I think it finally happened … It looked like it … it felt like it ….. Here Comes the Sun.
Not that I want to get overly optimistic but … One full day of it … It is a start.

The rain gave way just in time to welcome our biggest music weekend for the city – Big Spring Jam. I know … most of you that do not live in the city are scratching your heads and asking … Big Spring … isn’t it more like Big Fall Jam??? Well the reality of it is, the city spring where cotton was traded and shipped by canal to the Tennessee river is actually called Big Spring and we have a beautiful park that is named Big Spring Park. Our 3 day music festival is held each year on the 3rd weekend of September, the week after my birthday. You would think that they would at least have a little more consideration to host it in my honor a week earlier. For 10 years I fought the crowds for the festival foundation to capture and maintain a history of the event for future historians. I now reveal in the solitude of sitting top a city roof top, away from the crowds and capturing the beauty and spectacle of the event from an elevated venue while listening to the beat from three stages.

If I could just get a vendor to stop by every now and then with a foot long corn dog (mustard please), a funnel cake and a cold beer. Life would be oh so good!!!!

JAMM’n the night away, Huntsville, Al.

Have a great week!
~ dK ~

Will the rain ever stop? Have you seen any animals starting to pair up? I guess it is … just another week in the south … Another week in Huntsville.

Recently I had the pleasure of being an instructor for the Supershoots photographic workshops in Michigan City, What I find so amazing about the area is Lake Michigan, when standing at the edge of the lake, you experience the sensation of an extremely large body of water with little or no reference to gauge its actual size. One might imagine, while standing on the dunes, they were looking at an ocean such as the Atlantic.

Like a bug drawn to a bug light, I once again found myself mesmerized by a glorious sunset with the Michigan City Pierhead Light pointing the way. If you look closely, the majestic skyline of Chicago can be seen in the distance.

Have a great week!
~ dK ~

News Flash .. Summer is over and it is back to the grind. I wish you all a great week.

You know our lives have changed in oh so many ways since the 9/11 tragedy and I struggled with whether I wanted to make mention of it at all. I was traveling in California during that tragic event and I would venture to say that all of us have a keen sense of where we were and what we were doing. For me, it was an earth-shattering event that I would not be fully aware of until 5 days later.

Like so many years in the past I, along with a group of my closest California buddies, was back packing in the southern sierras. Our annual outing took us into the wilderness for 6 days to recharge, refresh and enjoy – Male Bonding.  No cell phones, no TV, no Internet and no communication with the outside world and no “honey do’s”. You could not help but reflect on your life as you stood in awe every day of the majestic beauty of the mountain vistas. At night we laid back in amazement of the millions of stars that lined the sky and the ever so often passing of a commercial jetliner. That was, until that Tuesday evening when no planes were seen making the path to the western coast. For a moment we gave pause to wonder why and then moved on, guessing that they may be taking a different flight path. It was not until we came out of the mountains 5 days later and into Bishop, Ca. that we realized our lives, as well as the world we had left behind, had changed forever. How disconcerting it was, how unbelievable to imagine something so horrific had taken place and that we were totally oblivious.

I think with each anniversary of 9/11 my one saving grace is my lasting memories of the beauty and serenity of the southern sierras. The sierra’s, for the most part, are vastly untouched and unspoiled by any conflict other than that with Mother Nature. I take my journal out each year around this time and it gives me pause to reflect on my written thoughts not only about that day, but as well, on all the wonderful times I spent in solitude and gratitude of the spectacular wonders of Mother nature has left behind.

I wish you peace of mind and leave you with one of those unforgettable memories.

Have a great week!
~ dK ~

Once again we - actually YOU – find yourselves with another 3 day holiday weekend. As such, Labor Day marks the end of summer. I trust you spent you vacation days off wisely.

As I reflect back on this past summer and all the travel, I cannot help but digress back to the days when I was in school and how much two holidays … Memorial Day and Labor Day played in marking such an important part of my childhood existence. The exhilaration, with Memorial Day, of knowing that school was out for the summer and the sadness, with Labor Day, of knowing that summer was over. Each year it was the same,  the stark realization that on the horizon was 9 months of sitting in the classroom. I could only ask myself “where did the summer go?”. I am not sure that I ever realized how much that time off meant until I entered the work force and the 3-month hiatus of freedom was no longer in the cards.

As I sat watching yet another spectacular sunset close out another glorious day on the Outer Banks I noticed this young boy, fishing rod in hand and somewhat oblivious to all that surrounded him. Lost in his own world, looking forward to his next big catch. I could not help but wonder had he given any thought to what awaited him the following week with the end of summer and the start of his next school year. More importantly, with him so intent on his next catch, had the thought of anything other than the “photo worthy catch of the day” crossed his mind? How important those days become and how valuable the photo memories of our time spent.

I would venture to say that we all miss those days and maybe that is why I find such an affinity for the time I spend in the Outer Banks. Trying to recapture my youth? Some might say I never grew up. Either of which is ….. All right by me!!!!

As I indicated last week in my blog, I am very excited to announce that my OBX art is now being handled exclusively on the Outer Banks at the Roads End Gallery in Hatteras and the Down Creek Gallery in Ocracoke.

I return home this week and look forward to catching up with you all.
Have a great week!
~ dK~