At one point, I could see the Osprey looking at me with my naked eye. Eyeball to eyeball, he flew 15 feet over my head.

This went on for hours. The 3 of them would cry out, the female would come land on the nest and cry to the males to come and get her. Then she would take off as they gave chase.

Over and over again, I fired the shutter on 2 cameras for a total of nearly 4000 shots. 4000 shots on a day where the sights and sounds alone drained me of all the excitement and energy I could muster.

I will never forget this day.

I was privileged to witness nature in all her glory, and have a front row seat to some amazing things.

While the rest of my world disintegrates...

Moments and days like today are gifts beyond measure.

Today my soul was lifted, and I soared. I smiled, I laughed, and I was in awe.

Awe.

I love every day I get.

Blessed.

Reflections in the rear-view mirror.

They are closer than they appear, supposedly.

For me, there is truth in that.

No matter how hard I put the pedal to the metal, there it is.

The past, as much as we try to distance ourselves from it. It's always there.

I've been running at maximum RPM's and sucking down the Octane-laden fuel for a while now. That fuel is primarily Ethanol based.

I need to put the past farther behind. Yet it creeps up on me all the time.

I guess I can't escape it.

I try to deny that what my life was supposed to be, versus what it is...is irreconcilable.

The one beneficial thing all of this provides, however, is the impetus and motivation to keep trying harder.

In my writing, and in my photography.

I told a friend just yesterday....If I was in a relationship, in love, had my own home and was happy...this book would never get written.

I now understand the lament of many much more successful authors than I can ever hope to be.

They need the connection with pain and loss to express themselves, and to find that creativity. When all is good in the world, and we are loved and content and happy, we lose the edge.

It is only in the wanting of it. The loss of it. The regrets. The pain and the wistfulness.

That we can seek the best inside of us, to defy those things which we held so dear, and which elude us.

As Dante said, so eloquently.

"There is no greater sorrow than to recall in misery a time when we were happy".

That sorrow allows us to find the beauty and good in the world, because our soul thirsts for it. Because we crave it so intensely.

I find that in my photography. In being out there. In writing the words that express how it feels.

The price for being able to be our best, means having to experience life when things are at their worst.

I'll glance out the window and see the past gaining on me. It never seems to disappear.

But that doesn't mean that I won't push the pedal to the floor and find that starlight in the trees, lining the road ahead.

I was listening....

To iTunes, and Eddie Money:

I Wanna Go Back:

I was listening to the radio
I heard a song reminded me of long ago
Back then I thought that things were never gonna change
It used to be that I never had to feel the pain
I know that things will never be the same now

I wanna go back
And do it all over again
But I can't go back I know
I wanna go back
Cause I'm feeling so much older
But I can't go back I know

I recall hanging out on Friday night
The first slow dance
Hoping that I'll get it right
Back then I thought I'd never ever stand alone
It used to be that a lonely heart was never shown
I know that things will never be the same

I wanna go back
And do it all over again
But I can't go back I know
I wanna go back
Cause I'm feeling so much older
But I can't go back I know

Can't go back

I can't go back

I know now that things will never be the same

I said
I wanna go back
And do it all over again
But I can't go back I know
I wanna go back
Cause I'm feeling so much older
But I can't go back I know

I wanna go back
And do it all over again
But I can't go back I know
I wanna go back
Cause I'm feeling so much older
But I can't go back I know

I wanna go back
And do it all over again
But I can't go back I know
I wanna go back
Cause I'm feeling so much older
But I can't go back I know

No, No
And do it all over...

How did I get here?

This morning got me thinking. A lot.

I am moving on and my life keeps changing. For those of you who have followed this blog, or know anything about the last few years of my life....

You know that change and overcoming big obstacles has been the story for me.

Just 4 short years ago, I was married, had a beautiful home of my own, and a long career.

So much has happened. So very much. So much so that it sometimes overwhelms me if I think too long about it.

What struck me today was how different I am. How I never saw myself here.

About 2 weeks ago I got notice that one of my photos was an honorable mention (complete with prizes to be awarded to me), in a national contest. The "Share The Experience" contest for the National Parks and Wildlife Refuges of the United States. It's quite an honor. One of 15 winners, out of many thousands submitted, from all over the country.

