The view under the pier

Standing firm
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Whenever we come here, I like to stand in this very spot under the pier for what seems like an inordinately long time.

I’ll quietly watch the waves roll in and crash into the footings. Again and again, an endlessly shifting kaleidoscope of water, spray, color, light, and energy.

I’ll think about what it took to build a structure capable of withstanding the relentless power of the ocean. Wave after wave. Day after day. Year after year.

I’ll also think about the people who built this pier, a strip of territory in a place where such things probably shouldn’t exist.

Yet this one does. This backdrop to so many moments in my family’s history, in photos of our kids as they played in the sand, unaware of the turbulence playing out around them. This constant, comforting beacon to us as we visited this resonant place on too many vacations to count.

Too many by one estimate. Not enough by every other.

Today, it’s just me in the shadows. The waves glow a shade of green I’ve never seen before. A sign, perhaps, that you can return to the places that shaped you, but the story always has new chapters to be written.

So we stand in the shadows in the places that once meant - and still mean - something to us, and hope we’re taking enough time to let their ever-evolving message sink in.

#deerfield #beach #florida #vacation #throwback #travel #atlantic #ocean #pier #green #blue #gameoftones #waves #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Winter takes one last shot

Blanket in the valley
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Winter decided she wasn’t quite done with us yet. So it felt entirely appropriate to wander over to the valley and watch it get painted white one last time before the final melt.

Social media might have exploded with coast-to-coast-to-coast complaining, but this is one of those unique facets of Canadian life that defines who we are.

The experience - a short, sharp storm that just as quickly turned to sunshine - served as a reminder that Planet Earth is, still and always, a tempestuous, unpredictable, even dangerous place. But she’s also beautiful, resonant, and breathtaking.

This was, and is, just as true on every coast as it was, and is, in this small wooded valley close to home.

Soon enough all this will change again, from white to green. And some folks will still find it in them to complain. But not me.

I’ll be the guy wandering back to this place so I can have my breath taken away yet again.

May it never get old.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #tree #trees #winter #snow #onstorm #medway #valley #heritage #forest #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Holding the keys to the keyboard

Touch this
London, ON
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

My keyboard has apparently been quietly trying to send me a message:

• Be prepared to shift your perspective.
• Control yourself.
• Keep your options open.
• Command the situation.

Or maybe it’s more than one message.

Whatever.

What matters is the fact that lessons always seem to be hiding in plain sight. And it’s our call - option, even - to take the time to take them in.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #logitech #mac #computer #keyboard #random #homeoffice #writerlife #stilllife #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

A memorable evening at the Neptune Diner

Dinner is served
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Once upon a time, we stopped what we were doing and shot artistic photos of our food.

It’s safe to say Instagram became a cultural force thanks to influencers who turned their restaurant tables into mini-studios, often to the detriment of the poor folks who shared their tables.

I don’t think resto-table-photography is as much of a thing anymore, as the really cool social media influencers have moved onto TikTok, and they’re more into dancing on rooftops and beating each other up with pool noodles in the never-ending quest to go viral. Kids these days.

But I had a resto-table-moment the other night, and suddenly I was back on Instagram seeking years-old glory through a lens.

The place was the Neptune Diner, a delightful recent addition to London’s trendy downtown Richmond Row. For years, this building housed Prince Albert’s Diner, and while the new place has nothing to do with the old, a steady trickle of customers still asked about it as they took their first sip of a 50s-style milkshake across the formica counter.

The space was filled with lovely people, great food, and a checkerboard floor underpinning brushed steel and period-perfect vinyl. Just across from us, a customer wearing a green Power Rangers suit finished his meal, amiably chatted with the just-as-amiable server, tucked his wallet into his superhero fanny pack, and went on his way. It was impossible to sit beside the teal-tinted wall and not smile.

So when the food arrived, I couldn’t miss an opportunity to remember the moment with a photo. On the one hand it was a perfectly laid out plate of edible nostalgia. On the other hand, it was a placeholder for a moment I didn’t want to end.

