1. For the last few years, I have felt like I am caught in between two worlds. One step one way could get me to everything I’ve ever wanted out of life. One step the other way could leave me with nothing. Honestly, most of the time I don’t know which step is the correct one. I end up staying right in the middle as day after day goes by. It sounds a bit dramatic, and I am very lucky and blessed to be where I am in my life at this point in time. That being said, the fact that I spend nearly every waking moment of free time working on creative projects tells me that, despite being blessed, I am clearly not satisfied with where I am. The big problem for me is that there likely won’t be a sign pointing me in the right direction. It’s going to end up being a leap of faith, which is terrifying.
2. It’s interesting how one’s mind works. A few months ago, on a dating app, I had a cute girl show interest. I didn’t feel ready for anything, so I let that pass by. I know, why are you on a dating app if you aren’t ready? Again, funny how the mind works. So I regretted not reciprocating almost immediately, but she was gone. Fast forward to this week, and she has shown up again in my search. Here we are again, where I have the opportunity but am holding back. I don’t know if it is the fear of getting burned again. I don’t know if it is fear of losing independence. I think it’s me overthinking. I am hoping that I snap out of it, but the irony is that sometimes I think that the thought of a relationship is better than having a relationship.
3. The ice floes on Cape Cod Bay are simply surreal. After the full moon high tide, it seemed like the ocean completely disappeared and left only square miles of gigantic swaths of sea ice. Naturally, I had to be out in it to get some video since I don’t know when they will be this extreme again. The beach I chose in Dennis had the best ice floes. This included chasms and crevices that I could use my selfie stick to get some great perspective shots. Of course, better than lowering my phone down into a crevice was lowering myself into a crevice. I was in ice up to my neck. This was great for getting killer perspective shots. Then reality set in. Getting down there was easy. Getting out? Not so much. I spent a couple of minutes trying to claw my way out of my icy tomb with no luck. The only option for me was, unfortunately, going scorched earth on the ice. I just smashed and stomped the floes until I could climb out. Sorry nature. Hey, I got my photos first, though.
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| Inside my potential icy tomb. |
4. At my work, we have had loads of icicles hanging everywhere. Each day, they seemed to just keep growing and multiplying like they were Gremlins. Sure as time passes though, we finally got temperatures above freezing, which meant it was time for the icicles to start coming down. Luckily, as far as I know, nobody in our building has been struck by falling ice. That’s not to say that there haven’t been any wacky events. I was in our gym leading a potential client through a movement screen. I had my music off, so the room was pretty quiet. Then, out of the blue, we hear a loud crash outside one of the windows. I figured it was icicles. Sure enough, I went over to the window and not only was it one icicle, it was probably 7, all attached into what looked like a set of fangs. These fang-cicles had come down in one clump. They didn’t hit the ground, though. Nope, they struck and got caught on a set of wires. No idea what these wires are for, but they are pretty damaged even though the icicles are not long gone. That’s why they’re the perfect weapon; they melt and leave behind no evidence. Not that I’m suggesting anything.
5. It’s an interesting concept when things start to happen that you’ve wanted to have happen. For so long on social media I’ve been sharing photos, videos, promoting my content I work so hard on. Sure, I’ve done all right, but I had always wondered what it would take to go viral and what would happen. This past week, I had a video of slush waves on Cape Cod go viral on IG and TikTok. Since then, it’s been a steady stream of videos getting thousands, or tens of thousands of views. I’ve added hundreds of new followers to the point where I had to share a video introducing myself to all of these new people. I open up IG or TikTok and feel a bit overwhelmed with all of the likes, comments, views, and followers. The thing is, one of my mantras for 2026, and I mentioned it last month in this blog, was to be open and ready for any good things that might come into my life. I’m not saying that social media clout is the end all be all, it’s not, but having legit hundreds of thousands of strangers enjoying your content is a pretty cool feeling. Maybe it leads nowhere, or maybe I get recommended to someone on social media who becomes the right set of eyes on my work that I am always hoping for.
6. So much of getting interesting photos or videos is being in the right place at the right time. For example, one afternoon this week, I went to shoot the sunset, naturally. I had one place in mind, but on the way pivoted and went to another spot. The place I went to had a beautiful view with a sheet of ice on the water. That wasn’t all. I did a bit of a walk and was able to get a cool video of a plane coming in to land at the nearby airport. As I followed the plane, I was able to immediately pan to the sunset in a great visual. To top it off, when walking back to my car, I noticed that the irrigation system at a summer home was on. It wasn’t a sprinkler, but more like a small geyser gurgling water from the ground. I stopped and waiting and got a great slow-motion video of that with the sunset in the background. All of that happened in 5 minutes. I think making that change of plans paid off.
