Cherubs watching over breakfast

Cast in stone
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Details matter.

Like the little flourishes that fill otherwise empty spaces with wonder.

Like the thoughtful touches that weren't necessarily needed, or rational, but time has proven vital all the same.

Like the subtle cues that can't help but make us smile as long as we work a little harder to notice their presence in the first place.

Like tiny snippets of artwork that define a space and fuse it into your memory.

Because otherwise this would have just been a wall. But because some unknown designer decided to splurge a little, it's now an indelible part of an experience in an extraordinary place that we won't soon forget.

Taking the picture in the middle of the breakfast rush, however, will remain a story for another day. Even watchful cherubs must occasionally keep their secrets.

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #pclub2019 #cherub #art #sculpture #texture #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #zoom #photography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Playing peekaboo with the birds

Strike a pose
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Wherever I end up, at some point I'll end up staring at whatever birds happen to be in the area.

Like so many things in my world, there's no rhyme or reason for it. On the bright side, it's a pretty harmless vice. On the down side, it annoys my family to no end.

Assuming I have a camera in my hand (do you really have to ask?) it's equally inevitable that photos will be taken. Gulls in Grand Bend. Pelicans in Florida. Cardinals in the ravine close to home.

Doesn't really matter what they are or where they happen to be: If they're flying, I'm following them wildly with glass.

So this is how I came to have this particular photo of this particular gull in this particular place so far from home.

The gulls here look a bit different than our Ontario birds, but they"re ust as fascinating to watch, right down to their mastery of the skies and rather antisocial behavior toward one another. They really are angry birds, which makes them hilariously entertaining to watch.

From the looks of this shot, I think this little one was onto me.

Like so many other photos I shot this week, or any week, for that matter, it doesn't reflect a terribly earth-shattering scene. But every photo, like every other aspect of a single person's life, has some sort of back story.

And we'd do ourselves quite the service if we slowed ourselves down long enough to learn what other people's stories are.

Or maybe even share a few of our own.

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #pclub2019 #bird #birds #animal #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #beach #zoom #photography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Staring right into the surf

Ride the wave
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Every day holds the potential to take our breath away. But are we taking the time to notice?

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #pclub2019 #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #beach #sunrise #morning #photography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Paradise lost in a blink

Poolside before sunset
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Good days never last as long as we wish they would.

They seem to move faster than other days, and are behind us before we realize just how special they are.

We then wonder if we've done enough to drink them in. Or when we might get more days just like them.

We'd probably want to share them more broadly if we had the ability. Or maybe even store them in figurative boxes so we could pull them out whenever we needed them again.

Reality, though, dictates otherwise, so we're stuck with what we've got. Which, in a literal sense, could be perceived negatively.

But what if we flipped it over? What if we looked at rarity, brevity, fleetingness, perishability as the things that make days like this feel special in the first place?

What if we, instead of spending our energy wishing for what we can't have, instead redirected it toward more actively treasuring that which we already do?

And so it was that my wife and I found ourselves walking back to our room after a gauzy, perfect day, and I saw this perfect scene in the fast-fading light. She nodded that I should grab the moment.

And while that moment was over in a blink, and the only tangible leftovers I now have are in pixellated form, I do have the comfort knowing that we had this moment at all, and we've added it to the ever unfolding story of us.

Not every day is perfect, after all. But being able to have a story to tell, a life within which to tell it, and be surrounded by people who share and embrace that story, is easily the most perfect blessing imaginable.

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #pclub2019 #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #pool #reflective #shadow #palm #trees #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Twisting by the pool

The pause that refreshes
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It's easy to sit by the pool with good friends and colleagues, talking about everything and nothing, feeling like you're one of the luckier people alive.

And you'd be absolutely correct.

The challenge is how to replicate that feeling when the crystal-blue swimming pool is a distant memory, the snow is piling up on the windowsill, a day at the office awaits, and you have no choice but to get back on the merry go round and do the things we must all do to keep the lights on.

