The Summer of My Discontent

I’ve updated the “My Travels” section of the site today, so please have a look if you haven’t already (Note: I just added an image really, still working on setting up links to travel folios for each of the sites I’ve visited, but you can check it out the small progress I made today.)

It’s going to be blasted hot this week here in River City. When I say “blasted hot” I mean hot even by Texas standards. They are predicting it’s going to hit 104 degrees on Saturday. Of course, this is the same day as the opening reception for my show. What can I say other then dress appropriately, right? Ugh! Still, all of this heat got me to thinking. If it weren’t hot, if it weren’t this blasted hot, what would I be doing differently really? I mean, I would still be puttering around the house, maybe not getting anything done, perhaps riding my bike (OK, perhaps sweating a bit less while riding my bike but you get the idea.) Not much has changed, really, other than the thermometer. I really should not let this stop me or slow me down all that much. Heck, I’ve got things to do and places to ponder and books to make and, well, once again you get the idea.

Tonight, I decided I would do something about this. A little something, perhaps, but a something none the less. I had been meaning to take a bunch of shots like the one you see here, to be used on this website and also for other purposes. I was thinking about using something like this for my book. Now, I know the book has been in the works for a while and, if I’m being honest, I’ve been putting off doing this “around the house” kind of shooting for a bit. It just doesn’t seem all that sexy if I’m being truthful. I mean, I would much rather head over to the water gardens and shoot the lotus blossoms. But, I do need these type of shots, they are illustrative in their own nature, so I decided that tonight I would buckle down and get some of this done. I’m not completely happy with everything and I’m far from finished but, heck, at least I put a dent in it, right?

It’s a long, hot summer. It’s not getting any cooler. In fact, it’s going to get hotter before it’s get cooler, and we’re coming to that time of year, usually it happens like end of August, where everybody around Austin just gets sick and tired of the heat. Yes, it’s hot. I get it. I’m hot too. But work has to go on and I can still make some progress on a lot of fronts. Sure, I’m not jaunting off to some great locale, in fact, I’m not on location at all this month, but that’s OK. I can still do stuff. Even in the heat, I can do stuff. Stuff can get done. In fact, this is me doing stuff. Sure, I’ll grumble about the heat. Who won’t? But, I can do stuff at the same time. I can knock off some of my to do list without having to brave the outside world, really I can.

So, yes, it’s the summer of my discontent. I’m grumpy. I’ve ranted more than usual and I’m drinking a lot of cool water these days, but photography doesn’t end just because it’s summer. There are a lot of shots to take, a lot of stuff out there to be done, and work can progress even if it feels like the lazy days of summer are in full swing. I can be discontent and still get stuff knocked off the big ole giant “to do” list. And, it goes without saying really but, if I can do it….

Until next time…

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