Rocky Mock

Day 366; Arrival Departure; The last day of the year had Alex and I flying into Colorado to see family on new years eve. This image was perfect as the last one of this project. 2021 is arriving, 2020 is departing. What an amazing year of growth, pain, love and discovery. I will be making images for the rest of my life. This project will stand as one of the most important bodies of work i've ever completed. Im so proud  of this year. Rocky signing off. What a year. 

Day 365; Beer Holder; With the recent blizzard that blew in i take a shot of my beer on the back porch deck showing off how much snow we got. 

Day 364; Gas Station Blizzard; A storm front rolls through producing heavy snow and torrid winds. I walk to the gas station with a frozen beard to get oil for our generator in the event we lose power. 

Day 363; The Exit Door; Another trip to the dump yields another photo. This time though after discarding Christmas boxes and trash i was liking this sign. While this photo isn't going to wow over anyone, its still an important photo at the end of an important project. 

Day 362; Pea Coat Flake; As the snow comes in i took photos of clouded woods inhaled with blowing snow. I looked down and saw a flake on my pea coat and admired how beautiful and intricate it was. 

Day 361; The Lake Walkway; Alex and I take a drive and she wanted to show me this beautiful area of town that was surrounded by a lake. I was in Awe with the industrialism meeting nature. Tall buildings, train cars, trees, geese and a large frozen lake was a christmas gift in itself. 

Day 360; Christmas Film; Merry Christmas! Pictured here is the bulk of what i received. 32 rolls of film. Merry Christmas. 

Day 359; Oh Christmas Tree; Braylon and Noah both marvel at the christmas tree on christmas eve. Shortly after this moment the kids were treated to a delightful evening of opening presents 

Day 358; its a Beaut Clark; Alex, Myself and her dad and brother went and got coffee and drove around looking at Christmas Lights. This was my favorite house of the night. There was another house that had a lot of work done and was even synced up with music but this house made me feel like Clark Griswold lived there. 

Day 357; The Car Wash; I take Alex's jeep to the car wash on this sunny Tuesday afternoon 

Day 356; Stomach Pains; A bad pizza from last night woke me up and would leave me sick for several days. Thankfully it was just food poisoning. My god though...Im nervous everday for something else to happen.vThis photo was taken on my bed while not feeling great 

Day 355; Sunday Dude; After the presents were opened, the wrapping paper thrown away and the volume was down 10 notches with no children in the house, Dude and I sit back and watch football on a lazy sunday afternoon 

Day 354; Lost in Presents; Pictured here Chloe (Day 118) plays with a doll and is lost in a sea of gifts. On this Saturday we opened gifts and it was this image that won picture of the day. Show casing how much fun it is for a child to be opening presents for Christmas. 

Day 353; Trespassing Barn; While driving around with Alexs family looking for bald eagles we came across this barn. I got out to take a picture and Alex rolled down the window to notify me I was trespassing. We are in the country so getting shot in broad daylight crossed my mind just then. Then i shrugged and thought this is a cool barn and photographed it anyways.  

Day 352; Holiday Trash; Alex's family from Missouri (Day 145) are here for an early holiday. Heres a sneak peak of what everyone wants to see. The trash!

Day 351; Hiding Scales;  On this afternoon the sun was peeking into the fish tank and this fish in our aquarium was beautiful when touched by the sun. Of course when i approached the fish swam to a hiding spot. I laughed when i could still see the fish here and i took this photograph assuming this is the best i can do. 

Day 350; The Lonley Tree; On this day i went to the dump to get rid of a handful of items we had stored in our garage. I then drove around the country roads looking for something exciting. I thought to myself "I need to show how cold it is." I found this lonely tree on a hillside by the road and believe i captured the cold tones of a winter afternoon. 

Day 349; The Late Night Beetle; While Alex was going upstairs she said a beetle fell from the ceiling and onto the stairs. I picked it up and put it on this pen and took a few shots of it taking off in flight. Sadly one of the cats eventually got to it but hey. It made for a fun image in December. 

Day 348; Bailed Out; After a lazy afternoon of lounging and watching foootball, Alex and i took a drive in the late afternoon for a photo. I scrambled to find anything good when we finally came across some bailed hay in the country. 

Day 347; Seeing Red; After a healthy dumping of snow i ventured out in the cold to photograph it. It was one of those amazing days post snowfall that was so shockingly silent. I walked and exerted the most energy by far since i've been sick in August. Truly an amazing day. This was the last photo i took of the day as i was leaving the park.  

Day 346; Culvers Menu; On this night Alex and i decided 'why not?' Lets pig out! We never eat fast food and figured tonight was a good night to do it. I have never been to a culvers before. Known for their butter burgers and custard, it led me to get a triple butter burger, sweet potato fries, a pepsi and a caramel pecan sundae. On this night im pretty sure i had 2,000 calories for dinner. 

Day 345; Curing Thrush; My throat as been irritating me and after yet another doctors visit, i was diagnosed with thrush. Common in kids breastfeeding, thrush is essentially a yeast infection. I got a throat yeast infection thanks to my steroidal inhalers. Pictured here is Alex shooting a yellow liquid medicine down my throat to kill the infection. 

Day 344;Inside The 50; Heres a shot of the inside of my Pentax 50mm leaf shutter lens. The white Hexagon in the center is something i've always wanted tattooed on me thanks to its relation to shutter speeds and apertures. 

Day 343; Cemetary Shed; This was an amazing day. I am finally fully beginning to recover and feel better. I went on a long walk today and sought out this shed in the cemetary that looks more like a single hobbits home. 

Day 342; 19 Days til Christmas; Theres actually 18 days til Christmas but whose counting!? I'll tell ya who. This guy. This guy has been in Alex's family for years. The countdown is on! Inside his little bag there are the numbers to change out while counting down til Christmas. 