I don't quite know how I'll pull that one off once we get back to the real world back home. But I do know that scenes like this one, captured during the fleeting in-between moments in a place that often feels more surreal than real, will help me figure it all out.

Because this is how I hold onto inspiration. What about you?

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #pclub2019 #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #pool #sun #shadow #texture #waves #stilllife #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Watching the waves roll in

Turbulent waters
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

"The forces of the universe may be relentless, but so am I."
C. Levy
2019

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #pclub2019 #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #beach #sunset #waves #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Don't look directly into the sun

Connected to the horizon
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Shooting the sunrise can often be an exercise in futility.

Once the giant gasbag clears the horizon, the optical equation more or less falls apart. It is so bright - and so much brighter than everything around it - that even with the right filters, it's a tall order to get the kind of exposure that isn't a diverse mess of blown out brightness and muddy shadows.

But shift your perspective a little and you open up a few new doors for yourself. Like this one, where I decided the sun itself didn't need to be a part of the scene at all.

Instead, I zeroed in on the reflection marching all the way from the horizon line to my feet. Not even remotely conventional, but I'm not about to start being conventional now.

As I stood on the pier and stared into the distance, that single line of light made me feel somewhat connected to the massive celestial game playing out so far away from where I was. Which got me thinking.

The day doesn't always serve up concoctions that offer up the perfect light. Or taste. Or kindness. Or whatever other ideal it is that you're hoping to receive.

So we adjust. Shift perspective. Change our expectations. Even try something new.

And somewhere along the way, we learn that life isn't necessarily about getting what we want, but making the best out of what we've been given.

Sounds like the perfect way to start the day, even if it isn't what I originally had in mind when I first set out in the darkness.

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #pclub2019 #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #beach #sunrise #morning #photography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Meeting our next pet iguana

Isadore basks in the sun
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo shared originally on Instagram

You never know when life will throw tiny bits of randomness into your path. So you probably want to be at least somewhat ready when it happens.

To wit, I'd like to introduce you to my little friend, Isadore the Iguana. He showed up on the path near our room rather by happenstance, as iguanas are often known to do.

This shouldn't be a surprise: This entire area was hacked out of the tropical jungle, so it's still packed with exotic and sometimes kinda frightening wildlife. Iguana sightings are frequent here, and it's no surprise to see bunches of them hanging out on the pathways here.

Isadore is no gator, though, so I wasn't worried he'd have me for breakfast. But I still wasn't too keen to have him take a bite out of me. So I used a long-ish lens to reel him in.

In the overall scheme of things, this is a common photo of a common lizard, nothing we haven't seen before, here and elsewhere. But when the universe sends one your way, you ignore the opportunity at your peril.

Because wonder is all around us. And we owe it to ourselves and those closest to us to embrace it when we cross its path.

I think I owe Isadore a sincere thank you.

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #pclub2019 #iguana #reptile #animal #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #beach #sunrise #morning #photography #canon #canon_photography #canonphotography #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Relentlessness in the pre-dawn light

Always there
Cancun, Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

There aren't a whole lot of people on the beach at 6:38 a.m. But this single man is.

His job is a thankless one: Sweep up and carry away the seaweed that relentlessly floats ashore and coats the otherwise pristine, sugar-white sand - that was obviously trucked in - with a layer of material that reminds us all who's in charge.

His job is also never-ending. Before he's completed his trip from one end of the deserted beach to the other, leaving impossibly neat mounds of the stuff at perfectly spaced intervals behind him, more seaweed is already staining the beach where he first started. He'll never win this battle. Or even catch up.

But he's got a job, and despite the obvious futility of trying to hold back a not-so-random force of nature, he's going to doggedly pursue his goal no matter what.

I watch him for a few minutes before the combination of biting bugs and sand in my camera send me scurrying back from the frontier. He's clearly a lot tougher than I'll ever be, and I silently wish him well as I turn around and walk back to terra firma.

Despite the fact that we've never exchanged a word, it's obvious this beach is in eminently capable hands.

I hope all his mornings are similarly quiet and undisturbed. He - and others who work silently and constantly - deserve no less.

