My Post-Birthday Gift to You - “This Blessed Life" / “What Is Remembered" Photo Spotlights

“Far away in Northwestern Montana, hidden from view by clustering mountain-peaks, lies an unmapped corner - the Crown of the Continent.” - George Bird Grinnell - Century Magazine, 1901

“The Crown of the Continent”… pretty epic words to describe a place, right??… well, if you’ve been here (to Glacier National Park that is), you wholeheartedly understand!😉

So it was my Birthday this past Saturday, July 25th, born in 1977, which makes me 49… yes, one more year to the big 5-0!!!🤯 But you know what, with what I have done with my life over the past 15+ years, in a lot of ways, I feel better and stronger than I did in my twenties - in my prime is my mindset!

Over this past week as I’ve been settling back in to being home from the Krasl / Ann Arbor Festivals road trip, I’ve spent a good deal of time working on reclaiming the jungle that had become our landscape, mulch beds in particular, and boy is that feeling good! We’ve also been grilling lots of delicious meals and just enjoying some much needed down time from how busy the past few months have seemed, especially considering the amount of time I have spent constantly out in the heat and humidity more recently!

But, I have, in addition, been thinking of and working on what/where is the best place for me to follow up from where I left you last??? (See “Rocky Mountain Daydream” if you missed it!) And also a great way to welcome some newcomers here from my time in Michigan.

Yes, I do have several things I want and intend to share from that adventure, including checking another National Park off the list and re-visiting another one! ;-) But, as I’m still working through my thoughts and journaling on that experience, that will stay in my pocket for the time being…

Besides, in honor of my recent Birthday, what a better way to celebrate than to showcase two of my favorite gems from my favorite National Park - a Place that has Spoken to My Soul with Its Spirit - Glacier. A place John Muir described as ‘the best care-killing scenery on the continent.’ We will get deeper into that quote in another post though…

If you have been here and you’ve done the hike to Grinnell Glacier in the Many Glacier region of the Park, then you probably “get it.” And by that I mean - I have been very fortunate to see some incredible beauty (and if good fortune holds, I may get to see a lot more), but as I write these words, I am hard pressed to come up with hikes (as John Muir wrote) where the scenery compares to this from start to finish and back again…

“This Blessed Life” - Glacier National Park, MT

Linhof Kardan 4x5 Large-Format View Camera

Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar-S 150mm lens (Normal)

F45 at 1/2 of a second

Professional Fuji Velvia 100

“This Blessed Life”…

August 20th, 2019, early in the evening, Glacier National Park -

“I think it’s time to go build a fire and convene with some of Glaciers’ Spirits. A long day lies ahead…” - from my journal

This photograph is not an uncommon view to many who visit Glacier National Park. I certainly won’t say it’s easy to get here - from the Many Glacier Hotel/Camping/Parking area, you’ve got a 3+ mile hike gaining roughly 800 feet to stand at this view. If you haven’t been here - believe it or not, more and more extravagant beauty awaits you over another roughly 3.5 miles and 800+ more feet of elevation gain to Upper Grinnell Lake and the end of the trail! (See “What Is Remembered” below)

But come mid-morning to early evening, this trail is one of the most popular and crowded in the Park! And deservedly so. I often wonder if I have ever seen as much awe-inspiring splendor in one 6.5 mile stretch as the Grinnell Complex offers?! And this viewpoint area has been high on my radar ever since I took that first hike up here in 2016 and captured “What Is Remembered.”

So, here’s the thing… to truly capture the best light on this scene and bask in all of it’s glory with some sense of solitude, you’ve got to get here by dawn. And that means, in high Summer anyway, starting your day in the ballpark of 3am, give or take a little.

Oh, and if you haven’t had the thought already, the real kicker is - that means you are hiking in the dark/pre-dawn, by yourself, for roughly 3 miles, an hour and a half, in some of the most prime Grizzly terrain Glacier has to offer! There are often trail closures in this area due to Grizzly activity and they SHOULD BE HEEDED WITH THE UTMOST RESPECT!!! And you SHOULD NOT BE HIKING WITHOUT CARRYING BEAR SPRAY! Always be Bear Aware out here! And not just for you, but for the bears’ sake as well! These are magnificent creatures that need our help and protection to thrive! The less negative interactions between us both, the better!

