Happy New Year everyone! What adventures do you have planned? I will be offering prints and possibly some other merchandise soon. I may be bringing my hard working husband on board with this project also! Did you know he is a photographer too? Perhaps I will write a blog on how we first met for next week. Without him there wouldn't be any grand adventures. Lol, I do all the planning and he does the driving, and works hard to pay for it. He works so hard in fact he doesn't have time to share or promote his own photography. We have been photographing nature together for fifteen years. Chris is a really strong landscape photographer and over the years I have managed to interest him in shooting wildlife photography too. We are hoping and needing some big changes in our lives this year. As you know we are in desperate need of a home of our own. Due to the fact I literally can't breathe at the apartment our son and I are temporarily residing with my sister and her husband who have graciously offered their home as a refuge. My husband is back at the apartment eighty miles away so that he can still easily commute to work. I don't know what adventures lay ahead for us. Right now we need to concentrate on increasing income and a new healthy residence. I have a bit more research to do but I think we will be joining up with the print on demand company Fine Art America. I need to decide whether I will install a widget to promote our store on this website or do I make a separate store front and link it. This website does not get a lot of traffic so I need to figure out how to either change that or create a whole new website elsewhere. Everything seems so uncertain now but I really hope this year brings good tidings to everyone this year! I wish good health to you all and for the opportunity to have your own adventures. God Bless until next week! One of the things I remember growing up was that we always had a real tree for Christmas. Sometimes Dad would find one while out hunting, other years he bought one at a store. It was always magic though, the wonderful smell, standing it up in the corner. Mom would string the lights. My sister and I would decorate the tree and then argue over who would get to put mom's pretty angel on the top of the tree. Mom has wanted to replace that angel for a newer fancier one but my sister and I won't let her. Sure she is old and simple (the angel not my mother) but she is beautiful with her white hair and tiny gold strip of garland for a halo and old fashion pink porcelain cheeks. Her body is basically a toilet paper tube covered by a simple white dress and wings. I'd share a photo but I don't have one of just her. So to this day I have always put an angel on the top of the tree, whether it was some clumsily put together one I built out of Styrofoam cups and Kleenex, or tiny medal one actually meant for a branch. Last year my gift from Mom was an angel for the top of the tree. Yes, fancier than hers but I knew she had searched hard for just the right one. I can't have anything that flashes or strobes in my home and that was a big part of the challenge. The angel meant a lot to me especially since she put so much care into picking her out. Many folks just use stars as it was the north star that led the wise men to baby Jesus. It was however an angel of the Lord that first gave Mary the news of her first born and it was angels that sang and told the shepherds of Jesus' birth and so is equally important to the celebration of our savior. There was making cookies with my Aunts and cousins too, but those times have gone by the wayside. Especially since my waistline has no need of cookies, but it was something I used to look forward too. I usually try to do at least one batch with my son, but not this year. He did help roll out crust for the berry pie though. As far as the Christmas tree goes we have visited various Christmas tree farms either just us or with my husband's family. Some years we've driven a long ways for one and other years we overpaid for the convenience of not having to travel and have it all wrapped and mounted on the car. My husband usually cuts the tree down. I would pull our son on either a sled or tarp when he was little along with the tree. Last year I found a tree farm literally around the corner from some land my husband owns and the trees are reasonably priced. These trees remind me of some of the trees my Dad used to bring home as they are wild and not manicured. This year's pick of tree had two tops. I almost picked it last year. Someone else must have liked it too as the poor thing had been sawed halfway through. This time we let our son have the honors of trying to cut he tree down. Well, he tried but maybe next year he will be a bit stronger. This year we tree shopped in the rain, other years it was in varying depths of snow, sunshine with blue skies, or blustery eye stinging snow. Either way picking out a live tree is always treat and a good excuse to get outside and walk about in the otherwise unwelcomed cold. There is a peaceful beauty in the woods, and most folks are joyful. The getting of the Christmas tree was my most favorite part of Christmas this year, second only to my child's thankful hugs. We didn't really get to enjoy Christmas this year as I had a massive allergic asthma