Day 341; Terry's Scoreboard; Pictured here is some of Alex's family huddled downstairs around Terrys Bar (Day 331) watching the NFL on Sunday. Happy Birthday to the man, the myth, the legend (Day 99). 

Day 340; Quaker Oats; On our way over to Alex's dads house, Alex could sense the excitement when i saw the Cedar River looking like Glass. She pulled over so i could get a photo and got a reflected look at the factory where Quaker Oats is made 

Day 339; The Medicine Cabinet; As of this date i am taking 11 things to alleviate symptoms and get my health back on track. Heres a look at some of the help. 

Day 338; Brain Fog; Experts claim your brain is as big as your two fists put together. Im not sure if its post viral syndrome or anti depressants taking a tally on my brain but it is hazy and fogged up in my brain right now. 

Day 337; Mary, Joseph, Dude; On this evening we set up lights in the living room and did a photoshoot for our christmas cards. This was our favorite scene, one that depicted Dude as the baby Jesus. 

Day 336; Frozen; They say December 1st is the beginning of the end. With one month to go before the year ends I took a picture of a leaf on a frozen puck of ice sitting in our bird bath. 

Day 335; The Vaccine Waste; Congrats to the UK. You can celebrate being the first territory to receive the corona virus vaccine. While many are happy to have this ‘saving’ medicine roll out, there seems to be just as many that are concerned and it may be for good reason. I chuck out conspiracy theories that weigh on tracking chips and the ridiculousness of population control. Instead I base my concern on the unknown long term side effects that researchers have yet to uncover. Can this vaccination that was rushed to cure a disease that has tipped the world upside down, give me more problems down the road? Allergic reactions? Face paralysis? Some severe symptom specifically born from this vaccine? Will my long lasting symptoms be worsened even more? It’s a cloud of mystery and we are walking through it. Let’s hope it merely clears the air, rather then putting a cliff in front of us. This photo was taken at my doctors office. 

Day 334; Liars Dice; Pictured here is Alex's cousin Ryan covering up his dice in a game of liars dice. We introduced Alex's cousin Nikki the game of spades on this night and had a game night. 

Day 333; Grocery Pickup; The United States of America has over 4 million cases of covid this month and theres two days left still. In order to avoid getting reinfected at all costs, Alex and I use the local supermarkets offer of grocery pickup. You order your groceries online and then you drive up to this spot. Inside each of these totes is an order of groceries. The cat litter or mountain dew wasn't ours though. 

Day 332; The Tree Graveyard; Alex and i take a stroll in Hanna Park. I hate this time of year due to the sun setting so early. The moon was visible above a cluster of cut down trees i call a tree graveyard. Once the trees stood there tall and happy. Now its blanketed with stubs and shattered bark thanks to the Derecho. 

Day 331; Terry's Bar; Pictured here is Alex's dad, Terry. Im thankful for this guy. He was the host of Thanksgiving and was proud to unveil and introduce his new bar that he set up downstairs in his house. I gladly bartended, slinging out drinks and watching the cowboys get their ass kicked by the Washington Football Team. Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 330 Thanksgiving Prep; Alex seperates warm rolls right out of the oven on this Wednesday evening. We baked, we listened to christmas music and I printed off photos of our cats. It was a happy holiday fest.  

Day 329; Cera's Helping Hand(writing); I requested Cera's (Day 277)  calligraphy for this project. Inside this book you will the month detailed and announced before turning the page. On this day i got those months in the mail on paper, where i will scan them and add them to this book. Thanks Cera! I love you too!

Day 328; Abduction of the Holidays; While taking an image of the tree I capture a glimpse of a Kit Kat commercial on television. 

Day 327; Eye on the ball; I take a macro shot of Noah's eye while he watches football on this Sunday afternoon. Both he and his sisters eye (Day 227) have now been recorded for this project. 

Day 326; King of the Tower; Dude sits atop the cat tower as Alex pulls out Christmas lights and various decorations. The Christmas tree went up at the beginning of the month, as much as i didn't want to see Christmas décor early, it  didn't matter. Alex said this year deserves it and it deserves joy. So joy has come in the form of Christmas decoration, early and all month of November.

Day 325; Midwestern Colorado Green Chili; Alex approached me a few days before this exclaiming how there is a company in Colorado that ships frozen authentic green chilis by mail. She ordered 2 pounds and on this day she whipped up a batch of delicios Colorado style green chili that was a delicious taste of home. 

Day 324; Dr. Goyle; On this day i was scheduled to take some lung tests at Mercy hospital in Iowa. On my way to the lung treatment center i came across this doctor. I asked to take his photo, his name was Dr Goyle. He was so friendly and set his lunch down on the ground. He asked if he should set his coat down and i told him no and that he looked just fine. I tip my hat to doctors and nurses during this critical juncture of life that we are beginning to endure. Over the next handful of weeks the CDC expects the united states to average 2,000 deaths a day and hospitals nationwide to be full and deal with a nightmare scenario of not giving everyone care. People could be dying in droves while medical professionals are overwhelmed on top of overwhelmed on top of overwhelmed. I thank you and i sympathize with you. 

Day 323; Triumph; On a day i felt good i got up and trekked out to climb a steep ass hill nearby our house. It was tough and difficult but i did it and i was proud because it was the most activity id done in over a month. This was a photo of the trail on my way out after coming down the hill. 

Day 322; Prescriptions; After visiting my doctor again, she prescribes an anti depressant and a sleep aid. Wish me luck. 

Day 321; No Trash In America; I go on a walk and made a double exposure of an American flag and a no trash sign. Lets make America less trashy? Can we? 