Despite the inherent risks, however, there lies the inherent beauty in this ‘Crown of the Continent.’ It often isn’t easy or 100% safe, but can I outweigh the risk with the reward is what I ask myself in such a situation?

You’ll often hear adventurers of all types say something to the affect of ‘I just had a good feeling about it.’ As crazy as it may seem, I feel these “feelings” have merit. If something seems off, maybe you should listen to that. And if it feels right, maybe you should go for it! Sometimes you just have to trust your gut and hope that it pays off, accepting that there is no guarantee.

When I quoted my journal earlier talking about ‘convening with the Spirits of Glacier’ - that is a very real thing to me. Whatever you want to call it - this Place has an Ancient Spirit. And by feeling that, I feel safer in my journeys here.

All this being said - this particular morning turned out to be smooth sailing seas, fortunately! It is almost impossible to put into words the full glory of the scenery here - and that lack of words, thoughts even, that you can comprehend, speaks volumes of how special this place is. So, I’ll just let my journal entry take you out…

August 21st, 2019, gazing out upon early morning on Lower Grinnell Lake, Angel Wing, Mount Gould, the Salamander and waterfalls - all part of the Garden Wall, Glacier National Park -

“Wow…

Yeah. That about sums it up. Need I really try to say more?

This morning began at 3:30am, making coffee by moonlight at my Cut Bank campsite and driving over here to Many Glacier. I began hiking by the soft glow of pre-dawn light through the forest along the shores of Swiftcurrent and Josephine Lakes. Very early on, a movement in the forest and a couple sets of eyes accompanied by large silhouetted bodies met my headlamp… Bears, deer??!

Although I began hiking almost an hour later than I had wanted, it proved not to matter in terms of the light I had been hoping for, as the sun angle now in later August takes a while to rise up over the mountains. Late July I think would be ideal for catching when the sun perfectly rises in the valley between peaks and would bask the scene with its first golden glow!

Nonetheless, the colors and light upon these lakes, forests, and granite peaks I witnessed this morning were nothing short of spellbinding.

And here I have sat for a while now, so peaceful and serene, soaking in the fortune and glory of this blessed life!”

“What Is Remembered” - Glacier National Park, MT

Linhof Kardan 4x5 Large-Format View Camera

Schneider-Kreuznach Symmar-S 150mm lens (Normal)

F32 for 2 seconds

Professional Fuji Velvia 100

“What Is Remembered”…

         Glacier National Park has had my heart from the moment I first laid my eyes upon its majesty in the Summer of 2013. There are many places of indescribable beauty on this Planet, and of those I have been fortunate enough to gaze at with my own eyes, Glacier is special. There is a Spirit here that is undeniable. Just go there and feel it for yourself.

My hike/timing to capture this photograph without doubt put me in a potentially dangerous situation in the heart of Grizzly country during one of the most grueling days of mileage I have racked up as a backpacker. But in the end, it was one of the most spiritual and peaceful experiences on the trail I have ever had.

As I made my way back down the ridgeline all alone, I had to stop and soak in the beauty of the full moon glow every now and then while the silhouetted jagged peaks around me whispered like ghostly spires in the night sky. And my singular thought in these moments was - “Very few, if any, ever experience anything like this.”

I believe that, in the end, what is remembered is the accomplishments and experiences we have had and the obstacles we have overcome. These will shape our finest memories.

Ultimately, behind the inherent risk is the inherent reward. What is it worth to you is what you must figure out for yourself. But I can tell you this for sure - This is just a small slice of the beauty you will be standing before if someday you make the hike up to Grinnell Glacier...

