Skip to main content

Native voyage

Photo by: Tim Bindner

Saturday morning, I hit the trail for the first time this season. I didn’t know how much I missed it. My legs, however, quickly reminded me.

I woke up around 6 am. Quietly got out of bed so as not to disturb my wife, got dressed, ate breakfast, and waited. I had my gear ready the night before, other than my water. Mark and I agreed he would pick me up at 8 am, and then we headed to O’Bannon Woods State Park.

He arrived a few minutes early. I grabbed my camera, backpack, jacket, kissed Marcie, and headed out to my driveway. The drive was nothing special, but my anticipation was building. We saw someone at the gate, but no admission was required. Mark made a slight right turn and soon parked us under the fire tower, where we began gathering our things. My goal today was to hike the Fire Tower trail one way for 2 miles, then make the return trip back. It was 43 degrees, and I could feel the electricity in the air. Electricity brought on by the excitement of doing what I loved.

We made our way to the trailhead. Clicking my watch, we began our journey as my boots hit the dirt for the first step of this hike. It felt like Christmas morning as a child. I experienced sensory overload. The scent of the forest filled my nose. My eyes darted from side to side and up and down. I took everything in as my mind raced to spot things to shoot. Like a kid in a candy store.

Not 100 yards into the trail, I took my first picture. The one above. A simple composition, and not even a wonderful picture at that, but it got my creative juices flowing and helped to slow down my brain. This small cluster of leaves seemed to say welcome to the woods and the red leaf jutting out at the top almost appeared to be raising a hand to say hello. I took this as a good sign.

Mark and I shared pleasant conversations. I took pictures mostly of leaves and we traversed the trail for 2 miles one way, then returned 2 miles back. Overall, I got 11,400 steps on that hike alone and over 15,000 for the day. I experienced fatigue in my legs, depletion of energy, but my mind stayed relaxed. The woods are my happy place. I was glad to share my native hike of the season with Mark.

Until next time,

Tim

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Love to get your feedback on what you read!

Popular posts from this blog

Mentor

  When my photography journey rekindled back in 2015 with a trip to Maine, I never knew how far I would come and how important pushing a button on a camera would be. I have come a long way, but still have so much more to learn. A mentor is described as an experienced and trusted adviser (noun) . Also, as someone who will advise or train (someone, especially a younger  colleague ) (verb). Wikipedia also states mentorship is the patronage, influence, guidance, or direction given by a mentor. A mentor is someone who teaches or gives help and advice to a less experienced and often younger person.  Since I have gotten more serious about my photography, I have been looking for a mentor that fits these categories listed above. Seeking guidance, I reached out to a handful of “professional” photographers to inquire about mentorship. I received no response from one person, another person casually mentioned that they rarely mentor, and a third person kindly explained that they ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nobody's Listening

  I recently had conversations with two people I know that had experienced a sudden rash of acute anxiety. One was medication related, the other was situational. Both stated that they now had a better understanding of what I have been dealing with. With the recent changes to my medication, Although I still feel anxiety, it no longer takes control of my emotions like it did in the past. However, I know acutely that it still lurks on the fringes, patiently awaiting its chance to pounce on me. During my recent visit to Dr. Erin, she assigned me an exercise where I had to jot down three things each day that I felt I excelled at. This is proving to be difficult for me. The parameters are straightforward and easy to understand. “Anything I do well that day,” she said. As I continued with this exercise, I began thinking of a song by Linkin Par called Nobody’s Listening. I got a heart full of pain, head full of stress Handful of anger held in my chest And everything left’s a wast...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tested

  Life is a series of tests, pushing us to our limits and forcing us to grow. All blessings originate from a God, yet they manifest through different circumstances, encounters, and individuals. Throughout the past six weeks, I have encountered a myriad of these tests. This is part of the reason I have not written in a while - the constant distractions that have consumed my time and focus. Balancing my mental state and warding off anxiety has consumed my attention, leaving no room to articulate my thoughts through writing. My journey began recently when, with the advice of a medical professional, I began taking Trintellix at its lowest dose of 5mg per day. Gradually I increased to 10mg a day and now am at 20mg a day. During this time, my anxiety has lessened quite a bit, but recent events have put this medication to the test. Our initial challenge was to carefully research vans, searching for ones that would be ideal for safely transporting our furry companions. The cramped spac...
Post a Comment
Read more