attack which also triggered the conversion disorder. So, ya frightening times! Among this years prized gifts were a new pair of hiking boots and a copy of "Chasing Awe," by photographer/You Tuber Gavin Hardcastle. Maybe just maybe we will find a way to get out this year. In the meantime I will have some inspiration to read and some gorgeous photos to envy. Hope you all had a great Christmas and let us all PRAY 2022 brings some big positive much needed change! Have you ever dreamed of having a home where you are safe, where you could be comfortable? For me that place is still only a dream. I feel pretty bad for some of my neighbors too. Well, it has been nearly three months since the bathroom spewed its guts all over. On occasion it still continues to pass gas back at us or threatens to overflow. Mold has developed. My face hurts, my eyes hurt I get headaches. I am allergic to mold. I have called on issues with the plumbing and the mold. The owner refuses to pay for the work that needs to be done. I have an email ready to review with my husband to send to Codes. A plumber was sent after one of my complaints, but the system for whatever reason would not back up. This was after a member of the maintenance crew had said the system needed to be snaked. The plumber was not allowed to snake or investigate with a camera. He was quite angry as it was the second time he had come to a call here at the Edge of The Pond to get not paid. Turns out the bathroom in the apartment across the hall from us had erupted too. They said it was a bit worse and just one push of a plunger had returned the drains to working condition. He had wanted to investigate the drains with a mini camera to find out why so much damage to the place had occurred. The owner would not allow it. No one was living there at the time. Well, they did do a bit of work on the bathroom and the whole place got cleaned, all of the flooring was replaced across the hall. Then the folks who smoke cigarettes and Marijuana both on their patio and inside the building (massive fire hazard) were allowed to move into that newly redone apartment. I have called and made complaints several times about the smoking as have other neighbors, especially for the stuff that smells like skunk. For a while just after we returned from our trip to Wyoming they had seemed to stop. Since they moved across the hall the problem has erupted again. Before the trip I had been having breathing issues every time anybody lit up. I would get coughing unable to catch my breathe. It felt like one lung would not function. I couldn't exhale in order to take in that next breathe. Diagnosis Covid free but turns out I have allergy induced asthma. I am allergic to the smoke. Side note, if you are a family member that smokes and you notice me avoiding you like the plague it isn't that I don't love you, but that I want to be able to breathe. I know that is awful of me. Apartments here are advertised as clean and smoke free. That is a complete and total bold face lie! I have also contacted the State Police and was referred to the Onondaga County Department of Health. I was told there was nothing that could be done. I guess this is what happens to decent folks when the nation is run by criminals. The whole building in which we live is deteriorating. The wallpaper in the halls is peeling the carpet is turning black, there are holes in the the filthy dented walls. Buyer be ware. This place used to be nicer, this place used to be kept up. I won't go on about the other things that we have suffered while living here. Oh, and they have raised everyone's rents for next year! What the hell are we paying for! The title of this blog is Tough Times. I know we are not the only ones having a tough time. Gas prices are skyrocketing out of control. Food prices have people struggling to feed their families across the country. I know I have changed the way I shop. Prices on houses and rentals make me cry tears of blood. I have looked into trying to find a safe and affordable place to live. We only have one income, and my husband started investing in some stocks which has not been as lucrative as hoped. So why don't I get off my oversized butt and get a real job instead of staying home and educating our child? Functional Neurological Disorder is one label and it takes many forms, mine is the life sentence with chance of remission. Hoping for remission and return to a normal life I chose not to undergo the super stressful ordeal of trying to get Social Security Disability. That was twelve years ago. Many days I operate fine, but when I get stressed, have PMS, encounter sudden loud sounds or flashing lights or get bonked on the head there are a myriad of not nice things that happen and it can occur lightening fast. My body often reacts before I even know what is happening. If often attracts unwanted attention. Not being able to control your own body is no picnic! That is all I will say about that. So what does any of this have to do with photography or travel? Well, traveling into the wilderness is like medicine to me. My nerves calm down, I can breathe, I can relax! We may not be able travel next year. I am not talking about going on a big adventurous trip, I'm talking about even local hikes. This past year all we did was camp one weekend