If either of these speak to you, please drop me a line! I have framed Artist Proofs of each on hand and would also be more than happy to work up any potential looks you might like to see that would suit your space.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! Boy, is this really the last day of July??! Not to fear, though, I have a strong lineup of Summer Mountain glory to share with you yet before we turn to Autumn and all of its bounties…

All my best,

Brandon

Happy Belated Summer Solstice & 4th of July!!! / "Rocky Mountain Daydream" Photo Spotlight

Well hello again friends! Whew, I can’t believe we are here - at the peak of Nature’s cycle! One of the roughly bazillion times of the year that I absolutely love!😁

I, of course, had so hoped to be more timely with this originally intended Summer Solstice post, lol! However, grinding it out finishing up some big landscaping projects towards the end of June / right up to the weekend of the 4th during an extreme heat wave here didn’t leave much left in my engine (or my brain for that matter😂) in the evenings.

But, I made it, and after a recouping weekend, have been busy behind the scenes here for a few days preparing for a new experience!

At some point tomorrow I will head out towards Michigan for the Krasl Art Fair on the Bluff this weekend in St. Joseph, MI. I’ll have a couple days in between and then be at Ann Arbor setting up next Wednesday at the State Street District Art Fair. (If you missed my last post and want a more detailed explanation of what’s been going on click here - “Life’s Possibilities”)

I’m so excited to be getting back out on the road and showing my work to a new audience! I’ve been getting very ansy now for a few weeks, especially since I hadn’t done any shows this past Spring. And honestly, no matter what the case may be, when it gets to be about late June - actual Summer - my mind really starts to drift toward adventure…!

It has been that way as long as I can remember in my adult life. From the Coasts, to the Forests, to the Mountains… Backpacking, Camping, and Living Life 🏔️🏕️🏝️😎 That’s all I can think some Summer.

And now, the Festivals too! Being fortunate enough to be juried into some of the Nations finest that I can share my photographs with you, it brings me such joy!

Follow along here on my Blog/Newsletter for some of my most epic expeditions and consequently what I feel is some of my strongest finished work to date.

This Summer, escape the noise and the heat, and let this be the Season of Adventure!…

“Rocky Mountain Daydream” - Rocky Mountain National Park, CO

Linhof Kardan Large-Format 4x5 View Camera

Schneider Symmar-S 150mm Lens (Normal)

F45 at 1/4 of a second

Professional Fuji Velvia 100

As this was to be my Summer Solstice greeting, let’s kick things off here, because this photograph actually took place on a Summer Solstice - back in 2017.

Getting the photograph itself was honestly not that great of an ordeal. What I went through prior to however, was challenging in its own way…

I was headed out to Denver in early/mid June for an Art Festival, when cruising along I-70 in western Kansas, my Xterra decided to just stop running. Yeah…

Miraculously, since my insurance policy has always given me one free tow per breakdown to a garage of my choice within 200 some miles, and (here is the miraculous part) since I was so in the middle of nowhere Kansas and Denver fell within the mileage limits, I was able to get a tow to Denver!!!🤯

It was a long night to say the least, and at dawn, I was able to transfer my booth in a rental and still make the festival… wow, recalling all of this now is bringing back some crazy memories, lol… (And some instances that I sincerely hope I never have to endure again!)

It ended up being my transmission, which I had to have rebuilt (manual) and I ended up stranded in Denver for about a week and a half. Fortunately, I had friends that I could stay with and family that helped ease the financial burden.

For anyone out there thinking - “how glorious this life has to be?!” - this is just one example of the many many things you need to realize can happen “out there” sometimes. And you’d better not have a weak heart if you’re going to go for it, lol! It has damn near broken me on more than one occasion! Also I can’t say enough about having a strong support system and how that can come in very handy!

When I finally got my wheels back, I thought to myself - “I can’t NOT do something fun before returning home! So Rocky Mountain National Park, here I come!”

I only spent one night camping in the surrounding Roosevelt National Forest and did this one hike the next day on the Summer Solstice. But man, was it epic!!!

Also, fortunately, I think since I had been out here for close to 2 weeks, my body had acclimatized to the elevation very nicely and even though I ascended a few thousand feet and topped out over 10,000 feet elevation for the first time in my life, I felt great the entire time!