This is why local matters. This is why communities thrive when places like this take root. This is what we lose if we don’t support them.

Next time, we’ll go for milkshakes, too. Photos will, of course, be taken.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #food #foodporn #diner #burger #random #restaurant #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Facing the waves head-on

Shades of green
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Ocean waves are born of forces both mysterious and intense.

They’ll seemingly rise out of nowhere, turning once-calm waters into churning riots of energy and color.

They’ll pile into the shore relentlessly, with barely enough time to recover from one set before the next one hits.

They’ll take down everyone and everything in their path.

And when they do, we get back up so we can face the next swell.

Head-on.

Because in the ocean as in life, there is no other choice.

We can’t turn off the turbulence, after all. But we can certainly control our ability to steel ourselves against it.

#deerfield #beach #florida #vacation #throwback #travel #atlantic #ocean #green #blue #gameoftones #waves #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Raging over really expensive lemon cake

Here's how it started:

I tweeted this: "Hey Sobeys, I think you might have misplaced the decimal."

Here's how it ended:

Yahoo News Canada picked up the story - and my appreciation for giving this issue the attention it deserves:

'Sobeys, do better': Lemon cake for $54.99 sparks question – how do grocery stores set these prices, anyway?

An Ontario shopper spotted such a high-priced dessert - he thought it was a typo: Turns out, it wasn't

By Elianna Lev

Yahoo News Canada

March 28, 2023

Skyscraper in progress

Taking shape
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

People will eventually live here.

Until then, though, hundreds of other people who are experts in crafting somethings from nothings will create the spaces in which lives will be lived and memories will be made.

For now they’re concrete slabs, open to the elements.

But close your eyes and imagine the future stories, yet to be told.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #city #downtown #construction #talbot #street #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

#IfYouReadOneThingToday - Gordon Moore has left us

We have lost a giant of modern computing, the man behind Moore’s Law and the driving force behind the technology you’re probably using to read this post.

Gordon E. Moore, Intel Co-Founder Behind Moore's Law, Dies at 94

By Katie Hafner and Holcomb B. Noble

The New York Times

March 24, 2023

The red valve by the ocean

Grab on
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Part of me wants to imagine that a few turns of this valve would let out just enough water from the ocean to reverse rising sea levels and preserve the future of coastal communities like this one.

Part of me wishes the solutions to complex problems could be this simple.

Part of me still needs to dream.

#deerfield #beach #florida #vacation #throwback #travel #atlantic #ocean #pier #texture #red #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Looking into - and beyond - dark waters

Textured waves on a a cloudy day
Boynton Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The water only seems dark.

It merely shapes itself to all that is around it, the curve of the surrounding wetlands, the color of the sky above.

The one constant is the life it barely conceals. Impossibly vibrant and diverse. Integrally critical to those who stand above. Or those who never even visit this reverent place.

Those first impressions can be tricky indeed. We owe it to ourselves to hang around long enough to consider what we’re really seeing. And what it really means.

#boynton #beach #florida #greencay #wetlands #vacation #throwback #water #texture #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

White lines. Blue sky.

Where's my ruler?
Boca Raton, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Straight lines against a brilliant blue sky.

Simple.

Or maybe not.

#bocaraton #florida #vacation #throwback #travel #hotel #blue #sky #weather #wx #building #geometry #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Reflecting pool, fading light, February 2023

When infinity...isn't, February 2023

Looking up, looking back, February 2023

Blue ice on a dirty road

The plus side of winter
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Beauty is everywhere.

Even at your feet.

Just look for it.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #water #ice #frozen #winter #walkabout #nature #naturephotography #abstract #xray #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Let the bike season begin

Shaking off winter's dust
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It was time for the rubber to hit the road.

So yesterday I rolled out the beater bike, topped off the tires, wiped the dust off, and pointed the front wheel away from home.

The mission was identical to other first rides: spin the legs and make sure they still work; shake the bike down and make sure it still works; feel that wondrous feeling of balance you only get by riding a bike.

