Whoopi-ty-aye-oh
Rockin` to and fro
Back in the saddle again
Whoopi-ty-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in the saddle again
GENE AUTRY
... okay, so maybe we'll leave it at, "i'm looking out the window at the barn where my horse is patiently waiting for me to heal" ... nevertheless, pleading that the accident must've done some kind of damage to the part of my brain that remembers medical advice, this morning i picked up john and we shared a nice 160-mile wanderabout through the mountains of maine ... when i said that we'd use my car he was quick to volunteer that he'd take over the wheel if i felt the need ... of course, i didn't let on that my "goal" was to complete the drive myself ... [and, of course, i'm sure he knew this] ...
... we stopped at the wire bridge in north new portland ... forty-four years now, i've been trying to capture the "perfect image" of this structure, the oldest standing suspension bridge in north america ... this morning, very, very carefully, i worked my way upstream to a new vantage of the span ...
... this is a three-image hdr ... it's a bit forced, since the foliage moving to and fro in the brisk wind resulted in the hdr process producing numerous artifacts in the leaves, but i do like the composition ... i'll go back and try it again—hmmmm, this might be the one compels me to get that 8mm lens ...
... we drove up quimby mountain ... instead of being free there's now a $10 fee to drive the road ... the money'll go for road maintenance and development, and both john and i consider the drive to be well worth the price ... the last time i photographed this tree it was in almost total darkness as a frame for the milky way ...
... from the 2,300 foot summit there is a complete 360° view of the mountains and valleys of northwestern maine ... the horizon is the province of quebec, canada ...
... after the recent severe rain, the stream at smalls falls was flowing rapidly ... i couldn't leave the trail, but john hiked down to find a different angle ... i noticed that he took a little break to enjoy this very special place ...
... i managed one picture of the falls themselves ... my 12mm was a bit wide for this shot, but i wasn't in the mood to change lenses and i was also pushing myself a bit too much to get this far off the pathway ... truth be told, i wasn't much for actual picture taking this day ... no matter, i was wanderabouting, which is all that counts ...
... for today it was an adventure for me to make it down the stairs to the bridge, and, although you can't see it in john's snapshot, i'd a big smile on my face because i was able to lift my left arm so high ... later, after i got home mid-afternoon, i slept for three hours ... slow—very, very slow—but progress is progress and i'm happy for that ...
... people've been asking me a lot of questions lately ... all i can say is that if you want to live—to truly live—then you must learn not simply to heal, but to embrace the process ... and, no, that doesn't lessen the pain, but it does allow for it to have meaning ...