July SITREP

The squirrel photo has nothing to do with this post really, apart from the fact that I shot it today and it's almost the end of July.

The Summer is flying by. It's been a welcome reprieve having STP in the rear view and feeling less pressure to put in X miles on the bike every week. I actually haven't ridden at all since! I've been doing a little weight lifting to keep my body moving, but I'm sure I'll ride again even this week.

I've been trying to prioritize taking the kayak out to paddle around the Sound or Lake Washington, but our weekends have been a combination of busy and "I don't wanna." I do but I hate feeling rushed. A sunset paddle around Lighthouse beach might be in order this week though.

We had Ben and Melissa over on Saturday for pizza and drinks. It was a fun time as always. I'm really grateful for having gotten closer with them. Like I told Ben last year, we got Moby to help keep Tango young and I think he's that for me! We are probably going to go camping one weekend here soon, just a quick backpacking trip somewhere picturesque. He wants to do Black Peak again, but I think our next one should just be a chill camp out and then maybe do a more strenuous hike around Larch season. We were looking at pictures recently and fall up in the cascades is a sight to behold... And I'd very much like to behold it with my camera.

The Leica has been glued to my hand when I'm not working. I'm getting better at estimating distances and manually focusing, but I definitely see a place for modern mirrorless cameras in my gear closet. The M system is great for Travel and Landscapes – the two things I'm most excited to shoot more with it – but like you might guess from the heavily cropped poster image above, I don't have as many lens options and focusing is still hit and miss. I would have had an objectively better image if I had grabbed my z8 with 135mm f/1.8 Plena, but the best camera is the one you have with you as they say.

We ordered a new ladder last week that should be arriving sometime in the next 2 weeks. That'll finally enable me to finish painting the foyer and replace our chandelier. I think the only other summer plan we have is finding a good dog sitting solution for Moby and Tango while we're in Paris this fall.

Apart from all that, life is good, nothing new or unusual to report at this time.