The data from the Garmin was far from impressive, but I don’t ride for numbers. I ride because once not so long ago I couldn’t walk or speak after my brain had an unplanned reboot.

I ride to prove to myself that I still can. That I can spin my legs and feel the wind on my face and the ripples of the asphalt through my fingertips. That the faster I go, the more balanced I feel. That I’m not just surviving post-stroke, but I’m thriving.

Maybe that’s how I feel about everything I do. Maybe every article I write, interview I do, or talk that I give is a giant middle finger to the universe, another affirmation that I won’t simply let uncontrollable things happen to me without at least trying to control them right back.

Maybe that’s why a Very Bad Thing may not have been Very Bad at all.

Because I used to just ride without giving it much thought. But now it’s an experience to be savored.

Just like every other experience - on a bike or not - since that life-changing moment where it could have all gone away.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cycling #cyclist #cycle #bicycle #pink #bike #cyclinglife #bikelife #firstride #instabike #random #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Related:

On-the-road selfie, October 2022

Lines by the side of the road, June 2022

Cast a giant (round) shadow, June 2022

Back in the saddle, April 2022

Let's roll, shall we? March 2022

The view from my handlebars, September 2021

The corn grows tall here, September 2021

The shadowed bicycle, August 2021

Wheel meets grass, August 2021

Riding my bike to see the corn, July 2021

Bright lights among the stalks, July 2021

The orange machine heads west, July 2021

Today was a day... June 2021

When cows become cyclists. Next Geraldo. June 2021

Hanging out with the cows, June 2021

Golden hour by the side of the road, June 2021

Early morning rides through the countryside, June 2021

Cycling from pink to orange, June 2021

Hitting the road, again and again, April 2021

Pink bike. Red protector. April 2021

And we ride... April 2021

Back to 2 wheels, March 2020

This is why I ride, May 2019

The first ride, April 2019

Where old bikes go to die, April 2019

Pink bike in a blue studio, August 2015

Kindly make room for cyclists, November 2014

Rolling out, rolling on, April 2014

Do bikes belong here? October 2011

Scrubbing away the years, March 2010

Where the rubber hits the road, July 2007

Cranked, July 2006

Always look to the sky

There's beauty in turbulence
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

No matter how stormy things may be down below, there’s always clear blue sky above.

So let’s look up, then.

#deerfield #beach #florida #vacation #offgrid #throwback #travel #atlantic #ocean #waves #surf #green #water #blue #sky #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #gopro #goprohero #adventure #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Thanking the invisible brick-layer

Crafted shelter
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I’m out for a walk with the Wonderschnauzer, and while she’s busy sniffing the half-frozen grass at the foot of this brick wall, I find myself staring at the mason’s handiwork.

I do this often - stare at things while waiting for her to finish up. Or anyone/anything else, for that matter. Some folks scroll Facebook or TikTok to pass the time. I observe.

I like to call these in-between moments, little slivers of time that might otherwise fade from memory because they aren’t monumental.

But the thing is, who decides what is - or is not - monumental? Or otherwise worth remembering? Or somehow worth holding onto.

Years ago, someone built this wall. Brick by brick, using techniques handed down through generations. Today, someone lives within this wall, safe from the world outside, because of a stranger’s expertise.

We all live better lives because strangers came before them and worked to benefit others they’d never meet. The least we can do is try to mark their passage, their contribution, their impact in some small way.

Monumental? There’s only one answer.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #urban #city #brick #perspective #texture #streetphotography #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Chasing rainbows at the beach

All are welcome
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Color is everywhere.

That is all.

For now.

#deerfield #beach #florida #vacation #offgrid #throwback #travel #rainbow #umbrella #atlantic #ocean #gameoftones #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Quoted - taking pics of dead bodies

Easily one of the more jarring stories I’ve commented on - and a reminder to families of the need to include digital assets in end-of-life planning discussions. Uncomfortable? Sure. But so is running facial rec on dead bodies at the funeral home.

