Today was something of a lost day, computer issues – my photo program was not working probably and several calls to Apple were not finding a solution –  cloudy skies, my friend Carol Tunney the shamonic healer died Friday, I had a bout with insulin shock that left me tired, and then late in the day, we walked the dogs, and I saw the sun break through the cold and windy sky, and I said to Maria, “hey, you want to take ride to 313.” Route 313 is where I go in late afternoon light, the light slants beautifully and there is open pasture and big sky. I brought my 8 mm fisheye and I said to Maria, “this probably won’t work, the sun won’t come out,” I guess I was as gloomy as the sky.

Maria loves to sketch while I run around taking photos, we have been doing this ever since we got together, I recall we did this on our first date, another beautiful sky that day (and every day with her brings a beautiful sky for me. As we drove up 313, the sun popped out behind this angry and evocative sky, it was waiting for me to get my head straight. This is cherished time, this is what Maria and  I are about, what we share, this creative connection, this understanding of what one another needs. Maria has been sketching the countryside as long as I have been photographing it, but she has never shown anyone the sketches, even me. They are just something private she does while sitting in the car. I glance at them once in awhile, they are graceful and beautiful, I hope she has saved her sketches. I hope she will put some up on her blog, they are graceful and lovely.

My 8-15 mm fsheye is a great lens for a curving landscape, it is the widest lens I have, but it is so wide it invariably captures my shadow in sunlight when the sun is behind me, there is almost no way around it, so I decided to make this a self-portrait and keep my image in the photo. When I got home, I called Apple and they congratulated me on having found a major bug in the new Mavericks Operating System, they were quite excited, and we figured out a work-a-round the problem so I could get my photos up. The day turned out nicely, the sun came out for me, Minnie is dozing comfortably in the living room and I am a minor hero with the Apple engineering department, they were quite excited. I’m going to write more about Carol Tunney’s death later this evening, it is in my head, she was a fascinating person, the death of a healer. This is how I work my way through life, in my photos, and right here.