I remember passing elk along the lower elevation of the trail system and hiked past a gushing Alberta Falls on the way to this view of the back side of Longs Peak. Afterwards I would climb even higher up to the Loch Vale and remember hiking through melting snow fields, all the while with glorious sunny skies and warm, but “high mountain air mild” temperatures on this breathtaking Summer Solstice Day!🏔️🌞

It may have not been exactly the time I would have hoped for overall, but during those 24 hours, at least, out here in the mountains - the struggles felt the furthest thing from my mind, lost in a “Rocky Mountain Daydream.”

Art Festival Updates / “Life's Possibilities" Photo Spotlight

Hi again friends! And apologies on the minor delay, I just noticed I set my dates wrong on the scheduling of posting.🤦‍♂️

I hope this finds everyone enjoying their weekend and if you’re in the Midwest or Northeast, hopefully dialing the heat and severe weather back a bit! Maybe this waterfall below will help cool you down!

Before we get there though, I have a bit of information I’ve been wanting to share with you…

So, this year is and has needed to look a little different for me. I know I have vocalized it a little bit, but this past year was rough in many ways and I have been doing my best to do what is necessary first and change things up a bit this year.

This actually reminds me of a quote I saw in one of my Mom’s nature/inspirational/spiritual calendars a few years back from Saint Francis of Assisi - “Start with what’s necessary, then with what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”

That really struck a cord with me and I have ever since tried to use it as a mantra for when life seems too overwhelming.

So, in relation to my Artwork this year, I had to make some tough decisions. And although I applied to a handful of Spring shows, I decided early on that I wasn’t going to stress about how to make any of them happen this year (and since I only applied to some of the really big hitters, I was either waitlisted or didn’t get in to all but one anyway - Stockley Gardens - a perennial favorite of mine every Spring that I hated to let go but decided it necessary this year). I was just going to take some guaranteed landscaping work and enjoy that work during my favorite time to do it. Then I would consider how to shape the Summer after the 4th of July and then the Autumn.

Which brings me to what I’ll be doing this Summer, well July anyway. I have always done the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts (the State College or Penn State Show) the weekend after the 4th ever since I started doing festivals in 2016. It was actually my first show ever (wow was that a learning experience!😂) and I have been fortunate enough to be juried in every year since. And it’s also kinda my hometown show, having grown up in Reedsville, PA and gone to Penn State. It holds a special place in my heart. But this year, I respectfully declined my invitation and I’m trying something new…

I have had several very good years there, and some very disappointing. That’s how it goes on the circuit! But, I have felt a little bit of a decline for a few years now and what I’m sensing from the show, at least for what I am trying to sell. And there are a few other highly reputable monster shows out there the same weekend. Namely, Madison (Wisconsin) and one called Krasl (Michigan). Last year I applied to all 3, and GOT IN to all 3!!! (Well after being invited from Krasl’s waitlist anyway)🤯 Boy, decision time??! After much debate and learning I had finally procured a corner booth at State College. I decided to “play it safe” on expenses and all that and just stay local and see how the corner worked for me…

Well, the weekend was meh, I made a little bit, but overall I felt it left a lot on the table and I found myself wondering the entire time and ever since. So, this year, same thing - I applied to all 3…

State College - Accepted! Madison - Waitlisted. Krasl - Waitlisted. Arghh. I held out deciding on State College until the next to last day before commitments were due. And I was actually about to commit that day when I opened my email and - Invited to Krasl!!! Side note, I was also accepted into Ann Arbor this year…

So, with a bit of a heavy heart, but also a ton of excitement, I declined my invite to State College and I’m heading to Michigan for back to back weekends this July! It will also be my first time doing Ann Arbor and I’m excited for some new experiences!

I will miss you all at State College this year, but it is time to broaden my horizons and visit a new audience. From what I have heard, Krasl is a beautiful show with a great high end reputation drawing on Southwest Michigan’s lake communities and the Chicago area. It takes place on a lake bluff in St. Joseph near Benton Harbor and looks and sounds gorgeous!!!

So, there I will be the weekend of July 10th-12th and then across to the eastern side of Michigan in Ann Arbor a few days later July 15th-18th!

