Greetings of the (kind of) New Year / “Sweet Serenity” Photo Spotlight & Special Offer

Greetings of the still somewhat relatively New Year my friends! You see, I started working on this roughly 3 weeks ago now, (and have consequently had to edit it several times, lol!) But, as it is my first post of 2026, I will hold on to that greeting. After all it is simultaneously only AND yet somehow already mid-February! 🤯 Originally, I had wanted to get this out to you all to enjoy during Winter Storm Fern 3 weekends ago but, alas, here we are. (And check me out not crumbling into silence for the next year over it!).

At any rate, I hope this finds you all safe, warm, and well. And I hope that it also finds you enjoying the comforts, coziness, peace and silence of deep Winter.

If you haven’t picked up on the fact that I’m pretty weather obsessed by now, well yeah I’ve got some issues.😂 And so, I am well aware that you folks out West, especially in the Rocky Mountains, have not been having even remotely what you would hope for in terms of your Winter weather and snowpack. (Although now you finally do have a huge system about to pummel the Sierras & Cascades and finally move into the interior Rockies this weekend!!! ❄️☃️🏂⛷️) And though I sincerely do feel for you, I’d be lying if I didn’t say I am stoked over the Winter we have been having here in the Northeast!!! If only all the places that want and NEED snow could consistently get it every Winter!

It has been quite some time since we’ve seen Old Man Winter grace us with this consistency of snowfall and duration of Arctic cold in Pennsylvania, and I’m feeling pretty darn nostalgic over it! In fact, throughout the region I call home, we got absolutely dumped on by Winter Storm Fern there in late January! With anywhere from a foot to 18+ inches and the Arctic sub-freezing air holding sway, all that beautiful powder has just been hanging out. And talk about Winter Wonderland, wow is it glorious out there!!!😍❄️🌕🥶

As I had a feeling it was going to be, this storm was the biggest since Stella that I’ve been a part of since getting out on the Art Festival Circuit and subsequently getting involved in Landscaping and Snow Removal work in 2016/2017. I clocked about 25 hours of snow removal over the 2 days ensuing Fern continuing on Northeastward. And although quite a workout for sure, it honestly felt really good!

Unfortunately and very regretfully, due to several life factors, I have not gotten out to play in all this snow too much yet. My daily walks with our dogs have been sustaining me somewhat though. And although we are facing a warm up now for a handful of days, bahhhhh!!!, it looks like we should be getting cold with some more chances of snow later in the month. (And there is still March to come as well!) So, I am hopeful to get a good snowshoe and/or micro spike hike/backpack or two in before this Winter is said and done with!

With any luck I will have some excitement to share on that end in the coming weeks…

Speaking of excitement to share - be on the lookout in the near future for something amazingly cool that I lucked into becoming a part of and can now finally show visual proof and confirmation of!😉

But for now, let me leave you with this wonderful Winter memory, and a special offer exclusive to you email/blog subscribers…

“Sweet Serenity” - Shingletown Gap, Rothrock State Forest, PA

“This little slice of Winter bliss dates back to March 2017. If you recall, Winter Storm Stella, a Nor’Easter that pummeled much of, well the Northeast. Some of you may know, while others may not - but since I embarked on the journey to chase my artistic dreams in July of 2016, I have also filled in the seasonal gaps by doing Landscape and Snow Removal work. Not only does this allow me to continue to “play” outside, but I find the physicality of it, much like backpacking, to be extremely satisfying.

Why do I mention this? Well, this Winter of 2017 was when I got myself into this “side work” by getting involved in snow removal with a local landscaping company. Although it can be frustrating when I would love to just be “out there” hiking and enjoying, the Winter income is necessary. And honestly, I do love being out in the storms and feeling a part of it all, pushing one’s limits and reaping the rewards.

On this occasion, however, as Stella was hitting our area in the wee hours of the night and continuing through the next day, I was allotted a little time to myself that morning doing what I love in the midst of a Winter Storm, rather than simply enjoying the aftermath. So, for a peaceful few hours I hiked, (rather trudged!), blissfully through about a foot of snow in an area known as Shingletown Gap in the Tussey Mountain region near the little town of Pine Grove Mills, where I had lived.

