Needing more - a photo on Flickriver

Needing more

            “A man is not old until regrets take the place of dreams!”
-John Barrymore

For a few months now something has disrupted my normally happy soul…an interruption in the force to the Star Wars fan. For the life of me, I have not been able to rid myself of a feeling of deep dread. 

I have spoken to loved ones, soul searched both awake and in each morning’s slumber, my special “mental clarity” time when normally so many answers come. Then without warning, like a cat expelling a hairball, the answer reluctantly came spewing out to my bride…I HAVE TO GO BACK TO NOME!!

For years I planned and saved to visit there. Excited about the possibility of hanging out with and photographing muskox became my main goal. For months I researched the local flora and fauna, seasonal migrations, set up accommodations and travel and even watched thirteen seasons of Bering Sea Gold in preparation for this once in a lifetime adventure. 

However, fate had other plans for my adventure as within a few hours of my arrival, I fell ill. Of my five days scheduled there, four were spent in my room eating crackers and pop tarts…and watching the worst tv selection that I have had in many years. 

It wasn’t till I edited this photo, taken of the Teller highway, that I truly understood just how deeply saddened I was with the loss of that opportunity for adventure. When this shot was taken, I had just come off a tundra walkabout collecting qiviut (fiber) off the trees and bushes and walking along the banks of a small river filled with the red glow of sockeye salmon. An experience that made my entire body feel much like my mouth did as a child when tasting a cinnamon toothpick made by my mother. 

Remembering that feeling and how it was so quickly lost and replaced by the taste of Dayquil multiplies the feeling of loss. Even though my main goal of hanging out with muskox was accomplished, I finally realized that all this time I have been grieving the loss of the rest of the adventure.

A decision has been made to return to Alaska next summer with my sons. As I start the planning process, my positive mental attitude has returned, the force has been reestablished! Maybe choosing not to let our dreams die is what keeps us young.

This time I may make that flight to Alaska dressed in a gamma radiation suit with an IV bag of vitamin juice impaled into my arm for a bit of insurance! 

Re-adventure before dementia!

Taken on: July 28, 2024

Tags:

canon

EOS

MarkII

MotherNature

nature

NGC

Outdoors

Outside

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Tundra

Alaska

mountains

Roads

Teller

Nome

Highway

gravel

Clouds

Travel

Adventure

Vacation

Tamron

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Peninsula

Wilderness

Alone

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Camera: Canon EOS 7D Mark II, f/4.0, 1/1000 sec, 37mm, ISO 100 (more info) (hide info)

Camera:	Canon EOS 7D Mark II
Lens:	TAMRON 18-400mm F/3.5-6.3 Di II VC HLD B028
Aperture:	f/4.0
Exposure Time:	0.001 sec (1/1000)
Focal Length:	37mm
ISO:	100
Exposure Bias:	0 EV
Flash:	Off, Did not fire
Exposure Program:	Manual
Exposure Mode:	Manual
Metering Mode:	Multi-segment
White Balance:	Auto
Color Space:	sRGB
Software:	Adobe Lightroom 7.4.1 (Macintosh)
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