Day 320; Stuck To Yous;

You ever have a dream so real you wonder what it makes you feel? Hold it close until it fades away. Look up in the sky at night, all those stars they look so bright, It’s beautiful but then they go away. Ever want something so bad? It made you happy It made you mad Then you gave up, thats real bad okay? - Brian Jonestown Massacre

Day 319; Squealing Beaver; About a month ago I  entered into a contest on Instagram to win some merchandise from a rub company called Squealing Beaver. I was shocked when i was told i won. I was even more shocked by the amount of high quality things they sent including this knife and cutting board and spice blend. I plan on taking all sorts of photos for the company in return of their generosity. 

Day 318; 'Is this thing straight?' On this day I  went over to Alex's dads house to help him set up a basketball hoop after the original was destroyed in the August Derecho. Alex also left for the weekend to Missouri. 

Day 317; Dude's Wrapping; Dude helps Alex wrap some gifts before heading out to Missouri to visit her mother to celebrate her moms birthday. I am not able to go due to not feeling anywhere near 100 percent. I will miss out on some great times unfortunately. 

Day 316; Dream Catchers; Depression and staying inside is certainly taking its toll. Everyday seems to be about the same. Fighting off feeling sick and lying around the house. This was a view from our bedroom. 

Day 315; Closed off; I went to a cafe nearby us called 'Mr Bean' for the first time. Since moving here in April Alex and i agreed we need to go to Mr Bean since it is right by our house. Sadly with the pandemic we haven't been able to go. I went in and got a cup of coffee but a lot of the chairs were stacked and the lobby closed off in hopes of dashing covid infection. 

Day 314; PCP; Seeing a needle going into my arm and the title is PCP doesn't mean that this image represents angel dust (PCP). Instead it means Primary Care Physician! I have one now! Here is a nurse named Melissa taking my blood in hopes of finding some answers to my lingering symptoms since August. 

Day 313; One Last Swing; On a Sunday morning we woke up and I felt good enough to try and golf. Alex and I joined her brother and his friend and golfed on a gorgeous afternoon. The course was clearly expecting to be done for the season, telling by markers being taken down and not enough golf carts available.  Seeing as the forecast called for beautiful weather they opened up and we took advantage. 

Day 312; Biden Wins; 5 days after the initial night of the presidential elections, news media began to announce that Joe Biden had beaten Donald Trump. Due to the pandemic a large amount of mail in votes were counted late and has spurned speculation that the election was rigged in Bidens favor. Trump has said he will file charges and ensure multiple states to recount. Nonetheless, on this day, this is what the majority of Americans saw on their phones.  

Day 311; Dudes Tail; After feeling ill from possibly over exerting myself the previous day in the creek, i stayed glued to the couch. In the late afternoon i stood up and saw Dudes laying on the cat tower, tail basking in sunlight. On this day i got my health insurance squared away and finally set up a primary car provider that can hopefully help me figure out some things with my health. 

Day 310; 2020 Rock; On this day I was finally feeling good enough to trek for a photo adventure. I put on my waiters and took photos in Indian Creek. I found this rock with grass and a plant growing off it. When i showed Alex she told me that the rock is like 2020. I thought that was a good point. Things are Rocky but we are all finding growth one way or another. Side Note: On my way home i felt an incredible wave of fatigue and tightness in my chest. It was a setback for sure and the uphill climb is on again in defeating lingering symptoms. 

Day 309; Grooming Sheep; On this day i went to the pet store to shop some cat food for our lazy ass cats.  When i saw the word "Grooming" on the side of the building i thought it was strange because earlier this day i read a conspiracy article about the government 'Grooming' the citizens of the United States, making us wear masks and shut down businesses. For my two cents i just think we are trying the best we can to curb a virus. This makes me considered by the conspiracy believers as a 'sheep'. 

Day 308; Election Day; Photographed here is the only woman at the voting center in Marion Iowa. I showed up at 230 to photograph people in and around the area voting but the folks helping didnt like that idea. I proceeded to drive to Cedar Rapids where there wasn't any activity going on in the city. With covid there werent many long voting lines and there was a lot of early voting. I expected to see a lot of red white and blue on this day but saw mainly empty streets and masks. 

Day 307; Hyvee Sunset; I took this picture leaving the grocery store Hyvee. Witht he election coming tomorrow Alex and I figured it would be best to stock up on a few things incase shit really does get wild in the next couple days. I had to choose between this photo and a pile of oranges for picture of the day. 

Day 306; Sunday Fog; My friend Brooke has spoken to me about doing more self portraits, primarily showing the emotion and struggle that has been in the last couple months. Here i sit on my bed with my cat dude looking out into the late day sun. I've spent a lot of time in bed and just resting. Its gotten old, its been dreadful and i am so excited to move on. 

day 305; Hey there Michael!; A Michael Myers impersonator stands in front of their house handing out candy on Halloween. As I walked by i yelled "Michael! MICHAEL!!!" With no reaction. Pure and true to Michael Myers form. 

Day 304; This is the same set of trees and trail that was seen earlier on this project (Day 122) before the derecho hit. The windstrom ravished the entire city and surrounding area and on this day i went to survey this small plot of trees that is known to have owl habitats. This project has always been envisioned to be published as a book. To flip between day 122 and day 304 and see the difference while holding it in your hands is exciting. 

Day 303; Election Fear; I take a gander at a newspaper while leaving the grocery store. Certainly there are fears over the election results that will be determined just a few days from now. While many insist violence will ensue, i tend to believe the concerns are a bit overblown and compare the situation to Y2K where everyone hyped up a situation only for life to carry on. This is a pandemic and the strangest year of our lives so i may be completely wrong. 

