Hi to all my friends and followers,

I didn’t think it would last this long, five years yesterday. The words began slow, jerky, and sometimes painfully. Eventually, it would turn into a love affair with the highs and lows of a personal relationship. There were times when it was hard to put fingers to the keyboard and others where words flew like a gust of wind. It’s still like that today but yet my love persists. Yes, folks this week marks the fifth anniversary of this blog and I’m celebrating!

This blog was started at the encouragement of The Eldest of our two daughters after my Traveling Partner and I returned from our six-week trip in the Fall of 2015 to the Northwest of the U. S. Before departing on that trip, I accumulated 40 or 50 email addresses of friends and family interested (maybe I should say tolerate) in receiving periodic messages about our trip. In total, I sent nine messages with stories of some our exploits and observations. There were no photos, only verbal descriptions of what we saw and did. The Eldest suggested writing a blog that would include photos. On our return, I began researching websites that hosted blogs, settling on WordPress. Like with anything new, the learning curve is steep. And from time to time, WordPress adds something new that at first is frustrating and makes me cranky. But eventually I figure it out, move on and wait for the next “new” invention.

My first blog was posted on November 14, 2015. It was about Madeline Island and contained a few photos added to the end of the narrative like they were an afterthought. A couple of my photography friends gave me some critical feedback, at first hard to take, that helped me to make timely improvements. For this, I thank them.

My second blog was also published on November 14, the day after the terrorist attack in Paris that killed 130 people and injured over 400. I was so emotionally moved that writing about my trip to France in the fall of 2013 was a way to come to grips with this horrific event and grieve with the people of France. With these two posts under my belt, it has become routine that every Sunday afternoon at 4 PM my time, an article with visuals is posted.

This post is the 264th since that crude beginning. As I’ve said before, I usually start something, get bored after awhile and move on to something else. For the third time in my life (marriage and photography being the first and second!), I’ve stuck with something longer than a year.

Over the years I’ve written stories and shared photos of places that we’ve traveled to in the U. S. and around the world. There are a number of stories about Madison and Wisconsin (where I currently reside), North Dakota (where I was born), New Orleans, Washington, DC, a few ghost towns, nearly all the western states, and everything in between. Looking through the archives, there are stories from Cuba, Costa Rica, Panama, Australia, England, Scotland, Italy, France, Ghana, and Ukraine. All are unique and special in their own way, one not like the other. There are posts on trees, clouds, voting, abstracts, holidays, events, and other topics when I run low on ideas. Some photos you’ve seen more than once when I revisit a topic from the past. Here’s a medley of photos from those posts.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With travel nearly impossible during this time of the virus, I find myself having to get more and more creative to come up with ideas for relevant articles without repeating too much. If this keeps up too long, I might have to take a hiatus unless, in the words of Willie Nelson, “I can’t wait to get on the road again.” Click here to watch an animated version of the theme song for this blog. When I hear Willie singing that song, I can’t help thinking of a fun stop we made in Luckenbach out in the Texas Hill Country. There you can hear Waylon Jennings singing the words:

“Let’s go to Luckenbach, Texas
With Willie and Waylon and the boys
This successful life we’re living’s
Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys
Between the Hank Williams’ pain songs and
Newbury’s train songs and “Blue Eyes Cryin’ in the Rain”
Out in Luckenbach, Texas, there ain’t nobody feelin’ no pain.”

 

Thanks for sticking with me, many since the beginning and a few joining recently. I’m honored to have you along for the ride.

Next up, a Thanksgiving tribute.

Until then, happy virtual travels!

Tom