Well, the last trip for 2009 is about to take flight. I will be leaving for Los Angeles early Sunday morning to pound out another two-weeker that includes San Diego and Palm Springs. I caught my first look at Illinois snow earlier today. Not much. It snowed previously here but I was in Arizona experiencing my first snow there. That was weird.
This year I have been very lucky. Well, I don't really believe in luck. I think God has sent a group of angels to protect me from my stupidity. I mean ... Did you ever do something so profoundly stupid that when you realized it ... you just sat there stunned that you were still alive. One of those events was so dangerous that I can't even joke about it. My wife knows. She was there ... and I am glad we are both still here. But sometimes, I swear I can hear the angels in the back seat laughing their butts off about what I might try next. (Oh, by the way I did finally complete my California Highway Patrol recommended driving school by computer from Illinois. I got a 90% on the test. Wow was I proud. I studied for 14 hours. What a waste of a day off.)
When I started this blog officially sometime in February, I had no idea how fast it would grow. When I started to travel in June there were still only 600 followers. Now, nearly 1200 more have joined. AND I KNOW WHY!!! People are wondering just how I will accidently get myself killed. I heard it is the heaviest gambled pool by readers from my employers corporate offices. HA-ZAH!
Back around Father's Day when I was in Oregon, I saw this guy out in his small boat with two sons going out for a day fishing. Beautiful waters and trees. He was going around the river and it was a fantastic photo opportunity BUT ... I had to go fast or he would be out of sight before I could shoot the photo. So I pulled off the road with horns behind me blarring for my sudden stop without warning. I was chasing the new most important thing in my life and no angry Oregonian would be able to honk sense into me. I quickly jumped out of the car with my camera and POW ... just like that ... I got a great photo. Fantastic Father's Day shot. I know ... you were thinking a car hit me. Is that what you bet in the office pool?
Then I wandered around the corner and saw a fish hatchery. Cool, I thought. It was a blast. I walked around for 40 minutes taking photos of these Rainbow Trout and Salmon. Great time watching them tag fish. Just having a great old time on that perfect Saturday. No worries, certainly no cares.
I finally decided to get back on the road when I noticed ... hmmm, I left the car running. I got in the car and was further stunned when I discovered that the car was still in gear. Seriously! The only thing that kept the car from going down the hill and into the river was a slight incline in the road that the idle of the car did not surpass. So the car sat still ... IN GEAR. I don't know but the sound of laughter from the back seat was deafening. I think they were laughing at me and the unlucky angel that had to hold the car still for 40 minutes. Well, all I can say is, my funeral WILL be a riot. A contest of sorts. Who saw me do the stupidest thing? You're the winner!
If you want to read which of my adventures I think was the hands down dumbest, Click Here!
Well, I am thankful ... and a little more careful than when the year began. So here's hoping you will keep looking in during this Christmas season as I finish the photo collection for 2009. It is a hecktic time of the year. Pause and reflect on the meaning of Christmas. Try to find some time to really do it. Christmas is part of the reason that the fear of my eventual demise doesn't phase me a bit. I know where I am going after this life is over ... and it's not because I am a really good guy. Rather, it's because I am a forgiven guy. I am by grace alone in Christ. This sure helps me relax a bit when I a sliding down a hill or when smoke was coming out of our overhead compartment on a flight in preparation to land in Chicago.
I wish you all the very very best. You have all been so kind with your comments and support. Thanks so much. The map above charts out the approximate route for this trip. It is also placed here in advance so that you might be warned that I am on the road.
Stay tuned.
NikonSniper Steve
14 comments:
yes we are staying tuned!! Not to c how u bid goodbye, but to prolong it so that we all can experience your superb works using the machine in your hand :)
A fan of ur photos
Looking forward to more photos. I love the desert. Hope you get some great shots in Palm Desert. Go to the Saltan Sea. Stark. Weird. You're bound to see something.
Good luck on the next part of your journey. love the photo's but rarely have time to comment.
I believe those same angels that held your running car in gear also guided your nearly 2000 followers to your blog for the very reasons you stated in this post.
Nothing happens by chance - and as you reveal God's world to us all through the amazing lenses of your cameras, you also reveal the Creator and Savior through your life's experiences (Rev. 12:11).
Thank you for working the harvest while holding a camera.
My dream for your death, and I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought about this... a lot... for years, would be a death that's rife with irony. I think the best way to achieve that would be for you to get crushed by a digital camera. When I think about all the birthdays, weddings, child births, bris ceremonies and bail hearings you've missed to be off shooting your pictures or the money you've poured into new cameras and equipment to become, and I think I can speak for all of your nearly 1800 followers, a slightly above average "photographer" it really only makes sense that your death should be at the hands of what you love the most. And since your trouser snake isn't like to try and strangle you like a scene from Tremors, being crushed by a camera will have to do. So picture this if you will... You, stopping on the side of the road in some beautiful part of the country, all alone, no family to bother you, taking in the majesty of some fish in a stream. High above in the sky, in a cargo plane, Nikon cameras, and not just any Nikon camera, but the Nikon D12500, the first camera to feature 1000 mega pixels, exactly the type of camera you'd spend the money earmarked for your grandkids birthday presents on. A problem with the cargo plane drops the ramp and knocks a few of these state of the art cameras out the back. The wind shreds the camera box and as the new Nikon reaches terminal velocity it starts shooting fantastic shots of the Earth getting bigger. Eventually those photos reveal a lone figure taking in the majesty of some fish in a stream. Cause of death: Nikon Digital Camera. It'll have to be a closed casket for you, we'll scotch tape your lens cap to the box. Nikon might even rename their new camera the Nikon Zapruder. That would be the best way for you to go I think, that or choking on some pie.
Love the photos, love your comments here. You are LUCKY! And so talented... I sigh.
Looking forward to the new road trip photos. Be safe. My office pool is down for the holidays, so I can't get rich for the rest of this month...
Best wishes on your journey. Amen to the sentiment that we know where we're going! Twyla
braff,
great to hear from you again. you sure were a weird kid. i think i knew this when you kept whispering, "i see dead people", when you were playing shortstop for the crystal lake travelers. it was sorta like your own field of dreams. if you build it they will come.
yeah the pie. that would be cool too.
or, or, it would also be cool to go falling off something really high. the nikon d90 started that video feature where i could get the entire fall in digital video. all the way down. that would be cool. and then it would stop.
sigh. or maybe just the pie.
nikonsniper
hi steve....thanks for stopping by my blog....
so many of your sentiments hit home here....
u have been blessed in your blogging endeavors...
regarding your trip....if you cant be careful, at least stay safe....:).
dj
That is an amazing story about the car being in gear. The angels were certainly with you and it is not your time yet otherwise...
I just want to let you know I thoroughly enjoy your pictures, Nik-on!
I enjoyed your pictures and I will stay tune (as you say in English).
We got our 1st snow last monday a very thin cover of snow and it did not stay. It's to warm, and I believe that Montreal won't have snow before Christmas.
Take Care and Best wishes
May your group of angels guard you on this trip!
Amazing how most of us have angels laughing at us. But... at the same time they cheer for us and bring us together in mysterious ways.
Glad I found you this year and enjoy following your incredible visual journey.
Merry Christmas and Happiest of New Years!
shell
I'm forgiven too! What an awesome thing to know. God is blessing you because you have chosen to give your life back to God. You are,... " a nikon camera in the hand of God" literally. I just love it! Press on and Merry Christmas
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