My Beloved Bella Girl. My Co-Pilot. My Adventure Partner. My Heart.

Though I Love to get out on my mountain bike and let the air flow across my face as I crank down on the pedals, I'm nowhere near the skill level of most of my friends that I ride with. Recently, I offered up my services to my buddy to get some photos of him bombing down the Erie Single Track bike park in Erie, Colorado, North of Denver. In fact, a guy I ran into in Colorado showed me this park...because he and his friend built it. Though I Love taking most any photos, I'm learning that I truly Love giving the gift of capturing moments, such as these. After all, it's not every day that we get to be the star of our own magazine style photo shoot. 

A night that started out with a simple visit to the Christmas tree lighting in downtown Chicago would turn into an incredible, first hand account of a protest over the shooting of Laquan McDonald. While I was walking through the streets capturing photos of the crowd marching between the towering buildings under the dark sky, media coverage was filling all of the major networks on television across the country. It was truly an uncanny feeling.

One of the highlights of Venice Beach is the public skate park. Observers from near and far form crowds to watch the skaters work their magic in the cement playground made just for them. It's amazing to see the range of age and skill in the park. It seems that as long as you're on wheels, you're welcomed in the crowd. Make sure to check it out if you're ever in the area. Venice Beach is definitely an alternate reality and it's worth the visit….just be prepared to for a parking battle and pay attention to the countless posted signs. 

While traveling to visit family in rural Nebraska, I cannot help but pull over and listen to the stories that these abandoned structures have to tell. Seeing them printed on and their stories come to life on the wall has been a powerful experience.

We had the beach to ourselves, as we returned a portion of Bella's ashes to the Gulf waters off of the iconic white sands of Destin, Florida. I say "we" as Bella was with me in spirit. Something struck me about these pinecones stranded on the beach with no coniferous trees in sight.