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #pclub2019 #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #beach #sunrise #morning #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Leaving on a plane. This time together.

Her. Everything.
Cancun. Mexico
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Sometimes you get lucky in life.

First, I met this beauty of a human being oh so many years ago. Second, she agreed to a second date, which led to a third, and a lifetime of us.

Then, I had the good fortune to join a company that values its staff as family, where we're given the room and the resources we need to do extraordinary work.

I was both honored and humbled to be named to Info-Tech's President's Club this year, among an incredible group of other high-achieving colleagues. We're in Mexico this week, and to say I'm thankful would be an understatement.

Experiencing this with her, after everything we've experienced together - and, to be fair, everything I've put her through - is one of those things that makes you realize sometimes good things do happen if you wish, and work, hard enough.

We'll have more pictures in the days to come, but for now I wanted to share this one. Because everything I do in my work life is made possible by the support she provides at home. We've always been a team, and this week we get to celebrate it - and us - a little.

Onward. Together.

#cancun #mexico #itrg #infotechresearchgroup #presidentsclub #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Climbing out of Pearson

Me and my shadow
Toronto, ON
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Most people never give this particular plane much of a second thought.

It's a Dash 8, Series 400, better known as the Q400, a twin-turboprop commuter aircraft. Sometimes derisively called a puddlejumper, or a people mover, or a bus with wings. Nothing glamorous about it. Just a small-ish, short-range plane that connects smaller airports to major hubs.

But on Friday, it brought me home, as it's done so many times since we moved to London. It was an older model that first brought us to this city a lifetime ago, and later took me back to Montreal when life took one unexpected turn after another. When the universe turned tangent, this unassuming plane always got me where I needed to go.

Watching it leap into the cold, blustery sky once more, I was reminded yet again that boring and reliable beats glamorous on any given day. It's what gets the job done, and reconnects us with those who matter most, quietly and without complaint.

We can always rely on the boring and reliable things in our lives to show up, to be there, to never leave us stranded. To power through any challenges or obstacles that may be thrown in their path.

Kinda like people, right?

I guess that's why I gravitate both toward Q400s and Q400 kind of people, and why I'm the one staring out the window when everyone else has already nodded off. I wouldn't want to miss my favorite piece of flying engineering returning to the place where it does its best work. And I wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to be inspired by something so capable yet unsung.

Because heroes are all around us, and they take on many forms.

#toronto #yyz #ontario #canada #itrg #infotechlive #pearson #international #airport #dehavilland #dash8 #q400 #airplane #aviation #shadow #photography #city #travel #travelphotography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Reflections in neon light

Lighting the way
Las Vegas, NV
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It may not be the official City of Light, but if I had the power, it would be.

#lasvegas #nevada #strip #cosmopolitan #night #landscape #bright #lights #big #city #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Disappearing into the night

Blinding
Las Vegas, NV
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram 

Leaving #LasVegas. For now.

#nevada #vegas #strip #night #landscape #bright #lights #big #city #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #explore #aviation #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Staring at a shiny airport floor

Pondering the trivial before the journey home
Las Vegas, NV
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Scene from an airport, part 82 of an apparently never-ending series.

This is the floor in the departures area of the #LasVegas airport's Terminal 3. It looks like any other airport, though if you squish your eyelids just so, you can barely divine the slot machines that seem to be everywhere here.

I don't know why I feel such a need to take pictures like this when I travel, of the minutiae I encounter along the way. I suppose I just don't want to forget anything from the journey.

Or maybe my mind seeks comfort in the mundane when I'm otherwise moving at a thousand miles an hour. Taking tiny moments here and there to steal scenes like this seems to slow things down just enough that I can breathe again.

I know what you must be thinking: It's just another airport, leading up to just another flight. And to a certain extent, you would be right. But isn't every trip special in its own right? Doesn't every journey deserve to be remembered for the unique experience that it is? Don't the "just another's" merit a piece of the spotlight, too?

Not to worry: I've got plenty of the so-called big pictures, the things you'd expect to see when you go to Vegas. But the small pics are just as important later on when we're trying to remember what it felt like to be there.