Day 302; The Birds; I had a spot in mind i wanted to go photograph today but I put the brakes on that idea immediately when a field full of black birds caught my eye. I mean we are talking thousands of birds. I flipped a bitch on the highway and headed toward some unknown road looking for the flock. I watched in awe as they were now airborne, looking like speckled Oreo ice cream against the white clouds. I chased these birds for so long without a single idea of where i was or where i was going. After sunset, defeated and ready to head home, i watched as thousands upon thousands came over a hill for a good 5 minutes. I looked west and shot this image of them passing by radio towers. Easily the most birds ive ever seen in my life. 

Day 301; Cookbook; The inspiration may have helped come from 30 Hop (Day 293) after they hired me to be their food photographer. Seeing as i cook almost daily and love handwriting recipes down i thought it would be perfect to write out recipes, notes and photograph my food, paving the way for a Rocky Mock cook book.  This Recipe is called "Youtube Inspired Chinese food."  Also i learned the importance of cutting meat against the grain on this night. 

Day 300; Snow dusts the area as temperatures remain in the 30s. On this day i took a walk and it was grueling but i am determined to feel better damnit. It was on this day where i feel im beginning to turn a corner mentally and physically.  Time will tell as relapses have been common in this fight against symptoms but i sense things are getting better. Head up. 

299; 5 things on 5 years; Today marks 5 years Alex and i have spent together. Included from the antique store i shopped at (Day 297) Is a card, two old united airlines bar and food dollars (since we travel together), a Postcard of the royal gorge canyon, a rubiks cube and an old 1930s medical book on how to fend off common diseases. They are fun Knick knacks for a wonderful woman. I also got her a plant. Main point being is they are small fun gifts to celebrate 5 wonderful years of life together. I love you Alex. 

Day 298; 1952 Nickel; On this day Alex got me quite the nifty change jar. Its a clear plastic jar with a change counter for the lid, counting every coin you insert so you know how much money you have in change. I accumulated over 110 dollars while inserting coins. When i came across this nickel i stopped and sat in thought after examining it. I thought about it and was quite amazed by how old the coin is. How many pockets had it been in? Where had it been? Was it simply in someones change jar for over 40 years and barely circulated? Or did this coin have more mileage than a 90's Subaru? 

Day 297; Antiques; Here in this section of Iowa there is a large Czech community and a section of town known as Czech village. In a few days Alex and i will have been together for 5 years, so i went down to my favorite antique store in the Czech village to find some random and interesting goodies. Heres a photo of the store front window before entering. 

Day 296; Fall In Iowa; The fog was so thick and dense on this day it made me hang my head.  Don't get me wrong, Its my favorite kind of weather, something i drool over photographing because i love it so much. I hung my head because i feel like shit and dont want to leave the house or exert any energy. Well! suck it up i said. I hauled my ass out into the foggy environment that was surprisingly not cold at all. For the most part of the day i got beautiful minimalism style black and white photos. For this project though, i elected to go with some fall color in Iowa. 

Day 295; Rainy Nights; For a second night in a row the evenings are filled with light cold rain showers. This is an image looking out the office window. 

Day 294; Virtual Presley; Presley jumped up on my lap as i uploaded and sorted through photographs. She calmly watched my cursor on the computer zip around the screen. I decided to give her something entertaining to watch and pulled up birds on youtube. This moment caught Presley as she gently pressed her paw to the screen. I felt bad, as it was not an exciting 'im gonna get you' type of reaction from my cat. Instead it seemed like a desperate reach for communication. Sorry pal. 

Day 293; Culinary Picture Taker; On this Monday i went to 30 Hop to photograph an assortment of dishes featured on the restaurants menu. The shoot was my first time doing food photography and i had a blast. It was nice, yet strange, being out of the house and conversating with people. I was worn out by the end of the day but proud. 

Day 292; Sunday Football; Noah's youth football games that we attend are typically on a Saturday. This week it was moved to Sunday and a lot of Alex's family attended. Pictured here is Noah's teammate scoring a touchdown, i always joke this kid would be on my youth fantasy football team cause hes a stud. The Xavier Saints, the team Noah plays for, won the game 14-0. Later that day we went to Alex's dads house and watched the buccaneers destroy the packers. Sunday funday i tell ya  

Day 291; Warm Hearts; I get out of the house and photograph engagement photos for some friends of ours. Alex joined and early on in the shoot she said "silhouette!!!" I turned and looked and told her a great idea! We set up this fun shot of the sun right between the two of them. If it wasn't for Alex this shot would not have been possible, shes an amazing assistant. 

Day 290; Ambulance; I sit in the jeep as Alex goes into a restaurant to pick up some food for us. I photographed this ambulance driving by. I made myself sick by drinking wine the night before. I have to watch every little thing i eat, drink and do. My body is tired, stressed and confused. As i watched an ambulance race by, my fogged up brain fueled anxiety by wondering if sometime soon i'll be in one of those. 

Day 289; Flu Shot; While Nervous  about it, i went and got a flu shot. You see, i have been experiencing symptoms as a covid long hauler...My immune system is shot and i have been sick for two months now. After a lot of research and information i found it was best to go forth and get the flu shot to help my immune system and myself. When i arrived the woman who issued the shot said thank you for letting the moment be a picture of the day. "I hope its a good one!" She exclaimed. 

Day 288; Early Voting; On this Wednesday i take a trek to the mall to go vote. I stood in line with a large number of older folks, looking to cast a vote during a pandemic no less.   

Day 287; The Derecho Leaves; The Derecho was a natural disaster here in Iowa. While not really anyone knows what it was, Iowans know. It was the most destructive storm in the states history. These leaves survived that storm. They have hung on for the entirety of the season, ultimately succumbing to weather. So now while they change color, you also see their scars. 