Families locked out of dead relatives' phones face 'grisly problem' accessing fingerprint, FaceID

CTV News Toronto

Natalie Johnson

March 14, 2023

Green Cay green leaf

Patterns in nature
Boynton Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Never doubt what sunlight, water, earth, and nutrients can accomplish.

Remarkable things can happen when all these resources come together for the common good.

But nothing happens at all if these things stay in their respective corners.

Lesson for humanity, perhaps?

#boynton #beach #florida #greencay #wetlands #vacation #offgrid #throwback #travel #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #green #leaf #abstract #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Airport at rest

Shadows at Pearson
Mississauga, ON
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Before we leave the planet for a little while, there’s always enough time to stop and reflect on what’s about to happen.

So we stare out the window and wonder about what will be.

Somehow, this cuts this enormously overwhelming place down to size.

#pearson #international #airport #toronto #ontario #canada #throwback #yyz #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #flight #flying #aviation #avgeek #plane #planes #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Quoted - on AI and airplanes

I have many thoughts about AI. And airplanes. And AI and airplanes together.

Cybersecurity expert has questions about Toronto Pearson's new AI partnership

CTV Toronto

Phil Tsekouras

March 15, 2023

Following along in the woods

Pause to reflect
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Whenever Planet Earth starts to spin a little too quickly on its axis, a walk in the woods with this little one inevitably slows it back down.

Perhaps I’m misunderstanding the planetary physics thing, but I don’t think this has anything to do with physics in the first place.

All I know is I’ll follow her wherever she wants to take us. Thanks, sweet pup.

#ldnont #london #ontario #medway #valley #forest #canada #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #actofdog #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #ınstagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Return to the dirty orange floor

Yogurt down!
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We’ve been here before, standing on a brilliantly polished orange floor next to a random grocery product that had an unfortunate encounter with gravity.

Today it’s yogurt. Once upon a time, if memory serves, it was sour cream. And then there was the mouldy cheese incident. Tragedies, all.

For the record, I did not initiate this encounter, but I was only too happy to record the moment. It’s what I do.

The reasons why remain unclear to me, but in a world and a life that don’t always unravel in a linear or logical manner, random pictures of weird things at the grocery store - or wherever - have become a strange source of comfort.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #loblaws #grocery #store #yogurt #cleanup #shopping #retail #orange #floor #reflective #random #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins

Frozen X-ray

Always look more closely
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Please accept my apologies for my recent random-ice-in-the-gutter habit. Sometimes I get into these moods, and I keep returning to the photographic places that bring me joy.

I guess street ice brings me joy. Or maybe it’s dirty gutters. Or both. Whatever.

As you can imagine, there’s a lot of photo-worthy ice in the Great White North. As you probably didn’t imagine, I almost walked right on past this particular stretch of flash-frozen water.

Because it was cracked, messy, imperfect, weird-looking. Not exactly photo-worthy in the conventional sense.

But the longer I looked at it, the more it dawned on me that that was entirely the point. Because if we take pictures only of things (and scenes, and people, and…) that are perfectly formed, perfectly neat, and perfectly conventional-looking, then we miss never seeing the full spectrum of all that surrounds us.

Beauty, as I’ve said so many times, and continue to passionately believe, takes on so many forms. And it shouldn’t be up to others to decide what those forms are.

It should be up to us.

So if you continue to see cracked, imperfect ice (and other scenes, and people, and…) in my feed, I hope you’ll understand why.

They may not be everyone’s definition of photo-worthy. But they are very much my definition of it.

And they bring me joy, in all its cracked, messy, and weird-looking glory.

I hope they bring you joy, too.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #water #ice #frozen #winter #walkabout #nature #naturephotography #abstract #xray #stilllife #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Shoot now or forever hold your peace

Jack Frost was here
London, ON
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

The scene at my feet no longer exists.

After the rising sun crept around the corner and banished the shadows, this entire tiny universe melted almost as quickly as it formed.

Gone. Just like that.

Forgotten.

Save for the single shot I grabbed before heading back in with the dog to start the work day.

I’ve been doing a lot of that lately, stealing moments and scenes that won’t be here if I wait any longer.