Aside from that, I am anticipating doing the return of the Stowe Foliage Festival in Vermont on Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day weekend (pending on some personal up in the air things). And that may be it, unless Michigan goes very well - there are some shows I know I could apply to at last minute and potentially do in August through October. But time will tell…

And I intend to have much communication and photo sharing between now and then! And oh yeah, how about the fun stuff now!…

This was another one I intended to share much earlier in the Spring, but found a way to relate it to what I have just shared. Time to explore and soak up “Life’s Possibilities”…

“Life‘s Possibilities” - Foothills Trail, SC

Photographed April 28th, 2012

Mamiya RB67 w/ 65mm lens (Wide-Angle)

F22 for 4 seconds

Professional Fuji Velvia 50

I could make the argument that in many ways, this experience is the one which really set the stage for my life’s passion for adventure and preservation of our wild places.

In April of 2012, I drove south to visit my brother in South Carolina for my inauguration into the world of backpacking. He had been getting into it (backpacking, that is) for a couple of years and we had loosely discussed getting together for an adventure for a while. Well, during the holidays of 2011, more concrete plans were made and here I was! Using mainly his own and his wife’s extra gear, he took me out for 3 days/2 nights on the Foothills Trail in Northwestern SC.

To say the 8 miles on day one kicked my ass would be an understatement!😂 I’ll never forget the feeling of floating away upon taking the pack off for lunch only a few miles in. Which, by the way, is never quite as funny feeling as that first time! I also don’t think I’ll ever forget how exhausted, punished, and well downright beaten and alien to myself I felt for the last two miles of that hike. But, I also loved it!!!

We arrived at night one’s campsite just in the nick of time to hang a tarp to pass the thunderstorm that had been brewing for most of the afternoon. The sky at once opened up and the storm let loose, ahhhh that smell!

As we awaited its passing, I had the notion to photograph the forest scene in front of us from under our shelter (see “Soaking Up Life” in the Gallery). And I’m so glad I did. I absolutely love how green and teeming with life the forest is! As I gaze upon it, even still now, I see how truly life giving the Spring rainfall is, how every tree and leaf are soaking it up. I see it breathing. I can feel its heartbeat.

As the storm passed on, we set up camp and chopped/sawed our firewood. And just before preparing our dinner, I caught a magnificent sunset moment from the top of the waterfall, not more than a stone’s throw from our tent, looking outwards. That is, after all, one of the main reasons my brother felt this location would be a really cool photo opportunity for me - as he noticed here before that at this time of year, one gets a clear view of the sun setting beyond the distant mountains from the top of the waterfall. Although I didn’t get a “clear” view due to our stormy conditions, the moment was purely exhilarating! With the falls flowing and plunging a good 80-100 feet right at my feet, I had a peek through the thick of the surrounding forest into misty mountain ridge lines and an ethereal pink glow in the clouds that only a storm can provide. After I snapped a couple exposures, I turned to face my brother and pumped my fists in the air as if triumphant! I was being given “A Peek See” into just a few of Nature’s grandest elements.

The night was thick and damp, but by the fire was bliss. And wait, seriously?? These freeze dried meals are this good??!!!

In the darkness, as we conversed about life around the flame, we witnessed something so strange that took me years to identify what it was we were seeing - some soft ghostly blue glow of a gliding insect, some species of firefly we do not know?? - In fact, yes! It was the Blue Ghost Firefly! I have since experienced it a few more times and it is some of Nature’s purest magic!!!

What a way for one to spend their first day and night backpacking, I thought as I was alone now as the fire died down beside a thundering waterfall… We, much like the forest around us, were “soaking up life.”

Bruised and battered at dawn the next morning, I then stood, photographing the waterfall - this image - that has stood the test of time as the strongest piece to represent my experience. As I was setting up, I caught my brother out of the corner of my eye, strolling down the trail to greet me with a cup of coffee he just brewed at our campsite, tucked maybe 50 feet behind the top of those falls you’re now looking at. What a moment, what an experience. It was only a weekend long, but it changed my life forever. And it set me on the path for where I am today, opening the doors to so many of “Life’s Possibilities” and what I believe to be my life’s purpose.

