061/365
December 9, 2023
Fort Myers, Florida
Today we rose early and went to The Grove in downtown Lakewood Ranch for Breakfast with Santa. It was an excellent event and not too crowded. The girls are unusually enthusiastic about Christmas, and I can’t help but join them as I witness the joy in their eyes.
Afterward, we went to Fort Myers to visit Wendy’s mom and her husband Walter and watch the golf kart parade their community was hosting. Walter has been faring better, though still weak from his bout with sepsis. However, each day, he feels a bit stronger and is encouraged by his own progress. It’s been great to see, as I know it’s been tough on the family.
When going through a struggle, I often think about the quote from David Goggins, “Don’t rest in the middle, rest at the end.”
The psychological trick is that there is no end!
059/365
December 7, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
As much as I frequent my favorite local restaurant, I never visit the rear and take in the scenes from the back-of-house. Before today’s routine set in, I grabbed a cup of coffee from Atria and did some people-watching. I learned to people-watch at an early age when I went on road trips with my mom and stepfather. I’d be off doing something, likely playing at the nearby playground, but they’d be on a bench watching people stroll by or engaged in other activities. I’d watch them watching others. It's kind of intriguing now that I think about it.
058/365
December 6, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
The small [bad] habits compounded while in Chicago needed some more ironing out. In this case, I pushed my exercise routine harder than in prior weeks and increased the intensity. Despite being sore and sluggish, I made it to the gym and pushed through the laggardness. By the end, the weight of the morning all seemed psychologically imposed! Life, on the other side, feels refreshing.
The afternoon was mostly monotony related to work tasks. Late in the afternoon, I managed to sneak out to pick up some food items and treats for Ripley. When driving, I noticed a pedestrian sign that made me laugh. Wendy seems to think my follicles need some help. Perhaps this pedestrian has some insider knowledge to sprout some new growths. The sun was midday bright, so hopefully my metering was accurate enough to capture the moment.
057/365
December 5, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
I signed up for a new learning course yesterday, an Introduction to Kubernetes. In my role, I’m finding that I’ve only been able to take the conversation so far and that the next in technical depth requires some new skills. I’m very excited about this as I think it’s a habit that should be practiced for work or personal growth.
After developing this into my routine, the following step is to network in the space and explore enhancing my growth with some new relationships. Thinking back to when I was early in my career, I had a lot more energy for learning and an authentic passion for connecting relationships.
I want to stretch myself in more ways than one and test my learning capacities. As a benefit, having the girls see their father as a lifelong learner will hopefully set a high standard for their lives.
056/365
December 4, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
I’m finding the 365 has become much easier to manage. I actually look forward to the writing portion of the project. On the photography side, there’s a push and pull happening, and I’m weighing how to release the burden of trying to make a great photograph and letting it come to me.
I’ve long struggled with doing what I love versus what provides. Many have done more with far less. They took bold action and though they suffered through ... isn’t that art itself? Suffer for your craft. That is, making space to mature and manifest your vision. There’s an inherent noise that comes with a splintered approach. At least for me, I don’t think I can do both.
I don’t know, but it’s been weighing on me lately.
055/365
December 3, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
Today, the Christmas excitement and preparations continued. In the midmorning, I took the girls to Donuts with Santa, an event sponsored by our community. The girls and their neighbor friends listened to Santa read them a story, followed by a fabulous Q&A session. Santa was very much on the spot for this one! After Jessica took our pictures and my Tri-X option for today’s post, we sat and consumed our share of sugary treats and hot chocolate.
In the afternoon, I spent a lot of time on the roof for the first of two phases, hanging icicle lights from the tiers of our roof. We wrapped the day by eating homemade pizza and then watched the annual Mallory Park Christmas Golf Cart Parade.
054/365
December 2, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
We all woke feeling rested and energized for the Christmas season! The family spent most of the morning lowering the boxes of Christmas decorations from storage. My, oh my, there were a few too many boxes. It’s fair to say that Christmas is our favorite holiday. However, everyone got to work and put up our displays.
After, we joined friends on a boat and cruised around the Sarasota inter-coastal areas. I think much has been said about the timing of our biology and the waves of the coastal waters. Today was no different, and it was great soaking up the salty waters of the Gulf.
We made it home before the girls fell asleep, so we nestled up on the couch and watched Christmas Chronicles on Netflix (again, for the nth time this year).
053/365
November 30, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
In the morning the kids awoke earlier than usual at the sneaky suspicion that their Christmas Elf had finally arrived. As it turns out, she did, and the girls spent most of their minutes before school dancing to Christmas music and glancing at Peppermint.
In the afternoon, I worked on a few presentations, which I feel are materializing nicely. I ran some errands late afternoon and saw an older car parked among many newer models. I waited for the owner to come out, but they never did, so I took pictures from different angles.
It was a long week, so we decided to hang in and watch a few Christmas movies. My favorite is Home Alone because I’m very partial to any John Hughes film, and, save the attempted robberies, they’re usually very reminiscent of my childhood.
051/365
November 29, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
Chloe.
