Chapter 11, Home Park (pages 91 and 92)
Observations of Saguaro National Park near Tucson, Arizona.
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There were so many different things to see here. I tended to spend a lot of time hiking the trails and, of course, taking photographs. However, like a snowflake, it’s never the same as there are so many different types of unique plants and cacti in this area, the most unique being the park’s namesake, the saguaro.
Living over 150 years and growing up to 50 feet tall, the mighty saguaro is the symbol of the Old West, standing tall over the other residents of the Sonoran Desert. Visitors to the park marvel at these unique inhabitants of the southwest; they are the celebrities everyone who visits here comes to see.
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What most don’t see, or photograph, is how the “Sentinel of the Sonoran Desert” is just as majestic in death as it is in life, as the saguaro’s wooden framework continues to stand tall in its skeletal form long after its biological existence has ended.
Along with admiring the mighty living saguaro standing tall under the Arizona sun, I’ve found it is just as important to recognize the significance of the still upright and felled saguaros in death, as they represent the equally important end of the cycle of life in the Sonoran Desert.
Chapter 19, Pacific Parks (pages 159 and 160)
On arriving in Crater Lake National Park, Oregon, and preparing to get the perfect image of Crater Lake.
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Then I got out of the car. Mosquitos were everywhere. Thick, almost cloud-like swarms descended on me one after the other as I moved into position to take my photographs. I had no bug spray; I would just have to cope. Focus, frame, shoot, wave arms, slap where I felt a bite. Focus, frame, shoot, wave arms, slap where I felt a bite. Not able to keep up against the relentless attack, I was getting eaten alive.
A couple about my age was there, and the woman, seeing my plight, came flying over to me with a can of bug spray in hand, yelling “Hold still, I got you!” She unleashed a torrent of insect repellant so thick it formed a cloud around me. I hoisted my camera as high into the air as I possibly could to protect it from the onslaught. When the game was over, it would be scored: lady with bug spray, one; mosquitos, nothing. I was free, sort of…
I thanked the kind woman, and she told me her name was Annie and she was here with her husband from Sacramento. Oh, and could I take a picture of them together in front of the lake? Well, sure, it was the least I could do after she rescued me from the clutches of the hordes of mosquitos making a pincushion out of me.
She handed me her camera and ran back to her husband where they sat together on the wall. I snapped a picture and went to hand the camera back to her, but they shifted positions. “Okay, now this,” she said. I snapped another picture. They shifted position. I snapped another picture. Again. Again. It became an impromptu studio session…she owned me!
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Eventually we exhausted all the possible angles and poses, and the photo shoot ended. Just as importantly, I had gotten my perfect Crater Lake images. Annie from Sacramento had saved my life and in return, taking a few pictures for her was the least I could do.
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On the author’s devastating RV fire:
Chapter 1: Watching his RV burn:
“Something in me still believed I could put out the fire until I glanced into the kitchen window and saw flames rolling across the ceiling, rolling like something you would see in a movie. I knew then I had lost the battle.”
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Chapter 30: Watching his RV burn in La Grande, Oregon:
“I’m sure everyone has at least one moment like this in their life. For most it is probably the birth of a child or the death of a loved one, maybe a cancer diagnosis; the shock of your existence taking a turn you may or may not have expected.”
Chapter 30: Photographing his burning RV: “…I might as well take advantage of the opportunity, after all I was paying dearly for the right.”
Chapter 30: Responding to an article in the local La Grande, Oregon newspaper, The Observer: “The rural fire chief said in the article that the smoke detector “may have saved his life.” Newsflash, it did!”
The author’s take on sports photography:
Chapter 15:
On learning to shoot basketball after mastering football photography: “Basketball can be tougher than football to shoot, not only because of the lighting situation but also because there’s less room out in front of you, and there always seems to be someone between you and the guy with the ball. Other players, the referees, all seeming to exist just to get in the way. You haven’t lived until you found yourself focused in on a player going for a dunk only to have the ref jump in front of you. Nice shot of a pant leg you’ve got there!”
The author’s thoughts after cancer treatments:
Chapter 22:
On revelations after experiencing cancer: “Ultimately, this was a life-changing experience. I was rethinking everything. The tried-and-true plan was to work until you’re sixty-six and a half, retire, and do whatever you want to do. But what if you’re not able to do what you want to do? What if that’s too late? You won’t know until you get there, and then it may be too late to do anything about it. There’s so much I still wanted to do and see.”
On the Author’s unique Hot Springs National Park, Arkansas, experience:
Chapter 28:
Visiting Hot Springs National Park and having an experience like no other national park:
“My attendant turned on a shower of water in the corner (remember it’s coming out at 143 degrees) and left me there to die, I mean, steam. But really, I thought I was going to die as the air was so thick with steam I could hardly breathe. If I had any impurities in my body, they ran screaming.”
The author’s thoughts after coming across, and being in awe of, a mature bighorn sheep in Badlands National Park, South Dakota:
Chapter 31:
While photographing a mature bighorn sheep after it turned and walked away: “Clearly, I was more impressed with him than he was with me!”
On the author’s plans for the future:
Chapter 32:
On new national parks being established and future plans: “Eventually another national park will be created, which will move my finish line once again. However, it is not simply the pursuit of the goal that drives me. The exploration, learning, and absorbing nature in each of these spectacular distinct locations is my true reward.
With the goal completed I will continue my travels through the many other national monuments, historical sites, seashores, and so on and so forth…until the day the next new national park is created, and I will set sail to explore it … “