in the Adirondacks for my son's birthday and the big trip I just finished blogging about. We need another income stream. Especially if we are to escape this apartment complex alive. Yes I know I'm being a bit melodramatic. This toxic hell was supposed to temporary! Completely my fault though for not working a "real job" since the onset of the disorder. I asked about interest in print on demand photo products on Facebook. I don't know how many people saw the post but I got no response at all! Silent crickets are frustrating. I do what I can to help out others when I can, I have bought fancy nails, tye-dye clothes, even Usborne books from people who ignored me when I was selling. Well, anyways I was disappointed, extremely disappointed. I was hoping to possibly make my photography available for sale. I can't afford a decent printer, nor is there space for any stock here. I would have to use a print on demand service, maybe even another website. I would be marking up someone else's base price, and having them take care of fulfillment and shipping and hope that they would provide a 1099 at the end of the year. Products would cost more that way, There are costs involved too, like website fees, my time, and marketing costs. I need questions answered. If I made the investment would anyone be willing or want to buy prints, metal or canvas prints? Would any one want nature themed photos on their mugs, card sets, notebooks, shower curtains (I think that would be awesome) pillows, phone protectors, bags, pillows, or blankets or would I be wasting my time and resources? I know calendars are a thing of the past. I made a calendar this fall and zero sold. I even offered discounts. I made three options last year and only sold four. It is very disheartening. Another downside is I won't be able to personally sign anything, have any control over packaging presentation. I think a personal thank-you note would be a nice touch but I may not have access to information on my customers depending on the route I choose.
It would be better and a lot more lucrative to photograph weddings or shoot portraits. I tried weddings a few times for people I know. The stress got to me and it was not pretty. Thank God my husband is also a photographer and had agreed to assist me, in both calming me down to regain control of my body and taking photos. I am glad he always has my back, and I know it is not easy. If I do move forward on that venture it won't be until next year. Please pray for us to make a good decision. If you have any feed back, please comment or private message me. Sorry for such a long winded and relatively negative blog/ cry for help. If you have read this blog, thank-you. I hope to try to keep writing weekly and continue to share my love of nature photography and travel. Departure day arrived. I was in no rush but I knew my husband most likely would be. Our someone little was also looking forward to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. It was a bittersweet day as there was a little bit left to the adventure, but I was not ready to leave. In all honesty I always dread returning to New York. Before leaving I really wanted to have a Ranger either swear in our son as a Jr. Ranger or at least sign off on his booklet to make it official and more meaningful. Well, we got up and went through the normal routine of packing up camp and leave no trace. I had hoped maybe we would see another fox but it was not meant to be. We went over to the ranger station and found it closed. We were an hour or so too early. As we walked back toward the car I notice a bird hanging about the store. I tried to take it's photo. It seemed curious about us. I think this was a Grouse that someone had obviously fed. It pecked me once on the leg and chased my son every time he tried to walk away. I told him to hold still and not move. The little bird charged him every time he moved. Finally I got him to hold still enough for the bird to lose interest and walk away. As it did we made our brisk walk to the car. Now I omitted part of our story from when we had explored the Moose-Wilson Road and didn't see much for wildlife. On the way back to camp it was dark and we missed our turn. There are two parking areas for Jenny Lake we pulled down to the first area that leads to the hiking trail that connects Jenny and String Lakes. There were several roads down that way and signage in the park is not great so we turned around and went back to camp the way we had come. Thankfully we did not miss the turn that time. So with an hour to spare we decided to scope that area out. We wound up at a parking area overlooking Jenny Lake and the Grand Tetons. We made a few more photos and took the arrival of a tour bus as our cue to leave. I would love to explore that hike between the two Lakes someday. We returned to the Ranger Station where a young ranger said that they were not allowed to swear in new Jr. Rangers due to Covid Regulations. She did however ask our son about what his favorite pages in the booklet were. He answered the pages on bear safety and proceeded to tell her how to be safe in bear territory. The ranger signed off on his ranger booklet. She smiled when she saw his name. Her last name was the same as his first name! We all thought that was pretty cool. I pinned