Thanks Bro!

By the way, have you guys noticed the dates on these last 3 images I’ve shared??? April 2012 with my Mamiya RB67 was epic!!!😉

My very best,

Brandon

P.S. - Just a disclaimer for anyone who may have been confused about accessing my Spring in Bloom slide show on the post the other day. If you click on the View Gallery link, it takes you to my original blog post on the website. From there, simply scroll down to the same place in the post and see the slideshow! (As I do different things in my posts, I am learning how things then translate to the email newsletter, which I only have so much control over in certain situations.)

Spring in Bloom / "Innocence" Photo Spotlight

My, my, my, well, so I started putting this post (and 2 others) together about 2 months ago now as the follow up to my Vernal Equinox post and then it turned into a belated Earth Day post -

{Belated Happy Earth Day my friends! (For those perhaps not “in the know” April 22nd is Earth Day and April in and of itself is Earth Month 🌎🌍🌏). What a fitting time, in my opinion, as April is the month where for a lot of us, the world is truly awakening from its Winter slumber. And boy has Spring been blossoming and blooming in my neck of the woods over the past couple weeks since I last wrote to you!😍}

- and now here we are in June, BUT I never gave up on these ideas and how I could still translate them into relativity…

Needless to say, it has been a very busy Spring here in my Landscaping world and I needed it, so it has been good. Sure, I’ve not exactly been able to do a lot of things I would have loved to, but that’s the way it goes sometimes. Since late March it has been Spring cleanups mixed with a little pruning here and some this ‘n’ that there and MULCH, MULCH, MULCHING my little heart out! 😂 Which if you know me well enough, I love to say if I could be Backpacking, Photographing, Selling my Artwork, AND Mulching all at the same time… Boy you wanna talk about living the dream!!! 😂 And the funniest part is, I’m not really joking - I LOVE mulching! It is honestly my favorite way to work aside from this whole Wilderness Photography thing😊

So, again here we are, on the brink of the Summer Solstice, and I still want to share this photograph and these thoughts (as well as those other two I mentioned earlier) with you before we do officially turn to Summer.

So why now? Because! Lol! I love this photograph (probably my favorite quintessential Spring image to date, although I do have a few new hopefuls looming…). And I took a personal day yesterday to finally catch up on so many things that have been neglected and/or pushed to the side out of survival mode for a while, haha!

And honestly, I have jotted down so many thoughts in the moment and taken so many pictures around my home that I have been burning to compile and share with you!

So, enjoy “Innocence” and then be sure to keep scrolling down for some meditations and then a visual slideshow I put together of Spring in Bloom 2026 around our landscape.

And be on the lookout Friday for another blast from the past and some important Art Festival updates!…

“Innocence” - My Father’s Woods, PA

Photographed April 4th, 2012

Mamiya RB67 w/ 90mm lens (Normal)

F32 at 1/4 of a second

Professional Fuji Velvia 50

You know, in all honesty there isn’t a ton I have or feel I need to say about this photograph.

If you recall from my previous post highlighting “Rise and Shine” - you will notice these were both taken on the same day! I caught “Rise and Shine” as the rising sun crested the facing mountains to bask the scene before me in golden light! And then shortly afterwards I began meandering my way down my Dad’s 4-wheeler trail to explore more of the forest in the morning light only to compose this scene about an hour or so later.

Isn’t it crazy? Sometimes I can spend days backpacking and not bust out the “real camera” and other days, it’s like I could shoot a whole box of film and have everything be portfolio worthy!

Again, this photograph doesn’t come with any harrowing tales, only a lovely morning spent hiking around exploring on my Dad’s wooded property.

But when I look at this image, all I can envision, no, all I can feel is the jubilance of Spring in all of it’s fresh, new wonder - innocent of anything that lay before it or of what is to come - the newborn child of Nature’s cycle.

I just wanna lay on the grass on this idyllic April day, looking up at these beautiful blooms and blue sky after a good, long Winter and scream YES, SPRING!!!