Day 286; The Tree Over There; I asked Alex to drive me to a tree i saw in a nearby field. She parked in a cemetery as i got out and trekked closer and closer and closer to this tree. While i shouldn't push myself and especially have to be careful of ticks in the tall grass, i kept going. I was thrilled to see with heavy breathing, that this tree had 3 legs. I took its image and listened to the slow and gentle breeze brush against the corn fields that enveloped me. I then took my time walking back and appreciating i was alive enough to do this.  

Day 285; Daks Ankle; On this Sunday literally all i did was watch football. When Dak prescott got injured obviously i tuned in knowing the severity. It was so ironic because Alex Smith, the QB for the Washington Football Team who suffered a life altering leg injury, made his debut on this day after nearly dying months earlier. Now Dak suffered an awful ankle injury and was shown being carted off, showing emotion, 2020 style.  

Day 284; Strange Television; On this Saturday Alex and Noah and myself go out to a pumpkin patch on the outskirts of town. My favorite part was a haunted barn, featuring rooms of random props and scare tactics. My favorite of all the rooms was this room featuring a television. It reminded me of a Deadboy and the Elephantman song.   

"You know the strange television you watch
The one that you never plug in
Lady with the locust heart her fire lion
Sleeping in a black hole you know " 

Day 283; The Freeze Sundae; Pictured here is Alex digging into some ice cream she got from the Freeze, a local ice cream place located blocks from our house. While i am not one for Ice cream consumption, things have changed since getting sick. I am now always triggered by ice cream and am amazed at the beautiful flavors of sugar packed shit. 

Day 282; Marks Flippin Film; I got some film back from late 2019 and i was so happy to find this....My godfather Mark, photographed on Fuji Velvia 50, from our time spent on top of the bluff my dads ashes are spread. Marks reaction on this shot remind me of how i feel about the negative aspects of 2020. 

Day 281; Lovely Lady; I wasn't much for moving around much on this day. I grabbed a macro lens and thought about photographing spider webs when i saw this lady in the distance. I got on her level, photographed her backside, then watched her spread wings and take off. 

Day 280; During my first full day home I feel the repercussions of traveling while dealing with long hauler covid symptoms. My lungs feel full of fluid and my fatigue is 10\10. On this Tuesday Alex had an order delivered to the house that featured Vicks medicine you put in your shower that helped your chest symptoms. On this day i steamed the bathroom as much as i could and saw an opportunity to take a photo.  

Day 278; Mt. Garfield; My sister and her man Russ came and met up with us in Grand Junction on this Sunday. We drove the monument and went to a distillery and checked out the sights. On our way to hotel i took this photo out the window of the truck. Susan told me about the flag pole at the top of this mountain and i am still astounded someone can climb such a thing and place a flag at the top. This was at the sunset of the day and i was so happy to be with my family. 

Day 277; Cera and Zach Get Married; When I started this project this was one of the days circled and there wasn't a lot of circles. I was so happy to be there and so happy to meet Zach. I was so happy to see you again and so happy to have brought Alex. I was so happy to see you so happy and i was so happy to shed tears with you. I love you so much. Its strange, life, it really is strange. Best friends sometimes is a loose term these days but with you and I, its a pretty compact piece of literature. Best Friends. I love you and was so happy to be there on your big day. A century wide pandemic tried to stop me but i wouldn't miss it for the world. 

Day 276; Susans House; Pictured here is my friend Susan. Her cat Sid is on her lap while he continuously looks into her eyes. Sue and her husband Kurt were generous enough to let us stay in their house over the weekend in Colorado for Sue's daughters' wedding. Thank you thank you thank you for your hospitality and loving energy.  Also your pets are awesome. 

Day 275; Escape Route; With our bags packed and nearing the beginning of a trip back to Colorado for my friend Cera's wedding, you can say the cats could sense it. Pictured here is Alex trying to pet Presley from the railing above the stairs. This picture was shot on my Olympus XA (Day 246) film camera.  Shots from film are beginning to sprinkle in throughout the project.   

Day 274; Walking Amongst The Buried; I walked into a beautiful cemetary located blocks from our house. I've been sick lately and the walk itself was an ass kicker when on an ordinary day it would be a simple stroll in the park. sadly things have no been ordinary at all. This tree knows how that goes. This tree was affected by the Derecho last month and has been permanently restructured because of it. We'll grow out of this though? Won't we?

Day 273; National Coffee Day; I found out it was national coffee day and while dealing with ongoing covid symptoms i decided todays a perfect day to stay inside and photograph my favorite beverage. Coffee. Fun Fact: This was photographed in my cat dad mug. 

Day 272; Harvest Time; Its that harvest time. The seasons change pretty dramatically here. You can just sense it in the air and see in the grounds and sky so much more than i remember in Colorado. 

Day 271; Sunday Rain; While i sit back and watch football the rains come in, sparking a change of seasons. This colorful photo was the best rendition of summer i could find. Goodbye summer. 

Day 270; Wavy Whiskers; Dude poses in the noon day sun next to me on the couch. I admire his pressed whiskers here. 

267; Back page; On this day i went in for one final check up and was told best of luck. I have longstanding symptoms of covid and theres nothing to do but rest and rest and rest. Its pretty disappointing, stressful and scary. On my way home i photographed this while walking. A page pf a newspaper with a rocket going off, featured on the back page. Im now very familiar with the  story of the Hong Kong Flu, a pandemic that began spreading in 1967. The summer of love. It killed millions worldwide, it was respitory, it was spread by through droplets and was highly contagious. Sound familiar? Back then then according to the new york post any mention of it never made the front page on their papers and likely hardly any. Why? Because there was moon landings, civil rights, woodstock and so much more going on that was the turn of event of the times. Now? Its completely reversed and a rocket going to space is back page news and nothing exciting anymore.  Pretty stunning. 

