I have had this blog for less than one year and recently I posted my 365th post so I decided to memorialize the occasion. Point-of-View.com has been pretty difficult for me. I suffer from a chronic disease that makes it hard to concentrate and to stay focused and I am often in pain and quite tired (thus the “fog”). When I started this blog I had no idea how much energy it would take and what a challenge it was going to be (thus the “war”).
I started this photo blog in part because the writing that used to come so easily to me now comes slowly and messily like the last bits of toothpaste squeezed out of the tube. Until relatively recently, I was able to work at least part-time in the career I had long pursued (I was an attorney working with intellectual property and technology law). That work is no longer available to me because it requires more energy, a better memory, and greater nimbleness of mind than I currently possess. I tell my friends that I am not dumber, but I am slower.
During the early days of my illness, boredom was a constant companion. Then, a few years ago, my wife bought me a new camera. While I had always enjoyed photography, suddenly I had a lot of time available in which to pursue it. So off I went on a photo binge. Many of my photos are taken of things very close to home – typically in our yard or neighborhood; indeed I have a category in my blog for “Photos Taken within 100 Meters of Our Home.” Many others are taken on the way to visit or at my in-laws. (My wife has a great family!)
As the years went by and the shutter clicked, hundreds and then thousands of images filled up space on my hard drive(s) and I began to think about sharing my photos. I am and always will be an amateur photographer. I do not have the energy nor do I have the desire to sell any of my work (although I do donate my work to non-profit auctions and the like). Eventually I decided to try blogging and started start Points-of-view.com.
Keeping up with this blog has been difficult for me. What has made this easier is that many of you who have visited this blog have been extraordinarily generous with your thoughts about my photos. I am not too proud to admit that when someone says a photo of mine is “stunning” or “wonderful” or “amazing” it makes me feel good. That isn’t the sole reason for the blog, but it sure doesn’t hurt! More important for someone who had spent all too much time just sitting at home is that my blog brought me into a community of people from around the world whose blogging about their lives and travels has made boredom impossible and made frustration, fatigue and pain more bearable. While it is still so very much more difficult to write than it used to be, I have all of the time I want to do it and so it is okay.
This post contains some of my favorite photos from my first 365 posts. When I was looking through the posts to put together this collection, my biggest thought was how thankful I am that I have had this opportunity. Mostly I thank all of the people who have visited my blog. I also want to give a shout out to WordPress because I really doubt I would have had a “Post 366” had I not been blogging with WordPress, which has made setting it up my blog and keeping it going so much easier for me than would otherwise have been the case.
I hope you enjoy this collection.
Lake Mendota Shore
Monarch
On Edge
Reflections
Dragonfly on Grass
Minot Flood 2012
Show stopper
Ministers .
Winter sunset
Foggy Morning
Maple Bluff Sunset
Embrace
Blooming.
Ready to bloom.
Fall
Windy Day.
We’re hungry!
How did I get here?
Foggy Night
Black-eyed Susans
Bleeding heart
Puff
Yellowtail on Verbena
An unwanted visitor
Sandhill Cranes2
Sandhill cranes landing
Self-Portrait
Tenney Park Bridge
Crazy
Cookie and Cronkite
Esther Mae
Fight and Flight
Two sparrows spar
The Trombone Section
Waunakee Village Market
Angel flower
Christmas in the Capitol
Sunset on the prairie
Canola field and hay rolls
The Passed
De-icing
Swirl
Asleep at the keyboard
Tulip
Young Bleeding Heart
Governor’s Mansion
Cannon Beach Surfer
Female Cardinal
Field of Flowers
Self-portrait #2
High plains desert
Fog on the Mountain
Timeberline Fireplace
Magnolia Blossom
NSA
Train in Columbia Gorge
Lilies
Rural North Dakota Church
Lightning
Sunset on Crystal Lake
Feeding Grandpa
Downpour
Train on Span 27
Hooked
Iris
A Dog’s World
Sunflower
Spider Web
Great Blue Heron
Great Blue Heron Takes Off
Digital Art
Spider Web 2 – Cherokee Marsh
Back of Dinner Plate Dahlia
A “Herf”
Farm in the drifless region
Gils Rock Sunset
Martini Glass
Slats and Shadows
Joy2
Hauling Pipe in North Dakota
Wonder
The Star
Yellow Sulphur on Verbena
Fireworks on Lake Mendota
Bald Eagle and Prey
Canola and Thunderhead
Sunset on Lake Michigan
Late Bloomer
On the Tarmac
Flight
Bald Eagle 3
Souris River Valley
Madison Protest
Cascade Mountains
Cirque du Dragonflies
Tango
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