I have always found this little neck of the woods, resplendent with Hemlock and Rhododendron tunnels surrounding a babbling brook, to be a Winter haven. I could try and write a million more words describing the scene, but I think you can perfectly see how sweetly serene is the calm and quiet of this snow falling down in the forest. And there is nothing else, there needs be nothing else in this moment of peace.

I would shortly after, go on to meet my comrades for roughly 24 hours of snow removal and drifting/ice cleanup for the next 3 days. But all the while, I had this time and this vision of “Sweet Serenity” drifting through my mind.”

I hope you enjoy the magic of this moment as much as I do. And if so, here’s what I’d like to offer you for a limited time - I have had this framed piece on hand for several years now, and I’d like to try and move this (and a few others you might see popping up over the next couple of months) to make way for some new pieces.

The specs on this framed piece - a 20x24 Fuji Crystal Archive Lustre print (Limited Edition #1/450) originated on Fuji Velvia 4x5 sheet Film, double matted in 6-ply White Crescent Conservation Board and 4-ply Crescent Forest Green Suede, finished with TruVue Museum Glass and one of my Custom Curly Maple Frames w/ color burned in using Aquafortis (30x36 frame opening, roughly 36x42 outer dimensions). As I said, I’ve had it for a few years and there are some minor dings/wear on the frame, but maybe just a little more character if you ask me!

The price tag on it has been $1,500. I’m offering strictly to you email subscribers 20% off at $1,200. Six percent PA Sales tax would also apply, so $1,272 total after tax. Shipping or delivery and subsequent charges would depend on location and any potential timing factors. This will all be discussed.

So, you love the photo but not in the market for this large piece? I get it! I also have these on hand which could be shipped out as early as next Tuesday (February 17th) -

1 - 16x20 print in 8-ply Black Crescent Conservation Board - $250

1 - 11x14 print in 6-ply White Crescent Conservation Board - $85

2 - 11x14 prints loose - $75

(6% PA Sales tax + shipping will also apply)

And any size loose print also available at a few clicks of a button in my website store! Click here

Just reach out to me via phone or email to let me know if I can help you out with this piece or print(s), or anything at all! I’d love to see it go to a loving home. And as I’ve displayed below, it makes for a wonderful Holiday Season and/or Winter companion! (Or a year round display of your love for Winter and to help cool the blistering heat of Summer!)

From a few Christmas Eve’s ago

View w/ good natural light and outdoor/Winter ambience

Close up view with natural light and Winter ambience

I look forward to perhaps hearing from one or more of you, and as always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your time and support! Enjoy your (hopefully) long holiday weekend.

I’m excited to be connecting with you again, excited for what I have to share coming up, and excited for what this trip around the Sun might hold!…

All of my best,

Brandon

Frozen Forest Escape

If you remember, back on February 11th, I posted the blog tilted “The Spring of Genius” where among many things I introduced to you my goal of achieving a backpack in every calendar month of the year and gave you the story of my January experience. When that posted to you, I was actually recouping from my February backpack on the 8th and 9th of the month. I waited to write this as I had been hoping to get out a second time during the month but it just wasn’t meant to be, at least during the few days that I had an ideal weather window for what I wanted. So I decided to just focus on other obligations at hand and wait to get out again for my March adventure, which I am planning to do over the next couple of days! But since February 2022 has officially come and gone now, here is my backpacking story for the month, excerpted from my journal…

An icy surprise as I enter the forest…

Hemlocks encased in snow and ice along the trail

February 8th and 9th, Loyalsock State Forest

“Once again, here I am sipping my coffee after biscuits and gravy. This time on a clear, sunny day sitting atop dense, packed and ice-crusted snow. The most recent storm brought a mix of ice and heavy wet snow to the mountains in this region. I am at Lower Alpine View and it is a lovely Winter’s day - a cold air and breezy wind gusts but the warmth of the sun is beginning to become apparent, as is it’s slightly higher arc in the sky.