Day 266; Pulp Non Fiction; Darin, our manager at 30 Hop gets some pretty frickin cool beers in. Pictured here is a beer called pulp non fiction. The logo features a replicated rendition of the movie pulp fiction, just in beer form. Pretty awesome. On this day i was hired to do food and drink photography for the business. 

Day 265; Roadside; A quick look out the road reveals a true Iowa image in farmland. This image might not stand as Alex and i went to a brewery and i photographed there on film. Waiting for the film to come back. 

Day 264; Projected; I bust out the projector and put a playback on the computer making cool lighting scenarios and self portraits. This is what i look like. 

Day 263; First Game Of The Year; I attend Alex's little brothers' first game of the year on this day. He is in little league and without much practice time due to covid the team had their share of struggles. They got whopped on this day by double digits but Noah, an Offensive Lineman, held his own against the tallest kid on the opposing team. I was obsessed with the silhouettes provided to me on this day. 

Day 262; Welcomed Back; Day 222 was the last day i worked. 40 days! Pictured here is Amanda, who helped get me the job at 30 hop. I am so happy to be back and working once again and feeling better. 

Day 261; Goodbye Photo Pro; In a sad situation i go to drop off some film for the last time at this location. A new landlord has gotten a hold of this business and is forcing them out after 30 years. Pictured here is Deb, where she would normally hand people their pictures at the drive thru to their convenience. I was so sad to see a photography store close, certainly one with so many roots. It has inspired thoughts to maybe someday start my own photography store. 

Day 260; What the Fuck are you?; Dude stares out the window at a squirrel. To my knowledge he has never seen a squirrel before and certainly not to this extent. Our bird feed was left out and this squirrel got in the bag and scared Alex half to death when she went to move the bag not knowing he was inside and ran out. Hes come back for more and was pictured here inspecting our pots for seeds. 

Day 259; Doxycycline; Pictured here is a dosage of the anti biotic doxycycline. This wrapped up the 3rd trip ive been to the doctors in a month. There hasn't been much help in trying to tame the symptoms i have endured while dealing with everything after covid-19. Hopefully this will help. 

Day 258; Waiting Room; I go back to the doctors for a third time in as many weeks as my chest pains continue to thrive. The goal was to get a blood test and finally treat whatever the hell still has me sick. While waiting i took images in the waiting room including this self shot image in the mirror. I was worried the doctor would come in and just awkwardly ask what i was doing. I got a blood test and now must wait for results. On a side note he doctor also thinks i could possibly have lyme disease. Great. 

Day 257; Komorebi; It was Sunday football for the first time since the Super Bowl. Tom Brady finally trotted out as a Buccaneer and it was so awesome having it all back again. Instead of photos of football i decided to walk around the park some more and photograph sunset. I got this image and later that night my friend Brooke, who writes poetry, told me about the word 'Komorebi' which is Japanese. It translates to light seeping through the trees and leaves. I thought to myself 'hey i have an image for you!' She used the image in portrayal of a poem she had written and posted on social media. 

Day 256; No Regrets; With both Alex and I starting to feel better we invite Alex's little brother over for a stay over. We went and got ice cream and typically not one for snacks i decided to go all out. I asked for the biggest cone loaded with sprinkles and peanut brittle. It was the biggest ice cream i've ever had and it was fucking delicious. Alex over heard one of the workers say "oh someone must be happy!"

Day 255; Mutt Cutts; For the first time in a month i got out of the house and had social interaction with someone. I went and got a haircut. While waiting i looked over and saw this dog staring at me from the barbers chair. "His name is OG" said one of the barbers who noticed me smiling at him. I asked to take his picture and i got it. It was weird too because its September 11th. Shout out to the first responders and families who lost anyone that day. 9\11 is my favorite body of photographic work from one day or event. I had envisioned i would take a photo of something related to that. Instead, heres to you OG. 

Day 254; Swinging Tree; On this day i walked around a park nearby our house for nearly two hours photographing nothing but snapped and uprooted trees. It had been one month ago to the day (Day 223) since the derecho tore apart the entire town. Now inside your standard park with swingsets and slides and park benches and sand boxes was a scene tarnished with massacred mother nature. Trees large and small thrown and tossed everywhere still yet to be cleaned up. Pictured here is a swing set that was literally swallowed up by a fallen tree.  

Day 253; Found The Web; the rains continue to douse the area and on this day i decided my best bet would be to find something cool to photograph covered in rain drops. My first instinct was a spider web. I looked low and high along a beautiful little trail, taking pictures of storm damage and moody weather along the way but damnit i wanted a web. Finally i found one. Without much water on it and missing a spider. Instead there was a big bundle of spun web as if to say the spider said "fuck this see you next year." I got the web at least. 

Day 252; Cemetary Trash; 

In what could be one of the most important images in this entire project, i show you cemetery trash. Alex and i drove to small nearby town where she had relatives buried at a cemetery. I listened closely, standing beside her as she knelt by her great grandmas gravestone and explained some family history. It was a cold and wet day making the scene moody. I looked over and saw a trash can full of fake roses that had once been draped over a grave stone. I knew id want to photograph it and after a while i approached the can to find American flags and hay inside the can as well. The day before i watched a movie on a family torn apart due to wildfires in the 60s while wildfires raged in Colorado in present day. It was raining here and snow was coming the next day in Colorado. Politics dominate the news headlines, im still sick and out of work and everything nice including this country seems to be in a pile of trash among gravestones and the dark dark skies. This image more than likely will be the cover photo for this project. 

