Walk in beauty

Seems to be somewhat of a common thread here.

I have lived virtually my entire life (other than travel and military) within 20 miles of the spot I was born in Southwest Idaho. My father's family came here in 1910, my mom's in 1928. Spent 30 years in the newspaper business. In 1996 I was the managing editor of the fastest growing daily newspaper in the Pacific NW -- on call 24-7, focus groups, management retreats, etc. Then one day, right after I turned 50, I woke up and said to myself -- "I can handle this job, but it will kill me before I can retire." Went into the publisher's office and told him "this isn't fun anymore," and quit -- no job, no real plan.

I have always believed there is a reason for everything a person does. Four months later I was hired as the editor of a book publishing company I had admired since I was a child. Pretty much five days a week dealing with my favorite reading topics -- western history. And the people of the family-owned business believe you should leave your work at the office -- go figure.. This has given me time to rekindle my old love affair with film photography -- to spend a day in the mountains without worry about being out of beeper range.

For the past 15 years our area has been one of the fastest growing in the nation--one neighboring town jumping from 25,000 to 75,000 during that period. In the town where I grew up, the senior class of 1963 had 50 members. This year that scholl will graduate more than 400. The numbers still are small compared to the big metropolitian area but it is a huge change when you can remember when there was 1/10th as many people. Still, I can't think of anyplace else I would rather live. Our three daughters and their families live within 20 miles of us.

Anyway, my mate retired from teaching last year. Wish I could do the same but I'm still looking at two, and maybe five years. Still, if I have to work, I can't think of anything I would rather do.

Well, maybe somebody will finally realize all those Soviet era cameras I have should really be worth as much as a Leica M and I'll be able to pull the plug early. If I had just kept that Misrosoft stock I bought and sold the first year it was offered. . . .
 
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Pherdinand said:
i apologize for that joke once again.
In fact i've read it on photo.net and i have found it so funny (by the fact that it's a weak attempt to insult four nations at once) that i posted it here, not thinking about the possibility of really insulting some people :bang:

Please don't apologize, Pherdi. After all, I brought it up so I'll accept responsibility for the fallout and let you accept the accolades if any are forthcoming😀. What I really like is that your joke makes good-natured fun of us all. I try to remind myself often not to take things too seriously.

This thread, along Frank's 'Photography and Personal Identity' thread have brought forth some very interesting discussion. This forum has indeed grown, but through it all has somehow managed to retain its fine character -- quite an achievement that all members should take a little credit for, along with our fine leadership (Joe, Jorge).
 
BJ Bignell said:
😀 LOL


I haven't made that type of move, yet...

I'm a software developer/consultant for a medium-sized international engineering consulting firm, based here out of Edmonton. We do a lot of very exciting work for oil & gas, pulp & paper, mining, discrete manufacturing, forestry, petrochemicals, etc etc etc. I make decent money, and after six years with the same company (I started here right out of school), I feel like I have my place and I've never been happier with the company. My girlfriend is just completing her Master's degree (only a month to go).

Edmonton's a nice place, not a really remarkable city, but surrounded by farm land and trees, and close to Jasper and Banff in the Rocky Mountains. This fall, we're outta here! We're going to Europe on a backpacking/travelling trip, and our plan is for at least six months. We want to see new places, and stay in different towns, meeting people and learning local culture. Of course, we'll go to the tourist areas, as well.

If we find a place we like, with some prospect of making a living, we'll likely stay. (Hey Roger, you have any neighbours moving out? 😛 ) Honestly, I'm terrified of the whole thing, but I can't wait to go. If we don't do it now, I don't know when it'll happen.

Photography for me is a hobby, a healthy way to keep an addicitive personality busy. I'd love to be able to make a living from it, but we'll wait to see what life brings.


Dear BJB,

If we're around when you're in the area -- near Poitiers -- stay the night.

Your comment about an addictive personality struck a chord...

There's plenty of property for sale here, precisely because there are no jobs.

Be careful what you pray for....

Cheers,

Roger
 
Barcelona is quickly becoming a city of cities, it already reached and passed the point where you can no longer distinguish between it and the small cities/towns around, as literally by crossing the street you're in a different one.

With Sant Boi we're still 'protected' by the river, but the towns from the other side are already here as well, so it's in fact becoming a huge metropolitan area, but this town is already 80K people by itself, so it's not exactly a small one...

I am lucky enough to have a personal paradise at less than 500km (distances are not that big here), in the shape of a tiny village (around 50 people during the winter) near Calatayud / Molina, I've been thinking on doing a long project about the rural way of life in that zone so I may have the perfect combination if I ever take the step... Finding a daily job there is almost impossible, but luckily we get enough 'fruits of the land' not to have to worry about starving... 🙄
 
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Like Fedzilla_Bob, I've spent most of my life in the Washington, DC area (childhood in the Maryland 'burbs, adulthood in the city) except for college & law school. As a confirmed urbanite, I see my life here in DC, a mid-size city of around 1/2 million (although the greater Washington metropolitan area is of course much larger), as a relatively relaxed (& cheaper) alternative to living in a truly big city like London, Shanghai, or NYC. I would like to live in NYC if, per jlw's post, I could find a non-crappy job that allowed me to afford it, but DC will do in the meantime.
 