I think it’s an allegory of sorts, a hidden message to us that nothing lasts forever. And those time horizons are never as far off as we think. Or wish.

So we stop in gutters and shoot in the now. Because nothing beyond the now is promised to any of us.

It’s as true with crystallized ice as it is with anything else. Or anyone, for that matter.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #water #ice #frozen #winter #walkabout #nature #naturephotography #abstract #stilllife #monochrome #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Where a GoPro meets the surf

In the shallow end of the ocean
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Some photos are deliberately planned, precisely composed, thoughtfully crafted.

This is not one of those photos.

This is what happens when you throw your trusty old GoPro into your backpack just before you leave for the airport.

Because it’s kinda small and light and tough. And you feel guilty because you’ve had it for years but have barely used it.

Life, I guess.

So when you finally end up at the beach, you grab it and run like a four-year-old toward the surf.

And you don’t think or compose as much as you point it in a general direction and stab the shutter a few times.

There’s no screen. No real way to control the process. Just randomly dive into a wave and hope you end up with something workable.

Like a four-year-old.

And hold into it tightly so it doesn’t get ripped from your hot little hand.

Also, just like a four-year-old.

And keep repeating the process with every new set of waves.

Again, just like a four-year-old.

Before long, I’ve been knocked over more times than I can count. The shutter count soars above 200, and I honestly have no idea if anything came out.

And yet I’ve probably never had more fun with a camera.

I think I’ll be tossing the GoPro into my backpack a little more often.

My inner four-year-old will be quite pleased.

#deerfield #beach #florida #vacation #offgrid #throwback #travel #atlantic #ocean #waves #surf #water #green #blue #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #gopro #goprohero #adventure #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Tricolored heron for the win

No, Carmi, you may not take her home
Boynton Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Am I a pretty bird?

Certainly.

So, too, are you.

Never doubt that.

#boynton #beach #florida #greencay #wetlands #vacation #offgrid #throwback #travel #bird #birds #flight #flying #color #wildlifephotography #animal #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Two birds find the high ground, March 2023

One reflective duck, February 2023

Green heron at rest, February 2023

The five-tern staredown, February 2023

A tern turns into the wind, February 2023

Birds of a together feather, February 2023

Here's looking at you, kid, June 2020

Meet my wingman, May 2020

Not every day merits a postcard, April 2020

4 birds. One direction. August 2018

On the very edge of aerodynamic control, February 2018

High-g turn, January 2018

Flying through the brilliant twilight

Painting the sky
Boca Raton, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It’s 6:34 p.m., February 13th, 2023.

22 minutes after the sun has slipped beneath the horizon for the night.

One minute before twilight officially ends.

I’m standing on a hotel deck. Bizarrely shaped clouds paint thick, undulating strips across the still-blazing sub-tropical sky.

Somewhere between here and far away, a single aircraft flies toward an unknown destination.

I hope whoever is on-board is looking out the window.

I hope they’re as moved by the sight of all this as I am.

I hope more of us, in the air or on the ground or wherever, get to stop what we’re doing on occasion so we can be wowed by seemingly trivial moments like these.

It’s just a sunset, some might say. It happens every night. Same old, same old.

But never again like this one. Not with this light, these clouds, and a certain tiny-looking metallic tube filled with strangers making its way through the surreal scene.

Nothing remotely trivial about them.

Whatever the show between here and far away may look like, we only get so many of them while we’re here.

So we look up and ignore the some-might-say folks.

All of this is probably lost on them, anyway.

#bocaraton #florida #vacation #throwback #offgrid #sunset #hotel #pool #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #aviation #flight #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Contrails at dusk, November 2022

Sunset from a mall parking lot, November 2021

Electric sky, November 2020

Another sunset, albeit someone's missing, June 2019

Difficult sunset, June 2019

Looking back while flying away, February 2019

Reflected sunset, April 2017

Sky on fire, April 2013

When the sky explodes in color and light, April 2013

Under a blood red sky, April 2007

Sexy Prius at night

Efficiency at the valet stand
Boca Raton, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It’s 4:13 a.m. and I’ve parked the rental Prius in the middle of the deserted valet stand in front of our hotel.

