It has been several months since I last wrote in this blog, because very little has been happening of late. I have canceled several photo trips, including some big ones to the Rocky Mountains and Patagonia. My annual trip to Redwood National Park has also gone by the wayside this year, sadly. My wife and I recently got brave, primarily because she was having a major grandchild deficiency, and we drove up to Connecticut (where we saw my sister), and New Jersey. Normally, we visit with our children and grandchildren every 6-8 weeks, but we had not seen them in person now since November. While FaceTime and Zoom were very helpful, it is just not the same as being with them in person. So we packed my car and risked taking this drive, which actually turned out to not be all that risky, assuming a high level of caution (masks, hand washing and sanitizing, and social distancing). On the way up, we stayed at a wonderful hotel in North Carolina, the Umstead, for two nights, since we were trying to avoid a hurricane along the way. While we managed to stay out of the storm, my sister, renting a summer home in CT, did not and she lost all power for more than a week, naturally just when we were arriving there. We made do, however, and it actually was not that bad. We then headed to River Vale to see my two daughters and their families, followed by several days at the Jersey Shore in Point Pleasant, where my son had bought a new home. My younger daughter had also just found a new home in River Vale, to which she will be moving next month. In spite of the coronavirus pandemic, life does go on.
I had been feeling quite lousy lately because of a bad bike crash in which I injured my knee and my neck. The knee had needed to be drained and I followed up with a course of steroids and anti-inflammatories, neither of which I like to take very much because of their inherent side effects. As I write this, my knee has recovered pretty much, but my neck remains very stiff and sore. I am trying to get off all meds for these ailments, but it is not that easy, since I am so uncomfortable. I am seeing progress, however, so we will keep our fingers crossed that we will get over the worst pretty soon.
Because of my problems, although I took my Nikon with me, I didn’t take it out of the camera bag. I just did not feel sufficiently well to make photos. I did take a few photos with my iPhone, however, one of which I like quite a bit, showing some big oak trees in the squares in downtown Savannah, where we stopped on the way back to Florida. This image will serve as my post for now. I do hope to start traveling a bit in a couple months, to Bar Harbor, Maine, for my usual Fall color photography.
Oak Trees, Chippewa Square, Savannah, Ga.