 I live in Southern Alabama. By "southern," I mean only a 25-minute drive to the Florida border. My region is a "sub-tropical" zone, and we may see snowflakes once every five years, and that usually doesn't stick to the ground. Even a mild snowfall can shut everything down, as local governments don't invest in any snow or ice removal equipment beyond spreading sand on the bridges. So when the forecasts last week started hinting at a snow event, most of us shrugged and assumed it wouldn't happen. As the event drew closer, and the forecast models firmed up, it began to appear the Gulf South might actually get measurable snow starting Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, the expected school and government closure notices were issued. Government offices told their workers to go home early on Tuesday. Social media was aflutter with people asking if certain grocery stores or Walmart would remain open. By Monday morning, the weathermen began to speak in terms of "historic." The forecast models began to move the dial from 1-3 inches to 2-5 inches of accumulation. This was going to happen; it was only a matter of how big and how widespread the winter storm would be. By 11 a.m. on Tuesday, a thin wintery mix peppered the asphalt. The wind suddenly swirled out of the north with an unfamiliar icy bite. The thermometer began dropping at noon. I'd felt this kind of weather shift before, but in places like Omaha and Michigan, not Deep Dixie. We get hurricanes and heat waves, not blizzards. Yet, a blizzard is what we got. The snow began in earnest about 1:30 p.m. It didn't stop until almost 9 p.m. Snowfall records were shattered across the entire length of the Gulf Coast, including where I live. I measured 9 inches at my house when all was said and done. I wanted to hop in my truck and take photos all over my town. I knew that would be a bad idea. Roads quickly became treacherous and remain iced-over three days later. I settled for walking through the nearby neighborhoods and getting what shots I could. One set of images is primarily black and white and were taken during the storm, about 3 p.m. The other set was taken about 24 hours later and are in color. We were fortunate. The ice storms missed us. The power didn't go out. I didn't have to drive in it. It's Thursday morning and I don't have to go into work. With all that said, a bit of magic came into our lives down here in the Wiregrass. I'm thankful for that magic, for the rare natural beauty and the few days my wife and I could spend together, alone, and in peace. The past few days were a gem in time. The Wiregrass will likely never see this magnitude of snowfall in my lifetime. I felt it was important to capture it the best I could. For my northern friends who will look at the images and shrug and say "So what?", please try to keep in mind our perspective. Regardless, I hope you enjoy the images.                
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 Aurora borealis over Coffee County Alabama, 10 October 2024. It's 2025. Its 6:30 am on a Wednesday morning, January is already halfway through, the cat is currently wandering the house, meowing incessantly and the dog is being a pain in the ass. Life is good, even though 2024 was a tough year.
I lost friends and family last year. My mother passed, as did several good friends. It was a "season' so so speak. Yet, through it all, I am thankful and want to keep moving forward. Okay, where am I at with writing and photography? I've got two works in progress. One is a photography book, the other is Book 4 in the Chronicles of Fu Xi series. Both get little time, because most of my time is spent at my day job or at the gym. I have a sliver of time in the morning to write. This morning I'm using my precious time to blog. The biggest change in 2024 is I closed my photography business. Keeping a business open just to support a business license so I can sell at local arts and crafts fairs isn't worth the compliance exposure. Also, I have come to accept that portrait photography isn't my thing. I love portrait photography, but what that entails regarding clients, their expectations, is not a directionI want to go right now. I may do portraits in the future, but I'm going to stick to fine art photography for now, and I don't need a business license to do that. Bottom line, I want my photography to bring me pleasure and personal satisfaction. I am going to apply this philosophy to writing in 2025 as well. "Pleasure and personal satisfaction" for writing will mean finishing the Chronicles of Fu Xi. I HAVE to get Book 4 rolling again. The project is cold and has no inertia. I have to finish this series. Its devolved into a personal quest. I need a week in a camper in the woods with no internet and no distractions to pump new life into the manuscript. However, I don't see that happening any time soon. I look at my spring calendar, and its already filling up with other commitments. Speaking of personal quests...I lost 40 pounds in 2024. I feel so much better. I have cut out sugar, processed carbs, and alcohol. I drank once in July and once in December, and find I'm losing my taste for it. I have 40 pounds to go to my final goal, but the weight loss has slowed dramatically, even as my exercise has increased and calories have decreased. I'm disciplined, but my body seems to be resisting me. Yes, I drink all my water. I think it's the winter. The days are short, and that I'm not as active other than the gym as I would otherwise be in warmer, longer days. I live near the Gulf Coast, and its been unusually cold (I don't like cold.) I won't quit. In fact, I've just added jogging back into the weekly workout lineup, and I hope it accelerates my weight loss again. I estimate it will take me perhaps another year to shed the rest of it at this pace. However, NOT gaining weight is also a goal. Winning. When I hit my goal, I'll post some images. The upcoming photography book is an exciting project. I even has a research assistant (she's awesome!), as it will also be a local history book. I will start gathering images soon, perhaps as early as this weekend. This project will likely have a hard deadline. More to follow in the coming months regarding this project. BTW, I'm up and running on X (Twitter) now. You can follow me there. I post FAR more on X than I do here. It's easier to post and there is active interaction with other authors and the publishing world. I really don't care for Facebook anymore for reasons, though I have no plans to take down my pages any time soon. Also, I'm playing with AI as a marketing tool. You can view my ongoing experiment on Youtube. That's about all I have for now. Thanks for dropping by. |
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