If you are willing to pull yourself away from that daydream and continue on, I would greatly appreciate your indulgence to relive the Season in these journal entries that range from early March through the present June now. And then enjoy the slide show of roughly 50 images I put together from throughout this Spring around our humble abode (and a couple other places too😊).

Wednesday March 11th - “The biggest highlight of this unseasonable warmth is that right on cue, the first warm night - the Spring Peepers were heard! And they grew last night and this evening have been an echoing chorus of ambience throughout the night sky!”

Wednesday March 18th - “Even though it may not have been everything I could have hoped for in an adventure standpoint, this past winter was what it was. And it was a beautiful, good old-fashioned Winter. And one of mental rest and much reflection…”

Saturday March 21st - “A nice balance of warmth from the Sun and slight coolness of the breeze today as the birds busy the air. For a couple weeks now the flocks have been returning.

The subtle signs of change continue to slowly grow as Spring is now astronomically official! The tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils are poking their heads from the ground, which softens by the day. Splotches of grass are beginning to show a more lively shade of green and the rains have a scent of fresh was to them.”

Saturday March 28th - “Leo’s chasing the Moon tonight.😊

It’s a brisk one on this crisp, clean, starry night illuminated by the waxing gibbous moon this beautiful early Spring Eve.”

Friday April 3rd - “What a great day!

One of those days that despite the tornado of shit swirling around you, you find peace, calm, and zen happiness in the day that has been given to you and the tasks at hand…

On this particular day - I rested, made a good breakfast, took care of business related tasks on-line, and spent a blissful few hours on our outdoors getting our beds cleaned up for Spring growth, completely re-defined all bed edges, and gathered all the down branches, sticks, and twigs!

It was a lovely Spring day, as good a Friday as Good Friday’s come, in my opinion! - A cool, cloudy start climbing into the high 60’s with ample sunshine and part cloudiness. A beaut of an early Spring day to get your business in order!”

Saturday/Sunday April 11th/12th - “Hyacinth Intoxication! Hyacinth breezes and Cherry Blossom waves…”

Saturday May 16th - “Toads singing their hearts out on a lovely warm Spring evening.”

Tuesday June 2nd - “Man, what a beautiful day! My mind drifts from this pile of mulch towards camping and backpacking adventures…

Sunny, bright blue skies, white puffy clouds, fully leafed greenery, and a nice 72 degree breeze!

Spring, as it does, has taken me from beautiful blooms aplenty to delicious scents in the staggering of Hyacinth, Lilac, Honeysuckle, and finally to vibrant young green… and oh wait, is that the Chestnut trees I smell coming into bloom?!”

If you made it all the way here, thank you so much for your time and interest and support, it truly means the world to me!

All my best,

Brandon

Welcome Spring! / "Rise and Shine" Photo Spotlight

Belated Happy Spring my fine friends! I had originally hoped for this to be a Vernal Equinox post, but alas we are a little more than 2 weeks in to the new Season now. Well, I guess (actually I know, 😂) I could be doing much worse. I had also hoped to squeeze in an Ode to Winter ‘25/26 post as well, but I’m now too far past that idea and figure perhaps the notion can be a segue for when Autumn turns to Winter at the end of this year. (Don’t worry, I have lots of journal notes to bring me back to my thoughts at the time that they occurred!) And seeing as how my previous correspondence was quite a story, perhaps it is good you’ve had a little break from me, haha!

There is one thing I do want relay in relation to the Equinox that I read on that day from The Weather Channel this year, that funny enough, I never actually had fully realized. Now, I have for many years known that on both Equinoxes, it is the occurrence of the Sun passing directly over the Equator, bringing relatively equal parts day and night to both the Northern and Southern Hemisphere’s. So, 12 hours day and 12 hours night for everyone, right? Not exactly, thus the phrase “relatively equal parts.” But, this I was well aware of also.

If you happen to be as much of a geek as me and investigate these types of weather and astronomical events, you know that the further North or South you go from the Equator, the more drastic the differences between day and night get. Thanks to the curvature of the Earth and the slight tilt on our axis, as you move North to South, and East to West for that matter, the Sunrise and Sunset times are never exactly the same for everyone, everywhere (outside of your neighbors within a several mile radius at least).

