Hi everyone! I want to wish everyone a Happy Memorial Day here in the United States, the holiday which unofficially kicks off our summer season. I spent the weekend here in Washington D.C. barbecuing with friends and family and celebrating close to home. Friday I stayed home with my folks and we grilled some steaks in their back yard and enjoyed a few beers and some good conversation. Saturday I went north to Frederick with some friends to pick strawberries and grill out by the lake, and Sunday I went over to visit some friends who recently bought a house with a pool. It was a wonderful and relaxing weekend and it’s very good to be home.
I did make a wonderful visit to the Library of Congress this week to check out the original photos of Edward Curtis, one of my very favorite photographers. While his work is famous and if you’ve seen a lot of old sepia photos of Native Americans you’re probably familiar with his work, they were originally published as part of a very expensive 20 volume set which is very rare and hard to find. I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to go and see his work at the Library of Congress, but I finally made it and had a great time. I just sat there for hours and looked at the wonderful prints in Volume 2 (Volume 1 is out for restoration). It was cool.
The rest of the week I have spent finishing up editing my photos from Alabama and published a “best of” gallery which you can see HERE. I’m hoping to get a podcast episode up in the next week as well, but that’s always a lot of work, so we will wait and see. Other than that, I’ve been enjoying being home, having 24/7 access to showers and laundry and a good gym up the street and spending time with my family and friends.
It’s just about time to get packing though, because next Monday I will be heading west to California to begin my summer guiding tours of our beautiful country. I will spend a couple of days at the base in Santa Rosa getting a set of gear together and learning what’s changed since last summer. Then I will get to work planning my first few trips of the summer. By next weekend, I will be on my way to Hawaii where I will spend the first month of my season. I’m really excited to head out to the Aloha State and get some great photos to share with you here. That’s pretty much all I have to report on this week. I hope you’re having a great week out there wherever you are, and I’ll check in with you next week from California.