7. I was down a rabbit hole of the funniest and weirdest dog names recently. I don’t know why, but giving dogs certain human names I find weird. Like a dog named Kevin, or John, or Mark would be weird. It got me thinking of the weirdest dog names I have come across in my actual life. There are two. One, my friend Barry told me about. He had a friend who named his dog ‘Dog.’ The thing was, he pronounced each letter so it sounded like it was ‘diogie,’ D.O.G. His reasoning? Why give a dog a real name if it won’t come when you call it? I guess that makes sense. The topper in my life though, is funny but also pretty mean. In my Nana’s neighborhood, probably 25 years ago, there was an old man who had a mid-sized dog. Its name? Stupid. Yes, he named his dog Stupid. My Nana would always laugh as she said, ‘Here comes Mr. Whoever and Stupid. I always laughed too, but also shook my head. Like, why even bother naming it at all? Just call it A$$hole or Sh!thead or something. Not with the symbols, the real words. I’m trying to at least be PG-13 in this blog.
8. The latest show I finished binging on Netflix is 11.22.63. This is the series based on the Stephen King novel about a man going back in time to try to stop the assassination of John F. Kennedy. It is 8 episodes, a total of about 9 hours of content. I highly recommend it. I love well-shot pieces of the not-so-distant past, and the 1960s fit that bill. I won’t spoil much, but the big plot point of the whole series is that the past doesn’t want to be changed, and if you start messing with it, the past will push back. It’s got drama, history, intrigue, love, and because it’s by Stephen King, some good bloody scenes. So there’s my quick pitch for why you should watch 11.22.63 if you haven’t already. As I said, highly recommended.
9. It’s important to be aware of your surroundings if you’re out taking photos of enormous swaths of sea ice on Cape Cod. I have been out nearly every day for the last week or so and have had a few incidents of a lapse in concentration. I have gone down on the ice a few times. Luckily, it was just flat ice near the shore, so just a bump or a bruise. The thing is, sometimes you have a near-miss that really gets your attention. The one for me was at Rock Harbor in Orleans. I was walking on a jetty, shooting a video of the ice that stretched out for thousands of feet. I was careful as I walked out so as not to slip and ruin my video, oh, and hurt myself, of course. When I got done and was standing at the end, I heard a woman talking to her two dogs. I turned to look and stepped down between two rocks on the jetty. Because I had been standing still, it was not a big deal; my foot went straight down, and I was able to brace myself with my hands and climb right back out. I realized after that if I had been moving, or even facing a slightly different direction, I could have easily gotten hurt. It could have been some bad gashes, or worse, a broken leg. So yeah, it’s important to be aware of your surroundings when you wander on ice sheets looking for cool photos.
10. This week’s blog, much like last week’s, is filled a lot with adventures in finding and filming Cape Cod’s ice chunks. Knowing that next week might see a bit of warming, and therefore some melting, I knew I had to get out and grab as much footage as possible. That meant braving wind chills in the low teens to get video at a frozen Sesuit Harbor and Cold Storage Beach, both in Dennis. I brought gloves and left them in my car. The videos and photos were spectacular, but my hands were numb. My buddy Steve went a short way back to the car while I took the long way to grab some more media. While on that walk, I managed to: see a dead bird in a pile of snow, slide on my ass down another pile of snow, become blinded by tears with the wind whipping in my eyes, and of course, the numb hands which made me drop and nearly break my selfie stick. I say all of that to again reiterate that it was all worth it, and the photos and videos prove it.
11. As the weekend approached, my lower back was feeling pretty bad. I mean, who knew that sliding, falling, and generally having poor footing on ice for close to two weeks would have consequences? All of the shooting of the ice floes that I did also meant walking in sneakers on snow and ice. I did my best to be smart and safe, but come on, my buddy Steve and I coined the ‘dedication to the craft’ motto about photography based on my falling on my hip and elbow on the rocks while trying to get a photo of Avery Point Light in Groton, Connecticut. I still got the shot. So it should come as no surprise that even with various aches, the call of photography was too much. I got copious use out of my heating pad and ibuprofen though, as I edited the photos.
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