his Grand Teton National Park badge on his shirt. He was pretty proud of his accomplishment even though I really had to push hard to get him to do complete the activities. From there we headed north and then picked up Route 26 east. We drove through a portion of the Bridger-Teton National Forest and the Shoshone National Forest. These areas provided jaw dropping beauty with every curve, hill top and valley with very few pull offs. This stretch of highway between the national park and Dubois, WY will take your breathe away! Both my husband and I wanted to stop and explore but we had a promise to keep and an extremely long drive back to our so called home. To me our tent is more like home when it isn't in our current dwelling. Along the way we did mange to find and stop at a pull off or view point and practice our craft. We both long to return in better shape some day and attempt a backpacking trip. It is mind blowing all the places there are to explore in this world! Doesn't the photo make you wish you could just step into it and wander. Are there any trickling streams? What wildlife would you encounter? If the wildfires weren't burning and smoke filling the valley could you imagine the smell of of the pines? How many different types of wildflowers grow here in the spring? What secrets lie behind those hills? Does solitude exist here? Come on now, am I really crazy for wanting to explore more? Once we left the region of federal lands the land scape became much flatter, and less lush unless someone was watering it and very desolate. It seems very few folks live outside of the cities unless they own a sprawling ranch. The drive to Thermopolis, home of the Wyoming Dinosaur Center took three hours. We stopped for store bought donuts for breakfast in Dubois, WY. Then we turned north in Shoshone. Along the way we crossed over Bad Water Creek where the husband had to stop for some construction. This allowed me to get a very quick snapshot. I believe Badwater Creek has been mentioned in several stories of the old west which made seeing it in person a bit special. Oh wait a minute, where is the water? Well, here is the dry creek bed because it was a drought year. Continuing north we encountered some beautiful red rock formations, passed by the some otherworldly lakes and drove through a mountain tunnel. Once we reached Thermopolis I turned to the phone to get directions to the Wyoming Dinosaur Center. Upon reaching the museum our son was quite excited. However, once inside the excitement disappeared. He seemed rather expressionless as we wandered the small museum. I tried to point out some things to him and read just a few signs to him. He blew me off and refused to get his picture taken with the skeletons. I had to hunt him and shoot him unaware. My favorite is one of him between the jaws of the T-rex replica! Yep, when your child refuses to cooperate feed him to the dinosaur! Just kidding. It was hard to know what was going through his mind. Was he just soaking it all in or disappointed? I enjoyed the museum and it was my first time seeing actual dinosaur skeletons in person. You may not know it but I actually have a B.A. in Biology. I had actually been hoping to be a veterinarian but wound up being a total and utter failure. Anyways during college I did some research for a paper and delivered a presentation on the relatively newly discovered Archaeopteryx. I don't know how I did or even what I said during the presentation. I was so nervous I completely dissociated from myself. Anyways the museum was exciting. I probably could have read more of the signage and tried to absorb more than I did but this was more for my son than me and his attention span is not the same as mine. My husband was just along for the ride. Once we thought we were done with the museum part our son really wanted to go on the dig site tour. Cue the bad news. They had stopped dig site tours for the year just the day before. The result more money in our pocket but an extremely disappointed little boy. I sent him and daddy back into the museum while I Christmas shopped. When I finished and returned he was in slightly different mood. We went around observing the differences between the dinosaur replicas and the real fossils. The Camarasaurus and the Allosaurus were real and actually native to Wyoming. I believe the Maiasaura and it's nest of babies were authentic fossils too. Then I found the Allosaurus teeth that we had seen Coyote Peterson and Mario of Brave Wilderness dig up on You Tube! He was disappointed that the labels of who had discovered which tooth had been removed. I was a bit disappointed too. Despite how he acted I later learned he did enjoy the museum and begs to go back to do the tour and or a dig himself , next year he would be old enough for the dig. We did not spend as much time at the museum as I thought we would. However, we were getting a bit hangry. I was hoping to have lunch at a local restaurant but didn't know where to go so we wound up at Pizza Hut. The boys can never get enough pizza. We discussed our options. If there had been camping at Hot Springs State Park I would have pushed going there. Instead we decided which route to take to get back to "home." Back through the beautiful Big Horn Mountains or south to I80 through Nebraska. We