Summer Start, 2026
I snapped the poster image of this post on a whim this past weekend because as I sat on the couch it occurred to me: this is peak living.
Just Haleigh and I, hanging out with the hounds. She had the world cup on TV while browsing on her laptop, Moby curled up next to her. Tango got up to see what I was doing (probably because I ran upstairs to grab my camera, pointlessly hoping everyone stayed perfectly still), but I rather like the imperfection in this frame because life really is like that.
It's hard to believe Summer is already upon us. Haleigh finished school last week, and since then we've celebrated with our annual 1st-Molly-Moon's-of-the-Summer visit and a World Cup game (US vs Australia in Seattle). Holy moly, was that a fun experience. Haleigh even cried later that night, saying how it was one of the coolest sports experiences she's ever had in her entire life.
I obviously didn't have my camera for that, so... here's some ice cream, I guess?
Also, our dogs have found a rabbit den in the backyard. So far I'm batting .500 – I've saved 2 rabbits, they've... murdered two. The first one was so newborn I mistook it for a field mouse. When the 2nd victim turned up a week later with fur, I realized my error. I escorted that little guy to the front yard, where he either made a recovery or was picked up by a hawk or owl.. Either way, circle of life, I guess? Cute though.
Ben and I have STP coming up in a few weeks and I have no doubts that we're ready to ride an enjoyable 2-day event... but I still am skeptical of our 1-day attempt. Just yesterday I rode just under 60 miles hard and only averaged 16.5mph over the whole course. That gives me 100% confidence that we have a 0% chance of averaging 17+ mph over 200 miles in a few weeks. I think we just need more time for structured training, so MAYBE next year... Though after this one, both of us are thinking more along the lines of interesting quality riding adventures (like internationally, even) versus local long-distance endurance adventures. I read an article recently about cycling across Japan from hotel to hotel, and Ben doesn't know it yet but that's my next pitch.
I've been absolutely loving my Voigtlander M-mount lenses lately. So much so, that I think I'm going to actually pull the trigger on a Leica M camera soon.
Is it a smart investment from a technical capability perspective? Absolutely not. The focus system is archaic and manual, which means I will miss shots an autofocus system stands a chance of capturing. And it isn't really designed for exotic/long focal lengths. But the vast majority of my portfolio is between 24mm and 75mm, so it'll be a great walkaround camera. And as the expression goes, the best camera is the one you have with you.
Also something about all settings being manual speaks to me. I like knowing (or at least having a feel for) how my camera settings should be in a given scenario. I will never forget when I was shooting weddings on a semi-professional basis and correctly eyeballed a room to be ~1/125s at f/2.8 and ISO 400. Nailed that exposure and the feel for the exposure triangle has only made it easier to convert my mind's eye to pixels. I feel like a manual camera that is intentionally old school and largely unchanged in the past 50 years will only yield more similar personal growth.
Plus they look heckin' cool and travel light.
Not really sure what to expect from this summer, but being that we're a week in and already have this many photos, I know it's going to be a banger. Let's go!