We’re going home today, but before we jet off to the airport in Toyota’s once-vaunted vision of hybrid gas-electric transportation, we need to check out, which my wife is doing as I bring the car down from the garage. Teamwork. It’s how we roll.

The lights from the Italian restaurant across the pavestone-covered driveway catch my eye as they reflect off the dirty white flanks of our little car. In the middle of rather toney Boca, it hardly rates along the Lambos and Bentleys that drive endlessly - and loudly - to and from the beach.

But we’ve come to love this car, as it’s served us well in the time we’ve been here, asking for almost nothing as it near-silently took us wherever we needed to go.

Out comes the camera. And as I play with the angles in the middle-of-the-night silence, I think to myself that maybe this isn’t the best use of my time. That a beauty shot of a dirty rental car is probably not an optimal photographic choice. Or a life one, frankly.

But that’s kind of my jam, my strange way of remembering moments that would otherwise slip past us and forever be lost. Hastily taken photos like these serve as markers, and looking back at them brings me right back to the moments they were shot.

Maybe it’s my way of holding onto time. Logically, I know it never stops slipping past us, and no photo can ever stop, or even slow down, that process. But for two minutes in a quiet hotel courtyard far from home, I at least have to try.

I can’t ever not try.

#bocaraton #florida #vacation #throwback #offgrid #travel #hotel #valet #parking #toyota #prius #reflective #abstract #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Prius or Prius not. There is no try. June 2022

Seeking light in the darkness, February 2020

Hybrid Theory, May 2016

When you take a closer look, June 2013

Bejeweled on wheels, March 2012

Vignette: Turtle Diary, January 2010

One unique (dead) tree

Nature aplenty
Boynton Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Always be the one standing away from the crowd.

#boynton #beach #florida #greencay #wetlands #vacation #offgrid #throwback #travel #forest #tree #trees #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #monichrome #photography #canon #canonpgotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

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One branch beside them all, February 2023

Continuing our walk through the fog, November 2022

Mystery in the monochrome forest, March 2022

Seeing behind the leaves, January 2022

The third of three trees, December 2021

Struck by lightning? December 2021

Shutter therapy among the craggy trees, December 2021

Revisiting the tic-tac-toe tree, October 2021

Watching ghosts in the forest, February 2021

The paths we all follow

Empty?
Boynton Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

We’re all on some kind of journey.

And as we move from here to there, the path we follow may be crowded. Or, as it is here, empty.

But even if we’re the only ones on it, we’re never quite alone.

Because someone built the path. Someone kept it clear. Someone kept it safe. Going further back, someone decided there should be a path in the first place.

Which is my hackneyed way of saying we’re never truly alone.

And the path we take has been shaped by those we both see and do not see.

Perhaps something to keep in mind as the new workweek dawns.

#boynton #beach #florida #greencay #wetlands #vacation #offgrid #throwback #travel #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #boardwalk #geometry #perspective #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Related:

Third and final look - in monochrome, November 2021

Green lane of death, November 2020

Redefining the meaning of temporary, November 2019

Staring across the Hudson, October 2019

Structures, up close, April 2019

Industrial vanishing point, August 2018

The silver bullet pulls out, July 2018

Life's a not-always-picture-perfect journey, May 2015

The long and winding road, October 2013

Chewing her way through life

That guilty look
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I was a very bad dog today.

Yet I feel not one iota of guilt or shame.

And my hoomans will still love me unconditionally.

Funny how that works.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #throwback #calli #callitheschnauzer #dog #dogs #actofdog #schnauzerpuppy #schnauzersofinstagram #schnauzergram #schnauzers #dogsofinstagram #instapuppy #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #ınstagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Magical. Miniature. Frozen.

Don't blink
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Just around the corner from our house, this magical miniature frozen scene plays out in a dirty gutter, mere inches away from the tires of a parked car.

The clock is ticking this morning, with work and deadlines waiting at the keyboard back in the home office, and the voices in my head already churning the day’s prose.

