Ever since we relocated to Florida I have wanted to set up a trail camera to capture the local, bountiful wildlife in the backyard. After receiving an Amazon gift card I have done just that. I set it up yesterday in a good spot and hoped for the best. The idea was to capture the highly active creatures by day and night.
The first results are in: good camera angles, poor execution on my part. It seems the only wildlife I caught, in vivid photos and video, was myself as I installed and removed the camera. Aargh! Time to check the settings to recalibrate the sensors and timing of the camera. Lesson learned? We’ll see tomorrow!
Sorting through this website’s archives recently, I wanted to look back to see what has changed, if anything over the past few years. Apparently some of the things I want to achieve are the same goals I had back then. But I was a different person at the time, my life was different, the world was different.
For me, I want 2025 to be focused on a healthy balance of creativity/consumption/curation. I want the things I consume and curate to reflect in my creativity. For this I need good material to digest, then curate for future use. Shortly after, the inspiration should kick in and the creativity flows.
I want to find a level balance on analog/digital input/output. I need to spend more focus on analog sources and later post here digitally for posterity. The new bookcase will be full of analog reading material soon. The book is a wonderful magic-based technology and no batteries are required.
The home office has come along nicely and I think I am done for awhile. Now that I have pieces in place, it is time to organize those pieces into a comfortable workflow so I can put ass to chair and do something creatively for myself.
I also need time to figure out what the new year brings starting tomorrow. I am hopeful that 2025 beats 2024 although it will be difficult to achieve.
“Dark Mode” was the name of my previous study in Tulsa. Now that I have changed latitudes, the new room needs new decor. I’ve carefully curated pieces for little to no cost in the theme of Ernest Hemingway’s signature style. Each piece represents local wildlife including the tropical plants.
As 2024 winds down, I find myself looking back on the highs, lows, and little wonders that filled the year. It’s been a ride. Some moments felt like living in the pages of a nature guide or an astronomy journal, while others were quieter, spent in awe of the resilience and life around us. Here are the highlights that stayed with me:
Changes
I resigned from my job in February in order to prepare for future life changes. I didn’t look for another job until May and finally secured one in early December. Seven months!
Late April, we packed up our things and moved across the country (again) to the gulf coast on Cape Coral, Florida. I love it down here in the south and have missed it. It changes me mentally, physically and spiritually.
Celestial Marvels
Astronomy stole the show this year. The total solar eclipse in April was breathtaking—I was lucky enough to witness it with clear skies. Watching the day turn to twilight in a matter of minutes left me speechless. Later in the year, the Perseid meteor shower lit up the sky with streaks of light, reminding me of how vast and mysterious our universe is.
The auroras were unusually active thanks to increased solar activity. Twice! Even those of us far from polar regions got lucky glimpses of those shimmering curtains of light. And who could forget the rare comet that passed by in October? It was a large white streak in my camera, but imagining its journey across the cosmos gave me chills.
Space exploration added to the excitement, with rocket launches carrying people, satellites, rovers, and more.
Wildlife Wonders
Closer to home, the local fauna provided plenty of entertainment. The delightful nighttime antics from raccoons and rabbits, curious little lizards on the lanai decided to lounge in front of the lens like a seasoned influencer. Larger agama lizards with their vibrant hues of orange and black, the iguana families along the sea wall on the canal, a lonesome American crocodile swimming up and down the same canal, manatees, dolphins and a lone black shark round out the reptiles, mammals and fish discovered this year. The trail camera I purchased will come in handy once it is installed.
Moving on to the bird phylum– osprey, bald eagles, burrow owls, horned owls, ibis, egrets, herons, terns, red-winged blackbirds, Eastern phoebe, thrush, titmouse, eastern bluebird, Loggerhead shrike, black-crowned night herons, boat-tailed grackle, limpkin, pelicans, etc etc etc ad nauseam. There is a wealth of feathered friends to discover down here.
The variety of flora around here equals the fauna. Almost 100 different varieties of palm trees, the plant called “Bird of Paradise”, tiplants, crotons, and more and more and more. The avocado and citrus trees are bountiful here and produce delicious fruit.
Stormy Skies
This year’s tropical storm season kept me on my toes. Debbie, Helene, and Milton each brought their share of drama, with high winds, heavy rains, and some tense moments. While I prepared for the worst, I also marveled at the power of nature. Seeing the storm clouds roll in was humbling—nature reminding us who’s really in charge.
