I had it on my calendar to take this past week off to photograph.  So I planned out a number of places I wanted to go. I’ve had a few of them on my to do list for several years or so.

It’s funny how there are places you want to go and for some reason or another you just never get to them, even if they’re not very far away.  Just like other things you want to get around to doing but never seem to make happen. Well this time I was pretty determined!  It sounded good when I talked about it and it looked good on paper in my notebook.

Then as usual, as the week was approaching a few things started to come up that had to be scheduled. A zoom meeting, then a conference call. Then three different couples we know wanted to get together for dinner this week.  Ok, no problem.

I decided I wasn’t going to get wrapped around the axel over it and realized my list was probably a little bit too ambitious under the best of circumstances.  So what did I do? I took my own advice as described in last week’s entry … I modified my plans a bit and went about my way to photograph all the things that get in front of my camera. I also decided to keep doing things on my schedule that are good for me and I enjoy. So I got in my daily early morning ten-kilometer walks and yes, went out to dinner three nights in a row with friends (Ok, a little much and not my normal I can assure you!).

The other thing I did was not to get into a funk if things weren’t going well when I was out there … be it a planned outing or going freestyle.  For example when my plans had to be ditched one day I hijacked a friend who knows many of Bucks County’s secrets and he showed me a few.  Thanks Dave! I also decided to head in uncharted directions where I had a hunch things might be interesting, especially when dark clouds started to roll in and the light got bad. Now what? Drive in a different direction!  I can’t tell you how many times I changed directions as I tried to stay ahead of the changing light. But you know what?  I ended up finding some new things I never knew about not far from where I live and made some pictures of other things I’ve passed by a million times that upon closer inspection turned out to be more interesting than I thought!

The most fun was when I went on a few day trips and just kept going off route when something interesting caught my eye or I sensed there might be something if I went rogue.  So I showed up to my destinations or got home an hour or two later than planned.  Who cares?

So in the end, a great week was had, and not the one I had planned on by a long shot! I had a wonderful time, without the stress, made a lot of photographs, found some unexpected surprises and maybe snagged a few keepers.

Now on to all of the things I didn’t get to plus all the other things I want to do! I’ll need a lot more than a week though!

Stay well,

Michael