The dog doubles back for a closer sniff. She isn’t a writer, so deadlines and the pressures of stringing words together to keep the lights on mean nothing to her.

I give her a few seconds to explore this tiny, temporary world, then gently tug at her leash. She digs in her paws and stares directly into my eyes. Stubborn schnu.

I tell her I don’t have time. That it’s a busy day. As if she really cares.

She digs in harder, then returns to the serious business of sniffing the ice. I tell her, again, in a stronger voice, that we’ve got to get going, that we can come back later.

She ignores me. She sounds like a snorkeling submarine. I feel my face cracking an involuntary smile.

I briefly consider picking her up so we can continue on our way, but something about this spot, this moment, stops me. There’s something about it that’s keeping her here. So I take my smartphone out and join her as she continues to explore the ice with her nose.

By the time I’ve taken a few photos, she’s decided we’re done, and we continue our walk.

A few minutes later, we’re on the return leg back to the house. The car is gone. The ice is crushed, and what’s left is melting fast.

Calli looks at me. Message received. Never wait for later when the fleeting now is beckoning. Always listen to the dog.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #onstorm #water #ice #frozen #winter #walkabout #actofdog #nature #naturephotography #abstract #stilllife #monochrome #photography #apple #iPhone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

When winter won't stop

Shaped by the northern winds
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Scene from a blizzard.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #snow #onstorm #frozen #winter #nature #naturephotography #stop #go #sign #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Don't cry over spilled cereal

Unplanned kitchen floor stilllife
London, ON
March 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

I call it The Great Cheerios Crash of 2023.

It happened because I was being my typical absent-minded self, trying to multitask at a moment when I should have been using both my hands to put the cereal box back where it belonged.

Instead I kinda shoved it into place and called it good enough. Gravity clearly had other plans, and it did its thing not long after I turned my back.

Now, most normal folks, mortified by their sheer stupidity, would have immediately cleaned the mess up. But I’m far from normal folks, and I just stood there and stared at the spectacle of crashed Cheerios on a ceramic tile floor.

Eventually I thought it might make a fun photo.

The universe may see this as another reminder that gravity always wins. But I prefer to think it’s always good for our mental health to skip a beat and take a photo after we’ve been klutzy in the kitchen.

For the record, the five second rule doesn’t apply here. Probably just as well.

#ldnont #london #ontario #canada #cheerios #cereal #breakfast #food #foodporn #random #kitchen #stilllife #photography #apple #iphone #shotoniphone #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

The guy who took on the ocean

Wind and waves
Deerfield Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Far away in the pounding surf, a single man stands firm against the wind and the waves.

From where I’m standing, he’s little more than a speck, a seemingly inconsequential presence amid the enormity of the ocean’s edge. Yet I’m struck by his defiance, by the way he stands square against the onslaught, barely moving as each swell sweeps directly into him.

I take a single shot from my safe distance, then call it a day.

Only later do I look more closely at the resulting photo and realize he isn’t the only one in-frame. In fact, I’ve somehow captured countless other folks holding their own amid the chaotic place where land meets sea.

All I had to do was look a little more closely to see the bigger picture.

All I had to do was take the time to ponder the things that often reveal themselves on their own timeline.

All I needed was a little patience.

#deerfield #beach #florida #vacation #offgrid #throwback #travel #atlantic #ocean #waves #mist #surf #green #blue #landscape #landscapephotography #nature #naturephotography #photography #canon #canonphotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded

Two birds find the high ground

I'll always have your back
Boynton Beach, FL
February 2023
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There are days when you just want to find a quiet spot away from it all and hang out with your best friend.

I’m going to guess that today might be such a day.

Or any day, really.

These two ibises seem to have figured it out, don’t they?

#boynton #beach #florida #greencay #wetlands #vacation #offgrid #throwback #travel #bird #birds #egret #flight #flying #wildlifephotography #animal #nature #naturephotography #landscape #landscapephotography #photography #canon #canonpgotography #canon_photography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded