OutdoorType

Frosted, originally uploaded by outdoor_type.

Frost!, originally uploaded by outdoor_type.

My treat for waking up before sunrise this morning… For waking up, for getting out of bed and out the door… For noticing the frosty fields as I sped past on the highway…

The first frost of the season blanketed the fields near my office this morning and though I had an 8am meeting (a meeting I was responsible for leading) I quickly calculated that yes, I probably had a few minutes to try and capture the scene that lay before me.

Pulling off the highway I switched from Morning Edition to the Eddie Vedder Into the Wild soundtrack that has lately received heavy play time in my car and served as partial muse for my recent outings. In the passenger seat to my right my camera bag lay open… the camera was on, the lens cap was off, memory cards were formatted and ready.

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Chapter One: The Commute

Rainy Morning Commute, originally uploaded by outdoor_type.

With the morning’s wet weather I was dreading a little my drive to work.

Having gone so long without rain, I knew traffic was going to be bad. Not 66 eastbound bad (where all four lanes were blocked this morning causing a backup that at one point stretched from Nutley to 234), but still, bad enough to illicit oaths and tight gripping of steering wheels.

I held out hope. I hoped that my later departure might make for less clogged roads. I hoped the lighter than expected rain would allow for smooth sailing. The light traffic shown in the photo above was enough to sustain those hopes, was enough to have me think, “Hey, this drive might not be so bad after all.”

After the jump, the rest of my commute and “chapters” 2 & 3! Read the rest of this entry →

First it was hot and humid but the ground was nearly bone dry. Then later, not so much with the bone dry part. Thunder and lighting and a steady rain brought the third race of the day to an early conclusion. A good thing too as dirt/clay berms turned into a peanut butter like concoction that induced more than a few falls.

Sneak preview photos on Flickr

Lots more to come over at Will Ramos Photography!

Not quite storm clouds, this was the scene on the beach a few hours before I returned home. The sand was littered with debris and people from the nearby hotel. Wind pushed waves of the outgoing tide a foot higher than normal and teenagers in red suits stood vigilant guard.

More Photos on Flickr…

It seems tonight my destiny was to be enveloped by darkness.

First we attempted to attend the semi-final round of the Funniest Fed competition at the Draft House. Before the show the sky had that ominous green colour that all mid-westerners know well. A storm was a comin’ and it was coming soon.

The packed house helped to drown out the thunderous crashing outside, but I was nearer to an emergency exit than most and made out the unmistakable sounds of a strong summer storm (never mind that the calendar still reads spring). About thirty minutes into the show the first “comic” was trying out his “impressions” when he gestured towards the back of the house and the lights went dark.

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I heart open primaries, originally uploaded by outdoor_type.

View from the car tonight as I approached my polling place. Video would have better shown the driving rain and the crashing booming thunder and lightning.

ice, originally uploaded by outdoor_type.

only a few disconnected sheets of ice remain on a shaded side of the pond. ice crystals crinkled like tinsel as wind swept down across the water.

UPDATE: This photo chosen as Bostonist Photo of the Day for April 9, 2007!

WTF Ernesto?!
Current mood: sleepy

On Thursday afternoon I’m leaving DC and flying to Savannah. Then on Friday I guess we’ll be evacuating to a shelter somewhere? I just want a nice little vacation at the beach. (Hilton Head Island, my final destination, is right on the border of S. Carolina and Georgia.  So according to the 11AM projection my 5pm flight should be heading directly into the storm.  Nice, huh?)