Out with the 'Oughts

I guess it's appropriate to begin with this photo. This is the January photo from the 2010 Arizona Weather Calendar and guess what???? It's my image! My first highlight of 2010.

But its a new decade now...2009 is behind us and 2010 has dawned clear, bright, and cold. November and December were colder than average and so far January is looking to be colder than the average. Good thing we got this global warming thing going on otherwise it would be REALLY cold. Anyway, it's time to reflect on 2009 and look forward to 2010 so here goes.

2009 was a year of peaks and valleys for me and mine. I suppose every year could be viewed like that but it seemed more radical in '09. (read that as ought 9) The year started out with one of the most devastating valleys ever. My son, Chris, at age 22 was diagnosed with testicular cancer. And the kicker is that he was diagnosed by mistake. His regular chiropractor was out of the office and when the associate saw Chris he quickly determined that the issues weren't structural. He packed Chris off to the hospital and 8 hours later he had been selected, inspected, detected and had 1 less onion. The chemo he went through was not too terrible when referenced with some I've heard of but it wasn't a day at the beach for my boy. But he came through it successfully. Major valley but we are crawling up the other side towards the peak.

June was a good month. I was located and tracked down by a childhood friend that I hadn't seen or heard from in over 40 years and coerced into attending my 40th High School Reunion. And it was fantastic! I have been avoiding these things for a long long time thinking I didn't have a lot in common with these people when I knew them, what could we possibly have in common now? I've been kicking myself ever since for not doing this sooner.

Photographically speaking it was also peaks and valleys. I had a marvelous trip to Washington in April to photograph the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.....again, and came away with a nice collection of images. On the valley side, my annual trip to Crested Butte in July to photograph wildflowers was not quite a bust but was significantly less successful than previous trips. I took the Murano on a road I shouldn't have and ripped one of the skid plates off the chassis. Next year..oops, this year, I'll have a truck to drive so off roading won't be so traumatic. More on that later.

September was an interesting month. Instead of heading to the Colorado mountains to photograph changing Aspen trees, I opted to head out to Southeast Utah since I haven't been there for a few years. I arranged to meet up with a couple of photo buddies and we had a grand time. I came home with a great collection of images and saw some things I hadn't seen before. Now the truck story:

I'm a truck guy...I freely admit it. And I've been going through truck withdrawal since wrecking my Ram 1500 nearly 4 years ago. The Murano has been a good vehicle and if I still had the truck I wouldn't have been able to continue to commute to Colorado Springs for work when gas was up around $4 a gallon. But the Murano isn't a truck. I've been teasing Judy for a while now, saying I was going to buy an old fixer upper truck to "haul stuff" with. Joking, but at least halfway seriously. Well, in late August, she said that Chris's Subaru was having engine issues and wasn't driveable so maybe it would be a good idea to buy a truck and let Chris drive it while he was getting the Subaru fixed. Of course I was cool and calm while the little man in my head was doing cartwheels and screaming at the top of his lungs. I sold some company stock to raise some money and started looking but didn't find one before my trip to Utah. I left, telling Judy and Chris to keep looking and call me if they found a truck. Sure enough, about 3 days into an 8 day trip I got a call...I'm now the proud owner of a 1989 Toyota 4X4 pickup. Peak, right? Hmmm....as we speak the truck is in the shop getting a new clutch and probably having some work done on the front suspension. My bargain truck just got about $1000 more expensive. Oh well....it's a truck and it's mine! Now all I need to do is figure out how to get Chris to fix the Subaru so I can have my truck.

In November I was able to use the last of my vacation days to visit Erin and her family in Phoenix. What a wonderful trip and dang, that grandaughter is amazing. Smart and beautiful...a great trip.

In December, Chris had to make a choice: His blood markers and subsequent exams showed that his cancer was maybe gone away but there were still some questions about some stuff in his abdomen. He had to decide if he was going to have surgery to find out what the spots were or if he would wait until February, have another CT scan and then maybe still have surgery. He had lost his job earlier and decided it might be good to have the surgery now and not have to explain to a new employer how he needed some time off in February so the surgery was done. 5 hours on the table....then 2 mights in the hospital before going home. The surgeon said the "lumps" were just scar tissue from the cancer and he was 99% certain they weren't cancerous so we all celebrated that.

December 23 I got an e-mail from Judy saying Chris was in the ER and would probably be admitted to the hospital. My worst fears weren't realized...the cancer wasn't back. But he had several blood clots including a big one in his leg that the doctors were concerned about. They kept him there overnight and he was able to cut a deal with the doctor to be released and we had a small family Christmas Eve at home which was what he wanted. He seems to be doing well now and the great news was he has been declared cancer free! Whoooooo Hoooooo...now just get rid of the clots and find a job.

So that's 2009. Peaks and valleys. But what of 2010? Well, I'm glad you asked because there may be some big doings afoot. Let's see.....

I'm starting with a photo trip to Bosque Del Apache which is one of the best spots in America to photograph migratory birds on their winter grounds. We'll drop Heather off at school in Roswell on Jan 16 then head over to the Bosque the next day for a couple short days of shooting before heading home.

Heather has been bugging me for years and I think this year is the year I'm taking her to Yellowstone, probably the week before Memorial Day. She's out of school for a break at that time and I was previously very successful photographically at that time a couple of years ago so we'll probably do that. Maybe Chris can come along too. That would be a grand trip.

What comes after that? Nobody knows but I'm sure it will be exciting. So strap in, the Oughts are out and it's a new decade. Let's have some adventure!