So I'll keep shooting small moments along the way. Because they actually loom much larger than we might have originally thought.

#nevada #itrg #InfoTechLive #McCarran #international #airport #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #city #explore #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Save Ferris

Spinning toward the clouds
Las Vegas, NV
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

If the wheel in the sky keeps on turning, do we ever really get anywhere?

I don't have the answer to this question - or any other, for that matter. But as I stand on my hotel room balcony and watch the city come alive below me, I decide not every question needs to be answered, and sometimes it's perfectly fine if we just take in the view and reflect on where we are.

It's been non-stop action since the moment I first got here. The #InfoTechLIVE conference has been a monumental success, and as the #itrg team begins the process of packing up and heading for home, we feel like we've set the stage for even more good things - for us and for our members - in the months to come.

We're tired, but it's the good kind of tired, the reward for accomplishing great things and enjoying the journey with like-minded, driven colleagues.

It's a satisfying place to be, here in the sky, counting a few blessings and thanking the universe for the opportunity to learn, grow, and occasionally go wow.

But home is even better, and I'm already counting the hours until I'm back there, surrounded by the people who make me whole. The wheel in the sky may not be going anywhere anytime soon, but it seems to be pointing me in the right direction.

#lasvegas #nevada #building #landscape #ferris #wheel #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #city #explore #streetphotography #photography ##nikon #nikonphotography #niikon_photography #dslr #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

A quick peek backstage

Just before showtime
Las Vegas, NV
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

You’re looking at the backstage area area at #InfoTechLive, deep inside The Cosmopolitan in #LasVegas. If you look just so, you'll see a snippet of the stage itself.

As these kind of things go, it isn’t terribly spectacular. Then again, when are waiting areas behind stages considered spectacular? They don’t have to be. Like so many aspects of a large-scale event, they exist to simply get the job done, and that’s a good thing.

That remarkable presentation you can just make out on the stage is made possible by countless people, elements, and resources. Including this seemingly unspectacular space.

Its unspectacular nature, however, IS its appeal. Living in the margins, as I so often do, means focusing on the trivial even when you should probably be focusing on something more important at that particular moment in time.

Don’t get me wrong: In the leadup to my going onstage, I was completely in the zone, locked into what I wanted to say, how I wanted to say it, and how my time up there would play out. I had visualized it in my mind so many times that I could almost feel what it would be like to hit the stage and do my thing. And this time, I wasn't going to fall on my way up.

But still, the trivial beckons. And why is that?

Here’s what I think: When the stress-meter is pinned past the limits of the instrument, I often look for ways to defuse it a little, to feel a little less freaked, a bit more normal. It’s an attempted reminder to myself that I’m still me, that no matter how big and loud and bright things are about to get, I’m still that doofus with the pink bike who likes to talk to ducks as he rides past.

Or try to remember what important moments in my never-predictable life feel like. And photos like this, strange as they may seem, accomplish just that.

I could also tell you the story about the next photo I took - of my colleague’s rapidly cooling plate of eggs - but that’ll have to wait for another day. There’s lots of trivial yet to go around.

#nevada #cosmopolitan #hotel #itrg #infotech #infotechrg #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #stilllife #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Celebrating an on-stage face-plant

Drink up, responsibly
Las Vegas, NV
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Day 1 of #InfoTechLIVE in #LasVegas is in the books, and a little celebration is called for.

This isn't, however, my drink. I found it in the hallway near the conference site, and decided some photographic decompression was called for.

It was an action-packed day filled with learning and connecting. And my first-ever full-on face plant on-stage in front of an audience of over 500 clients, colleagues, and partners. Which I'm guessing will now indelibly fuse me into the memories of a whole lot of people.

Glass half empty thinking would have me churning the fall in my mind all night long, and quite possibly beyond. The glass half full version of Carmi says I should count my blessings that tripping onto the stage was the worst thing that happened to me today. There's always someone else - or more precisely countless other someones - who must deal with far darker realities.