Morning at Lower Alpine View

Off-trail camping nook near Lower Alpine View

Ice wall at Lower Alpine View

Ice and snow still blanket the forest, but even in this two week period since I was last here, streams (albeit they are still quite frozen up and crossable) have somewhat broken up revealing a tinge more water flow. But again, there is certainly a solid snow pack yet. Ice falls are still massively prominent and there is a section along Ketchum Run where the trail is a thin line meandering along the ridge side that is essentially a sloping sheet of ice - very challenging to maneuver even with the cramp-ons of my snow shoes. The micro-spikes (if not real cramp-ons for that matter!) may have been a better option here for freer maneuverability but I managed to make due. The micro-spike/snow shoe debate was one I had several times on this backpack but ultimately I stayed with the snow shoes to ensure staying on top of the snow as opposed to possibly breaking down through and being planted in knee-high crusted over snow, lol!

Frozen stream crossing

Last night was a cold, crystal clear night filled with the stars of the Winter sky and the first-quarter moon. It was breathtaking, both figuratively and literally as the temps plunged low into the teens. I had a perfect perch underneath some Hemlocks and gazing wide open to the surrounding mountains and valley below. The snow white landscape gleamed in the moonlight and I simply let myself go - drifting across it all through time periods of my life, warm memories, fears, hopes and dreams of my life…

…It was as if I floated throughout time, lost in this moon lit majesty. Cherished, loving memories flooded my mind - family, friends, holidays, a simple but happy childhood, and an appreciation for what we had. Flashes of scenes faint yet so vivid the sounds and smells accompanied the visions. Warmth, laughter, playing and having fun, living life. Yes, there were many hard times and struggles but the good drowned out the bad.

I wandered from childhood to teenage years, college, young adulthood and to now… Full-blown adulthood, middle age perhaps - as the thought occurred to me that as long as I am fortunate enough to live a long, healthy life, at 44 years old I am most likely in the ballpark of being around the mid-point of my life, somewhere near as many years ahead as lay before me…

It is an interesting thing to think about, mortality, especially to begin to realize our own mortality. I remember as a child and well into my 20’s having that feeling of invincibility. The idea of old-age and death seeming like something so far off, detached almost in its seeming non-reality, another lifetime away…

I think that no matter who you are, we can probably most of us agree that sometimes it all does seem like everything that has come and gone before us happens in just the blink of an eye. And we realize that this to will someday become a distant memory. I feel though, if we truly recognize the present to the best of our ability, we can look back vividly and feel those moments that are so fleeting and precious. We can re-live with a warm smile.

How precious life is, we owe it to live each moment. I do my best as much as I can.

None of this is to sound morbid. I feel pretty damn young at heart and in many ways both physically and mentally stronger than I have ever been. Hell, sometimes I even think that perhaps my best years still lay before me. After all, I am out here pursuing my dreams, making them come true one at a time, living my life and in essence just getting started! Outside of my adventure and artistic goals, I am newly engaged and Anna and I have so many dreams we hope too will come to fruition…

I guess where I am going here is that I recognize now (much from the experience of backpacking) better than ever before the importance of savoring the moments that encompass our life. Whatever challenges and trials come to pass, whatever we are working towards - live it and breathe it. It can be wonderful and blessed. And that is how I want to look back, feel in the present, and see into the future…

Lost in moonlit magic

…Back on Earth, with feet on the trail, I would hike on from my Lower Alpine View campsite up the steep ridge to Alpine View and take a moment to soak in the beauty of the day before continuing into the forest of mixed hardwoods, Hemlock and pine.

Taking it in at Alpine View

Alpine View from back on the trail

As the sun was going down and I began to wonder if I would be breaking out the camera on this adventure, I spied a little up ahead to my left what I had been hoping for since witnessing the woods at the trail’s beginning being encased in ice still from the storm a few days prior - a small little patch of evergreen forest glistening like diamonds from the ice that still clung to their branches and boughs. The only patch of forest, maybe a 30 foot stretch, where ice still clung to the trees in the 8 miles since the trailhead. The needle in the haystack, a rare gem indeed!

Needle in the Haystack

Moment captured in time and a few more miles to go, now mostly by headlamp and moonlight thanks to my pit stop, but also more to remember lovingly from this February frozen forest escape.”

All my best until next time,

Brandon

Moonlight stroll