Mornings are my favorite part of the day.
We get up early here (yes, it’s the stereotypical crowing rooster who wakes us up. ) Leah or I head out to the barn to feed the sheep and the chickens. We take our two dogs, Minnie and Buddha, out with us. This morning patrol is when our dog-friends make sure no rowdy coyotes have decided to move-in overnight. Our two acres are the turf of Minnie and Buddha and they pee here and there, letting it be known that party-animal, wild dogs are not welcome.
I often shoot a few just-for-fun pictures during this morning routine--the dogs need to stretch their legs to wake up, maybe I need to stretch my eyes. A few days ago I saw that Buddha cast a cool shadow on the weathered, corrugated metal barn door. Snap. Minutes later, there was a fleeting moment when his tail moved back and forth in an area of light and shadow. See it quickly! Snap.
Ten years ago when I left my job as a newspaper photographer and began shooting weddings, I promised myself that I’d organize my life in a way so that I’d have time to shoot for my own enjoyment, as well as for clients and for income. The results of that plan are pleasing: I can look at my bookshelf today and count at least a dozen albums I’ve put together of personal pictures, images I’ve shot in this “new” phase of my life. And I have yet another scheme: I’m putting finishing touches on the mockup of a book I hope to get published, a photo-journal of our life here on two acres, the two acres our dogs and I walk each morning.
The Taoist, Lao-tzu, said: “He who knows he has enough is rich.” My mornings out with the sheep and chickens and the dogs make me feel like a wealthy man.