I’ve mentioned that when the house is empty, and I’m walking around, oriented to task, I make purposeful visits to each room to see how my daughters are carrying on with their lives (yes, then drop their things in nearly every room!).
This morning, I caught the light casting a neat pattern onto the wall of Chloe’s bedroom. Our plantation shutters were open on the top and bottom, but the middle put just enough darkness onto Chloe’s name to frame it up nicely!
050/365
November 28, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
It wasn’t an eventful day. The mundanities of returning to local life picked up pretty quickly … and this troubles me. I think about this often: how I let loose and even become bolder, stronger versions of myself when away. I talk to strangers. I endeavor outside of my comfort zone. There’s a step into a new reality. And life on the other side of that experience is amazing! However, the clamshell closes when ordinary life resumes. Why can’t life embolden some way each day?
“What's waited 'til tomorrow starts tonight.” - From Now On, The Greatest Showman
We collected the girls in the evening and took them to dinner at Clam Speaks. We enjoy this place because they make all of their pasta in-house. Combine this with fresh seafood, and you’re in for a treat!
049/365
November 27, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
Today, we all returned to local life: school, teaching, and Cisco. I wish it had been more productive, but I think my mind and body are still recovering. I tried to accelerate the recovery with some dense nutrients and exercise, but it didn’t resemble what my 20s looked and felt like!
Picking up Ripley from the boarding company means a bit of driving away from the usual commerce-heavy streets and into some of the rustic scenes of Florida. There’s one abandoned barn that catches my attention every time I pass. The doors are always open, and looks as if someone left the area years ago. However, the surrounding grassy areas are pretty well-maintained despite the occupancy. I saw a tree-outlined window and pulled over to capture the scene.
048/365
November 26, 2023
Lakewood Ranch, Florida
I rested for nearly 8 hours last night, but that was not to be topped by Ellie’s nearly 12 hours of sleep! We feel refreshed, but still a little jet & vacation lagged.
We spent most of the day getting the home in order and ready for the week. I did manage to shake off a little dust by running an easy-paced two miles. Wendy and I wrapped up our Sunday by watching a film on Netflix.
047/365
November 25, 2023
Chicago, Illinois
Today we return to Florida, and I’m quite ready for it. While our time away was labeled as a vacation, it often doesn’t feel like that, especially when moving from hotel to hotel and visiting family and friends. I do love it when we are in the moment, but over the course of a week takes it’s toll on our minds and bodies. We are looking forward to returning home and returning to normalcy.
046/365
November 24, 2023
Naperville, Illinois
After a long day yesterday, the girls and I felt some relief from all our activities by hanging back at the hotel for much of the day. I’ve never been much for binge-watching or catching the latest series, but the first season of Stranger Things was pretty entertaining.
In the afternoon we went over to Mandy’s house to celebrate Lauren’s birthday. I had a nice conversation about cameras and film photography with my brother-in-law’s father, Terry. He mentioned still having a Minolta in his attic and that he long resisted the conversion to digital. I hope our conversation encourages him to dust it off and run some rolls through it.
045/365
November 23, 2023
Naperville, Illinois
Happy Thanksgiving!
Traci hosts Thanksgiving every year and we were excited to spend time with the family. Though I was full before dinner, thanks to the delicious hors d'oeuvres, I did manage to eat some for dinner. When this trip ends, I’ll be due for a fast and complete detox! In the meantime, so what?
“So what? So let’s dance!” -Rodney Dangerfield
044/365
November 22, 2023
South Bend, Indiana
Today, we rose late in the morning. It was great to let our bodies catch up on some needed rest. We visited with my cousins Cindy and Pete at Legends near Notre Dame’s campus for lunch. It’s hard to believe it had been four or more years since I’d last seen them.
There are a lot more family members that I’d love to see. When you travel, it’s difficult to fit everything and everyone in, so we committed to better planning next time.
We drove back to Naperville late in the afternoon. Traffic was miserable, but I guess it was a bit more miserable because I saw several spots I’d have loved to shoot. There’s something more remarkable about driving on state roads than the major highways. I’m kicking myself for not stopping, but the kids were eager to return and get out of the car after hours of stop-and-go.
043/365
November 21, 2023
South Bend, Indiana
Rose today in South Bend to gloomy weather and spots of rain. Wendy doesn’t like it much, but I enjoy it! It’s a nice break from the Florida sun, and it reminds me of what life was like when we lived in the Midwest.
After heading over to my mom’s old home and visiting with Charles for a few hours, we rested back at the hotel before visiting the usual (and favorite) pizza place for dinner. Worth repeating, Barnaby’s is always a must for me when I visit South Bend. It should be on the modern food pyramid, at least a couple of times.
042/365
November 20, 2023
South Bend, Indiana
Today, we drove over to South Bend to visit with my stepfather, Charles, and tomorrow we’ll visit my sister, Jennifer, and her family. I always look forward to this trip. It doesn’t have all of the excitement or the traditions of years before. But for me, it’s a chance to slow down and be still, remembering the scenes, streets, and smells of my youth.
One of those smells includes a visit to Barnaby’s Pizza. There are very few things I could eat every day, but this pizza is surely on that list!