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Thank goodness for having choices.
I grew up just outside NYC and my wife worked 20+ years in DC. We're both delighted to live now in the pacific NW, hiking in the forest every weekend and no real traffic to speak of. Our neices/nefews love living in NYC though, so viva la choices!
 
I agree completely! I have no problem visiting the forests of the Pacific NW on vacation, but would go crazy living someplace that has more trees than people. 😉

nwcanonman said:
Thank goodness for having choices.. . . . viva la choices!
 
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Hmmm... the Pacific NW... Oregon, Mount Hood, Columbia River... National Parks, great coffee, salmon in every restaurant...

My idea of paradise. I can take the rain if it comes in between great moments of sun. 😛
 
Hmmm... abandon the rat race in search of beauty... I did the first part but on the latter part beauty had to yield in favor of business. After 10 years engineering work at Boeing, I gave it up and quit. Four years before I'd bought a small apartment building, too small to provide adequate income, so I sold it and used the proceeds to buy a larger one in a rural and somewhat economically-depressed area 100 miles from anywhere. Drastic move.

This actually turned out to be a very good move, escaping suffocating regulation in the more populous Seattle area, and getting me involved in the community. Able to set my own hours, I could take art classes at the college for fun, volunteer for Crisis Line, become a reserve police officer, and have time for travel. My wife has studied drama, and volunteered too, with Crisis Line, Girl Scouts, and Court Advocates for Children.

I could not have been as active with photography if it were restricted to evenings and weekends. Of course we have responsibilities, and our flexible lifestyle has its limits; if an urgent problem arises (such as a hot water tank going out) we need to take care of it immediately. But plans can be put in place in advance... We're not wealthy, we live in an apartment, but driving fun is a priority so there's her Mercedes and my BMW... 🙂

Certainly true that most everyplace has its share of beauty if you look for it. Sometimes it's more obvious and sometimes more superficial. We have a time-share on Maui and prefer to fly into the small West Maui airport. On the glide-path we can see our condo as we pass over the rental-car office. Without our calling, the car rental place sends the van up to meet us. I imagine Herve Villechaise (in the old Fantasy Island tv program) calling out "Boss! Da plane! Da plane!" After a number of stays there over the years, it's getting to be a little like coming home too. Beautiful as it is, though, I think we'd not choose to live on an island year-round.

We like it here in the valley illustrated below, but I've thought if we were to move somewhere else, the area around Roseburg Oregon looks really nice to me. And it's still close to volcanos too! 🙂
 
nwcanonman said:
Thank goodness for having choices.
I grew up just outside NYC and my wife worked 20+ years in DC. We're both delighted to live now in the pacific NW, hiking in the forest every weekend and no real traffic to speak of. Our neices/nefews love living in NYC though, so viva la choices!

Can't imagine life without them. Back in '87 as the vacation should have been coming to an end I was facing the decision of moving back to Chicago (school) and visiting here, or living here and visiting places like Chicago, etc. It was a tough choice to make because there is a lot that I like about big cities, but so far no regrets living here -- aside from having no money!!! 😀
 
Shhhhh,
There is a secret place, I lived there for 15 years, called Sequim. It's on the northern tip of the Olympic peninsula and only gets 16 inches of rain a year (it has it's own species of cactus). The Olympic mountains provide a rain shadow for the storms coming in off the ocean, they go around Sequim and come back to Seattle (50+ inches of rain yearly)
It's right across from Victoria, BC, has Olympic Natl. Park in it's back yard and some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable.
Now don't tell anyone because I'm going back there to retire (actually, don't go there, the preceding was all a lie ~ ; - )
 
paradise is where I AM, er, i mean where you make it!

"...and scribbling my thoughts and taking my photographs in the perhaps mistaken belief that someday, somehow, they will mean something to someone besides myself."

hey bill, that's what WE'RE here for man.
i have been more prolific with my shooting since joining this motley crew than during most other periods of my life.

it has, however, had a negative impact on my poetry as i write my best stuff when i'm depressed.

joe
 
"it has, however, had a negative impact on my poetry as i write my best stuff when i'm depressed. "
Joe
............................................
This would explain your preference for not being gay. :angel:
 
backalley photo said:
paradise is where I AM, er, i mean where you make it!

"...and scribbling my thoughts and taking my photographs in the perhaps mistaken belief that someday, somehow, they will mean something to someone besides myself."

hey bill, that's what WE'RE here for man.
i have been more prolific with my shooting since joining this motley crew than during most other periods of my life.

it has, however, had a negative impact on my poetry as i write my best stuff when i'm depressed.

joe

I have been told that for a color-blind guy, I sure write purple prose. But what do I know? Being color-blind, it all looks grey.

LOL!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Banana belt for sure, H*... oops. Shhh. Pretty easy drive frome where I grew up near Silverdale, but not really on the way to anywhere of much significance... When I was a kid the family would go through there heading to Neah Bay or one of the hot springs. If you had heard someone correctly say "Sekiu" and tried to apply that to "Sequim" you'd be way off. 🙂
 
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