Day 251; Road Side Tree's; Equipped with a camera, a wildly colored button shirt with cats all over it, a red Budweiser hat and a Subaru wagon pulled to the side of the road, it was no wonder why farmers in large diesel powered trucks passing why stared. I was in farmland and i meant to make the incredible sky the star of the show. I got it a cameo, instead this small plot of trees caught my eye for the star role.  As for the farmers, they probably don't care as much about a picture of the trees. Or care for my shirt. They waved nonetheless. 

Day 250; Night Surge; When Alex informed me that there would be late night storms i couldnt get any sleep. The radar was ugly and lightning was a certainty. I woke up multiple times only to wait out long stretches of time where there wasnt any ground lightning. Finally around 6 am I set the camera up and Dude joined me at my feet. He watched with curiosity as flashes banged out again and again. I knelt down to pet him and just as i did this strike hammered home in a ravish display. It was so ferociously bright when i closed my eyes i could still see it displayed, flashing like when you stare at the sun a second too long. Dude was now more than intrigued and i dedicate this photo to that cat and that memory.

Day 249; Iowa Sunset; Alex and i drive around beautiful farm land as the sun set. A gorgeous orange display on a beautiful evening. 

Day 248; Broken Down; On my way to Walgreens i was shocked to see this van smashed in somebodies yard from the Derecho storm a month ago. It made me wonder just how much damage ive missed while recovering. 

Day 247; Snuggled up; Dude and Presley enjoy a nap together on this Thursday afternoon.

Day 246; The Olympus XA; This gem arrived in the mail thanks to my friend Cody, who was hosting an estate sale and got me a deal on this camera. This little film camera is a street photographers dream. Created in 1979 it was a marvel for its small size and amazingly sharp and precise lens. To this day its a cult favorite. Next year i plan on doing almost strictly film photography and this will be a front running camera in my rotation.

Day 245; Game 7; In the wildest basketball series id ever seen in my life, the Nuggets wrapped up the game with a win off a crazy finish. Pictured here is a shot of Alex watching the Tv with seconds remaining in a win or go home game between my Denver Nuggets and their rival the Utah Jazz. The nuggets had the ball up two and the nuggets forced a turnover against the jazz, ensuring victory. They could of run the clock out but instead dribbled it down court and blew a layup! The Jazz got the ball and with a second left Mike Conley hoisted a 3 pointer in attempt to beat us. I held my breath and amazingly the ball rimmed in and out. Nuggets win. My friend Mike, who lives in Colorado, texted me and said if the ball had gone in he would of heard me screaming from in Iowa. Jamal Murray, who had 3 straight games scoring 50, 42, 50 became the only person other than Michael Jordan to put up such numbers in a playoff series. Murray and the jazz's Donovan Mitchell combined for the most points in a head to head playoff series ever. I kept telling Alex "we live for game 7s!"

Day 244; Grape Idea!; While still battling something in my chest the ongoing symptoms and feeling sick is getting very old and tiring. Here is a bowl of grapes to snack on before bed as Alex gears up an episode of the show 'Shark Tank' for the projector. 

Day 243; Projecting Visuals; Alex has been so excited to receive a projector so we can watch movies and tv in our room by projecting it onto our wall in front of the bed. The first thing we put on was our favorite cooking show called Chopped. She was excited as the show began and the beginning of the projector era began. I liked this image of her making shadows and seemingly making a perfect dumpling here. 

Day 242; Stone City Prayer; A church is photographed in Stone City, Iowa, while on an afternoon drive. 

Day 241; Plain Stain; A patch of yellow plops along green crops and below dramatic skies on this Friday. Alex and i drove by her Grandpas old farm as storms circulated around us. 

Day 240; Open Seating; I get out of the house for the first time in 16 days. I visited some spots with obvious destruction and found this apartment complex with the roof ripped off. I was interested to find that the recliner and the television were still placed perfectly in the living room. 

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Day 239; Sequence of things; Over the last week Alex and i have been playing 7 day tournaments of this gem of a board game, Sequence. Dude joined since he was bored. 

Day 238; Exercising the succulents; In an act of desperation i realize there has been no pictures on this day yet. I grab the succulents and once again, the setting light.  

Day 237; Reaching for Light; The Coronavirus sucks to deal with in so many ways. If you actually get infected though it takes it to the top of the list of why it sucks. I can't shake fatigue or the burn in my chest. Reaching for light and better days. 

Day 236; In The Mirror; I take a self portrait in the mirror while the sunsets.  Shout out to Alex's cousin for helping me obtain this awesome Bud hat. 

235; To the Heavens; With the need to stay in lately due to the Rona, its been nice having our back porch to provide clouds and beauty on back to back nights. Tonight i photographed this beautiful sunset that looked more like a projector than a sunset. 

Day 234; Over the Moon; I take a photo of a jet going over the moon on this night. Just as i thought i was getting over the corona virus it strikes back with a vengeance on this day. I lay on the couch all day not being able to do anything with out it hurting or making me nauseous. I worried if the lasting effects of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome would set in and id forever be stuck feeling this way. The hypochondriac in me is a fatal marriage with covid. Regardless i sought symbolism in this image, a form of inspiration. Id like to say im over the moon to be alive right now. Just facing a natural disaster and now fighting the rona. Im young, im healthy, i got a good woman by my side and i got  good life im living. Im lucky, regardless of what it may seem lately. We got our lives, our power and our futures. 

Day 233; Powers Back; Pictured here is a light bulb, glowing radiantly in its artificial glory. After 10 slow and long days of a power outage, a little after 7pm the lights came back on. Alex and I ate in a kitchen with lights on, charged phones using wall outlets and basked in the splendor of circulated air. Never again will i view electricity and all its aiding benefits in the same light. No pun intended. 