decided to head through Nebraska. So we headed south along part of the route we had come. We shot a few photos once we passed through the tunnel. Then we stopped to see if we could camp at the Lower or Upper Wind River Campgrounds. According to the sign reservations were required and was not friendly towards folks not from Wyoming. So we drove to Casper and eventually found a Quality Inn which was really nice. If felt so good to finally take a shower! The next morning we enjoyed the complimentary breakfast. Staff there was very friendly and nice. We packed up and hit the road east. Wyoming became very flat and on occasion we saw some metal cowboys along the roadside. That day we would drive to another Quality in in Omaha, Nebraska. Nebraska had very few trees. The landscape rolled slightly. Although we were making miles it felt like we were setting still or stuck in groundhogs day. We stopped at one monument near Julesburg to stretch our legs. I took a few photos of the monument, the vast nothingness and the largest insect I have ever encountered! Further down the road we stopped in Paxton, Nebraska for fuel and lunch. We quickly settled on Ole's Big Game Steakhouse and Lounge. Well, we were surrounded by big game and photos of the founder/ big game hunter. At first my son seemed rather creeped out by all the dead animals hanging all around us but soon curiosity won out. The bison burger was excellent as was the service so stop in if your passing through. In Lincoln we fueled again and when we couldn't immediately find a hotel we pressed on through in the darkness, road construction and scary traffic jams to Omaha. Boy, was I glad to be off the road! The shower felt good and the boy let loose his pent up energy tossing his stuffed trout and playing catch. It was hard to get him to settle so we could all go to sleep. The next morning we grabbed the continental breakfast and visited with one of the employees who allowed us each an extra muffin for the road. She had to been from New York. During our discussion she mentioned the the roadway to get back on I80 was going to be closing soon for a memorial parade to honor a soldier who had died in the most recent Afghanistan blunder. While the parade was a nice sentiment we needed to make a lot miles, so we got out of there as fast as we could! That day way drove all the way to Elkhart, Indiana where friends we rarely see volunteered their home in exchange for a very pleasant visit. We owe them a very big thank-you! Along the way we completed the last of the 431 miles across Nebraska, drove by lots of windmills and cornfields in Iowa, bit our nails trying to get through city traffic in Chicago, IL and Gary, IN. We had arrived at our friends' home late, so we enjoyed donuts and a good visit with them in the morning. Our son had a good time playing with their children, at least until the sibling rivalry started. At that point being an only child he didn't quite know what to do so he came out and played by himself until someone came to join him. Eventually we did have to hit the road. Hubby usually wants at least one day to rest before going back to work. So we finished driving the second half of Indiana, all the way through Ohio, part of Pennsylvania to the middle of New Yuck! Yes, I am a fan of Judy Blume's writing. It took us about thirteen hours of driving and pit stops to get back to the apartment. It was ten o'clock at night, the apartment smelled strange. At least it didn't smell of Marijuana. Yes, we have some really awful neighbors and a few decent ones but the worst ones are always the closest. As I was setting some things down in the living room. I heard, "Uhh, Jules, come here the bathroom is covered in sewage, call PMA!" The lady on the phone took down my complaint and forwarded it to the maintenance team with no idea how long it would take to for anyone to show up. Our carpet was soaking wet too. We spoke to a few neighbors who had been out side. They had not had any issues. My husband was too exhausted to drive even though I really wanted to stay in a hotel. I opened as many windows as I dared. Around two in the morning we tried to get some sleep. I called maintenance again in the morning. Ten minutes later there was a knock on the door. The maintenance guy was there. He cleaned the bathroom or at least the worst of it up. He looked at the side of the sink vanity that he had installed in June and shook his head. It would need to be replaced, everything in the bathroom that couldn't go in a washing machine had to be thrown out. I tried to see about getting reimbursed, and received no answer. The walls are moldy and dry rotted. They left a dehumidifier behind for us to use. It runs almost constantly. My face hurts from my allergies, and I get headaches. The owner refuses to fix the damage. No one knows exactly why the bathroom puked while we were gone. The toilet blows bubbles on occasion and the sink frequently gives off sewer gas. For a while my child was afraid to take a shower. I need to call codes, but I am also scared we could wind up homeless. We are looking for another place to live but on one small income and the current market all seems hopeless! |
Julie MetottNature Photographer, wife, mother, lover of outdoor adventure! Archives
November 2022
Categories
|