More from last week...

I had a few more photos from the sunset / star trails adventure last week outside of Urbana that I figured I would throw up. Likely will not have anything new to add for the rest of the week, but as per usual I will be spending the coming 4th of July weekend in Wisconsin with my family on what should be an amazing and well needed vacation. I will hopefully have plenty of new material following my return next week.

Oops, I did it again...

I promise this is the last time that I will neglect my ever so important blog. For all of you four readers out there, I apologize again. I believe I had somewhat of a moment this evening. I hit on it a little in a previous post, but I've been somewhat of a lame bum this spring and early summer, for various reasons. I've lacked the motivation to do all of the things that I love, including hunting down storms and going on random outdoor adventures.

That all said, I've progressed light years in the last month and have been returning to my normal self. Today, a round of mushy, yet still intense thunderstorms plowed through town. I only drove a mile or so to an open parking lot on the edge of town where I was blasted by 50-60 mph winds. After dinner I received a text message from a friend demanding that I go out and photograph the sky because there were cool clouds.

I'd just finished eating dinner and figured I may as well. I invited my younger brother, Wil along and we set out for the open countryside just south of Urbana. We caught a glimpse of a pretty sweet rainbow fragment as we were leaving town but just as we got outside of the urban surroundings the sky had changed and the rainbow was no more. We made it to one of my favorite spots on a hill (a moraine left by the glaciers during the last ice age, actually!) and set up shop.

There was nothing extraordinary about this sunset, but what I felt certainly seemed that way. Being out in the open, surrounded by nothing but corn and a rolling summer breeze, with an ever transforming orange sky to my west, I finally felt back at home. This is where I belong. Not at home feeling sorry for myself for whatever reason. All this time I have lacked the motivation to do the things that I love, because of how I was dealing with these things, when it was exactly where I needed to be. I'd gone out to the state parks a few times in the last month or two, but it didn't feel right. It felt forced. Even while nabbing tornadoes in Oklahoma a few weeks ago, I still felt held back. But tonight, for whatever reason, it became clear that I am finally back.