So don't mind me if I choose to celebrate a successful, if somewhat unconventional, day in an extraordinary place by shooting pics of someone else's long-abandoned glass of wine.

No one ever said life needed to follow a set script, anyway.

#nevada #cosmopolitan #hotel #itrg #infotech #infotechrg #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #white #wine #stilllife #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Retrotech in a hotel lobby

Reflective communication
Las Vegas, NV
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

It's a big day for our #itrg family here in #LasVegas, and my feed will soon be packed with scenes and snippets from #InfoTechLIVE.

Yet it's an ancient phone, sitting ignored on a table in the shadows of an endless hallway here at the hotel, that captures my attention. Why?

First, I think it's the universe sending us a reminder to slow down every once in a while and soak in the details. Otherwise we might miss the colors, tones, and textures that seem to define lives well lived.

Second, it's a subtle nod to the art of communication, and how we can never stop trying to connect more effectively. No one is on this journey alone, after all, and we can't ignore the fact that we successfully navigate our path with the gentle help of those around us.

Even when we're all alone, as I am now in a quiet 44th floor hotel room in the pre-dawn darkness far from home, I am surrounded, connected, and cared for. So are you - so please let's not allow the frenetic pace of day-to-day life to blot out that very simple, critical reality.

And about that phone? Amid whatever craziness lies ahead for you today, I hope you'll take a moment to connect with someone who matters. We always have the time for that.

Indeed, if I'm going to knock it out of the park at this week's conference - as I have every intention of doing - it'll be precisely because simple, quiet, connections like the one you see here put me right where I needed to be.

#nevada #cosmopolitan #hotel #infotech #infotechrg #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #stilllife #photography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

A blinding light in the Nevada desert

Bright lights, big city
Las Vegas, NV
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

[Insert obligatory #LasVegas skyline photo here.]

I shot this at 12:35 a.m., but thanks to the magic of time zones and sub-supersonic travel, my brain thought it was 3:35. So of course the thing to do was shoot photos off the balcony. Because, you know, priorities.

Actually, I shot this because of community. I'm here this week to participate in our company's biggest ever conference. It's called Info-Tech LIVE (follow the #itrg and #infotechlive hashtags for more) and it promises to be packed with incalculable amounts of learning, connecting, and inspiration. Many hundreds of our members are coming in from all around the continent - and even the world - and I can't wait for our team to a) showcase the brilliance that is Info-Tech, and b) learn from our community's brilliance, in return.

As my colleagues have arrived here through the weekend, they've all been sharing their own first views of this frenetic town. We're here to work, not play, but there's something incredibly inspiring about a like-minded group of dedicated professionals who routinely share moments from the road. It might seem like a small thing to an outsider, but it's yet another example of why I love what I do, and where I do it.

It's going to be a wild and memorable week, and I hope you can join us along the way.

#nevada #building #architecture #architecturephotography #buildingporn #architectureporn #road #trip #travel #travelphotography #travelgram #city #explore #streetphotography #photography #light #darkness #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything

Leaving home, for now

Office Anywhere
Toronto, ON
November 2019
This photo originally shared on Instagram

Scene from an airport (redux).

I'm on the move again, heading to a faraway land to work with, learn from, and be inspired by some of the smartest folks I know.

Before I get there, though, work needs to get done. Thankfully I have power, connectivity, and a bit of residual brain capacity. Airports and productivity are apparently a great combo. Who knew?

I may be sitting at the gate all by my lonesome, but I'm hardly alone. I'm lucky enough to have a family that stands both with and behind me whenever stuff needs to get done. Work travel is a team effort, even when I'm the only Levy boarding the plane.

My wife and kids will keep our house spinning on its axis while I'm gone, and for that, and so much more, I'm profoundly thankful.

More to come. Let's do this, shall we?

#toronto #ontario #canada #itrg #infotechlive #pearson #international #airport #photography #city #travel #travelphotography #google #pixel2 #teampixel #photooftheday #instagood #nofilter #nofilterneeded #lifeinthemargins #family #everything