Head In The Clouds
The Little Things
I read a lot, I’ve written quite a bit. I’ve explored more. I drained a lot of sweat on the trails. The creativity flowed with different avenues of both physical and digital art. The new home office where I can finally have an inner sanctum and create, has been influenced by a favorite author who was larger than life. Some of my favorite moments this year were small but no less memorable.
2024 was a reminder of how much there is to see, learn, and appreciate, from the vastness of the cosmos to the tiniest critter in the backyard. As I look forward to 2025, there is hope we all find more opportunities to pause, look up, look around, explore more and take it all in.
Here’s to more adventures in 2025—earthbound and beyond!
Apple Music has a feature that showcases your most played songs, albums, artists and genre and I thought it would be fun to highlight them here. I’ve added a small portion of them onto a playlist and will then burn a CD of them with a custom CD cover each month for 2025 I think.
Genre: Jazz, Blues, Meditation, Classical.
Artist: Khruangbin, Pink Floyd, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis
Song: Mariella by Khruangbin, Swahili by Clark Terry, Dr. Ford by Ramin Djawadi, Round Midnight by Miles Davis
Playlists: Pure Jazz, Psychedelic Funk Rock, Pure Meditation, Jazz in 1959 Essentials.
I am going to change it up next year and have already identified some sounds for the playlists. I’m going south for some bachata, salsa, Caribbean, tropical, mariachi and more.
I recently had an incident of falling through a fiber optic hand hole. That scraped me up pretty well and also gave me a cracked rib, maybe two? Either way, after 52 years, this was my first time to have a broken bone in my body. Amazing when you think of all the misadventures I’ve had outdoors.
Speaking of cracked, the very next day, I was driving down the parkway and was clipped from behind causing damage to the work vehicle.
I’ve always admired the Star Trek character of the Vulcan named Spock and his calm, logical approach to life. He doesn’t let emotions rule him, but he doesn’t deny them either—they’re just part of the equation. That feels a lot like Zen to me: staying grounded, present, and letting things be what they are without overreacting. Life throws a lot at us, but there’s something powerful about finding balance—where you can think clearly, act calmly, and still stay true to yourself. I am lacking these and am out of practice.
That’s why I’m re-starting something, a practice I’m calling “Zenbow.” It’s my way of blending Spock’s logical clarity with the peaceful awareness of Zen. Maybe it’s taking a quiet moment to breathe before making a tough decision or finding simple joy in the rhythm of daily life. Perhaps it is how I manage stress and…traffic. Whatever it looks like, Zenbow will remind me to stay steady, centered, and open to whatever comes my way. It’s not perfection—it’s progress, one calm, logical step at a time.
Just a quick glance at some improvement and some disappointment regarding this year’s physical fitness.
2024 started out just fine because I was active and mobile outdoors and then the trend stopped between mid-February and mid-May. This was due to the relocation effort and a catalyst for improvement after that.
All of a sudden I had more chances to get fit and it paid off brilliantly. We signed up for a fitness center and worked out 6 out of 7 days from that week. I acquired a bicycle and used it. The refreshing pool was perfect for swimming laps and increasing cardio. I loved all of this.
I don’t think these stats are accurate and Apple Fitness doesn’t show me how many hours of traditional weight training I have done, which is odd to me. I will dedicate one more year to the Apple Watch and Fitness plan before I seek another option (looking at Garmin.)
Starting this week, I’ll be active in the field burning those calories, walking, lifting and sweating. After the holidays, I am committing myself to enhance this with more training time. Training in the gym, in for the swim (once the pool is repaired), home yoga, and more cycling time will all be given their time and attention. I am hopeful that those numbers will reflect the sweat.
This is my last day of freedom after a 9 month hiatus from working. I am flying out December 1st, tomorrow to Houston to begin training. SWFL-CHT-HOU and back to SWFL on December 6th, one day before my birthday.
It was a long, frustrated break but I am happy to get back into it. I thought I was done with this industry but it has pulled me back into it out of necessity.
My mind has been drifting lately and I am all over the place. Reading a book hasn’t been interesting, I am consuming an unhealthy amount of movies and shows, I’ve limited my time at the gym or on the bike. I’m mindful enough to notice the inner workings of my mind going to crap but not mindful enough to do what’s needed to change the situation.
I know that there’s a way out of this and it only requires some dedication, some patience, some slack and the knowledge that I will start to focus on what I enjoy again.