For instance, where I live in Central/Northeastern Pennsylvania, we experience our “personal equinox” day (that is, equal 12 hours of both day and night) usually on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, a few days prior to the Astronomical Vernal Equinox. Now, if you think about it🤔, depending on your latitude and longitude, the day that you actually experience this equality of day and night is going to differ all around the globe.

Ok, now for what kind of blew my mind and simultaneously made me feel silly for not thinking of or cognizantly realizing it anyway… Despite these slight variations in one regions’ time variations to another’s, on the occurrence of the actual Astronomical Equinox (Vernal or Autumnal) - We are all, everyone of us on this Planet, for one brief day experiencing the most equivalence of day and night to one another as can be possible! That is to say, from the North Pole to the South Pole and everywhere in between, we cannot be any closer in the relationship between dark and light that we experience than on that day! How cool of a concept is that!!!🤯🌎🌍🌏😁

Whew, ok, enough of the science lesson. I just really wanted to share that idea of equality, as it really did strike a cord with me of how awesome that it really is.

I do hope this finds you all well and enjoying the onset of Spring! In my neck of the woods it has been, for the most part, a prototypical late March / early April - an ongoing battle between Old Man Winter, wanting to hold on, and the Jubilant Face of Youth, eagerly ushering in. This Great Tug of War will typically settle over the coming weeks of April, though bouts of cold and even snow are not that uncommon for us even well into May.

What I have noticed that alarms me a little more this season is the warmth we have had in the overnights on several occasions. A high 70’s March day or early April hitting low 80’s for short spurts certainly isn’t crazy but, I feel like when we have had those days this season, the nights have also stayed very warm - a few high 50’s and low 60’s, which IS kind of crazy for this time of year! And I feel like it has helped some of the sensitive early bloomers get going perhaps a little earlier than they would have after our Winter. And, of course, with an inevitable hard freeze looming tonight, I can’t help but think - if those nights had cooled more appropriately, would these blooms be in a safer boat as unopened buds???… I am sending you positive vibes (and maybe a little wind to help keep the frost off!) my fresh beauties!

Alright, I have a lot of Photo Spotlights, stories, and fun stuff I want to share throughout this Spring, so I am going to pause my thoughts here for the time being and let you enjoy this seldom showcased beauty of an early Spring dawn…

“Rise and Shine” - My Father’s Woods, PA

Photographed April 4th, 2012

Mamiya RB67 w/ 65mm lens (wide-angle)

F32 for 1 second

Professional Fuji Velvia 50

This is the first of a few photographs I intend to share with you this Spring that the location will be titled “My Father’s Woods.” There aren’t grand tales of near peril or epically long days on the trail to go along with them. They are, nevertheless very near and dear to me. They are photographed on my Dad’s property in Central/South Pennsylvania. Several acres of gorgeous mixed hardwood hillside nestled in a peaceful valley along the Juniata River and facing the Tuscarora Mountains which boast an array of bounties throughout all seasons. In particular though (and same with Dad), I have often found no other Season finer here than Spring.

The abundance of naturally occurring Eastern Redbud, Cherry, and Dogwood Trees in amongst this ridge, and throughout the valley sides to be honest, is a brilliant burst of long awaited, eye-popping, exclamating beauty come Winter’s end and signaling the birth of Spring!

I love to steal a day and night or two here if I can during this gift of splendor. Every year is different, of course, but if the stars align - The spatter of soft white Cherry Blossoms will still linger as fresh, vibrant green begins to dot the hillsides and the unreal, basically magical pink/purple flowers of the Redbuds appear in waves through the wood and throughout the valley, only to be finally complemented alongside the brilliant white glow of the Flowering Dogwoods. And, as if one need more, as your eyes delight in being amongst this wonder on a warm April eve, perhaps an early scent of Lilac wafts through the air. Yes, my friend, you have indeed stepped into a Fairytale Forest and are now spellbound…

Rise and Shine, creatures of all ilk, Spring is here!

All my best,

Brandon