Yesterday I came home to an e-mail from a prestigious magazine and organization that I belong to. Ducks Unlimited. They are the leading organization for the conservation of wetlands for support of waterfowl, in the world. They are HUGE.

I submitted 3 photos (the maximum allowed) to their magazine photo contest.

I am a winner. One of my shots was selected, and will be in the edition that highlights the winners of the contest.

I am absolutely thrilled by it.

I also discussed the possibility of being a regular contributor to the magazine with the photo editor. It's looking possible.

So, my dreams of doing nature and wildlife photography as a career are starting to look more possible. I am very encouraged.

But as I move forward, my heart aches a bit.

I wish I had someone to share this with. Someone to love.

I feel that loss very powerfully now.

I have not been successful in love in my almost 52 years on this planet.

I am not relenting in my pursuit of my future.

But after all I have experienced (and lost), I see me taking this trip alone.

I won't stop. I love what I do. I will do all I can to make it.

But I can't help feeling that it will be a life where I do what I love, as a completely solo pursuit and existence.

So while the forces that drove me to pursue the birds and my photography with a passion are paying off, or appear to be on the verge...

It is a stark signpost for me that the future lies ahead, by myself.

In a couple of years, I plan on living in NY State in Catskills, in a home I build on the property we have there, on a gorgeous little lake.

I will have my cameras, my dogs, and my home, finally.

And I will learn to love a life of solitude.

Pondering

Tonight I received a friend request on Facebook. From a girl I dated and had a relationship with after my divorce, a few years ago. The relationship ended badly (due to her deception) and was a crushing disappointment to me at the time.

I accepted the request.

Not sure why.

Maybe out of curiosity.

But what struck me after visiting her page on Facebook was that she not only had pictures of her with a man, but that she was now married.

I often wonder.

Do people want to get back in touch with you when things are going great in their lives, just to show you what you "missed out" on?

To let you know they are happy and content and "miss their hubby so much" as she says in her most recent update, as he is away on a trip, evidently.

The thing about me few people get is that after all I have endured and lost, that nothing really can phase me. It's just more shit to pile on the heap.

I am so devoted to the course of my life, in writing this book...and in pursuing my photography, that nothing is going to upset my apple cart.

It doesn't hurt me that she has moved on and found love and a husband.

I don't regret breaking up with her, and so much has happened since then that it really pales in comparison of the other life-altering events that I've experienced.

Maybe it'll be nice to be "friends" with her again, in some sense.

But what is most telling for me, is that I don't feel much.

After all this time, I was surprised to see her request, that's for sure. But I don't have any other feelings, other than just curious to know what's up with her I guess.

My perspective on life is so different now.

In the past, I would have had an emotional reaction to something like this.

Now, I just put it in the pile with the ashes from the rest of my life.

On another note, since I am pondering here....

I used to love my iPod. Even though it had an engraving from my ex-wife, it was so great to have all my tunes with me. It recently bit the dust.

So, although I am dirt poor, I finally ordered a new one, for a couple of reasons.

One, so I could have my music with me.

The other is because it supports the i-Bird application, which for me is beyond cool.

It's the new 32GB iPod touch.

I had it engraved.

Don't Ever Quit
Follow Your Dreams.

I found him there.

I found God in nature. That's where we talk. I have a connection with the birds and the animals and God's creation. We talk to each other. Well, at least I talk to them. :) On some level, I understand them. And they seem at times to know me. The only reason I have been so blessed with so many amazing photographs is because they and God wanted me to see and to have them. I know that sounds bizarre, but I know it, I can feel it, and I have been blessed unlike anyone else who goes there. The things I have seen and photographed. Others I know keep asking me how, when, where did you get that?

The incredible things that have been shown to me. The scenes I've witnessed. Some of it just because of persistence and time. But there is an almost intangible force at work. A force that I can now almost feel and understand.

That has renewed my faith. It was the only way God could reach me. All of the pain in my life and the job from hell being the last straw, led me there. As if directed by God himself to GO and see, and to believe.

And I went.

And I saw.

And I believe.