Day 232; Flick of a Switch; Today marks Day 9 with no power. According to KIMT3 news in Iowa over 240,000 Iowans went over a week with no power. Two days ago, on Sunday, a large portion of Cedar Rapids and Iowa City was restored with power but there are still a handful of folks without it, including our little town, Marion Iowa, which was hit particularly hard by the storm. Indications say that today, Tuesday, will be the day power is finally restored. Although they said the same thing yesterday. In addition to all the power outages, a sickening 10 million acres of crop land were destroyed. 

Day 231; The Loco Crew; It is now Monday, an entire week has passed without power and now we are on day 8 without it. The day of the storm a crew of Hispanic roofers were assigned to work on our entire neighborhood. When the storm hit the group of 15 or so huddled into trucks and waited for the storm to pass. When it did pass i walked into the backyard and our neighbor screamed "WHEW! WHAT A RIDE!" As he looked at downed trees and debris every direction.  The damage was shocking and it was apparent how bad and dangerous this storm was. The roofers paid no mind to that and with the rain still pouring jumped back onto the roof and began to work again. That same neighbor yelled to them "YOU GUYS ARE LOCO!" This image is of 4 crew members across the street waiting as shingles are delivered to the roof. 

Day 230; Thriller from the Toilet; On this day the NBA playoffs started for my favorite basketball team the Denver Nuggets. We host the Utah Jazz in game 1. Here i watched from the toilet in the spare bathroom, set on the litter box and propped by a candle for light. I thought i was capturing the game winner here. Instead the game went to overtime and the nuggets won in the extra frame. I watched the overtime from the mattress. 

Day 229; TIMBER!!!; Every morning for the last week we wake up to either the sounds of sirens or chainsaws. On this Sunday it was the latter of the two, as our neighbors in the back yard worked hard to disassemble and cut down the large tree in their yard that was destroyed in the storm. I watched downstairs and was wondering what would happen when it came time to cut down the last remaining piece of the tree that was standing. I watched them attach a rope to the branch and a crowd of folks worked together to pull the tree away from the house, as someone cut the branch at its base. I ran upstairs to our back deck and photographed the process from above. The tree successfully fell away from the house and the entire crew joyfully cheered. 

Day 228; Light Source; A view of our stove top on day 6 of no power features a lamp and its oils, lanterns, a fan, lighters, matches, knives and candles. We've been cooking everything on the propane grill outside and we were fortunate to get a generator from Alex's family so we can run a fan and the refrigerator. I've succumbed to symptoms of corona virus and can only but self guarantee i have the virus now too. Fighting off the virus in a pandemic with no power for now 6 days is a story to tell. We are doing the very best we can. 

Day 227; Eye of the Rona; Its been 5 days without power. Alex and i moved our mattress from the rising heat upstairs to the more manageable confines below. We sleep with the sliding door open to the screen door and lie around waiting for the sun to set. Alex was laying on the mattress with the 4 o clock sun bathing her face, i got the idea to take this upclose picture of her eye. When i showed her she said "eye of the rona!"

Day 226; Confirmation; Alex's symptoms were not a fluke. She received an email informing her that her test results for covid-19, the disease brought on by corona virus, was positive. She wrote out this sign to tape on our front door. Shortly after i told her i was going to drive around and photograph more storm damage. I insisted on staying in my car and that i wouldn't come into contact with anyone. Alex knew the impact and importance of what photographing this storm meant to me, she also knew the risks of infecting others even if you plan to stay in your car. There was always a 'what if' chance of infecting another person on accident. As much as i hated doing it, i was now going to be inside this house for quite a while going forward, without electricity and without the chance to photograph this historic storm. 

Day 225; Roads Closed; On day 3 without power thanks to an almighty Derecho that ripped through, I continue to be shocked and blown away by the amount of damage surrounding us. Power is decimated in every direction and the news said 600,000 Iowans and over 2 million mid westerners are left without power due to the massive storm. Every road in Marion seems closed and im thankful to have a bicycle. Here is a picture of power lines, a power pole and a stop sign are all ripped down and mangled across a cross walk. I tried to facetime with my friend Nick to show the damage but even the service wouldn’t hold up. We have Zero power, zero service and zero coverage on this massive natural disaster during a pandemic. Kind of a funny side note with all the roads closed, people drove over sidewalks and other peoples yards just to get around downed power lines and trees.

Day 224; Fire Response; On night two of no power i sat on the back porch drinking beer and marveling at the night sky with zero light pollution since an entire 200 mile stretch had no electricity. Sirens were a common sound ever since the storm bore down. I noticed though that numerous fire trucks were going to one nearby location so i hopped on my bike and followed. I had to dodge trees and debris and the fire trucks lights were the only light in sight. The crew was responding to a house fire and someone was trapped inside. It was wild watching fire fighters have to crawl over and around dead trees that had been put there by the Derecho. 

Day 223; The Derecho; This day single handedly was the craziest day of my life. Alex woke me up in the morning telling me she had no taste and no smell, classic symptoms of the corona virus. She cancelled her vacation to Washington and set an appointment to get tested. I woke up and saw we had a storm coming in at noon and my phone warned me of a “dangerous thunderstorm.” I was visiting with Alex when we heard tornado sirens and a look at the radar showed a nasty cloud approaching. We collected some things on the back porch and lackadaisically prepared, not knowing the severity of the storm approaching. The storm that was coming had began to form in South Dakota and was rapidly making its way across the country. When it reached Iowa, primarily the Cedar Rapids area, it reached its peak and record straight line wind speeds were set at over 140 miles per hour. The storm was what is called a Derecho, which is a straight line of high winds that are super destructive. Lots of folks said a tornado would have been less dangerous as it would have been smaller in area and been over quickly. Never having seen a tornado or any storm like it I watched with a mix of intrigue and fear. The storm lasted for over 40 minutes with winds going up and down of 90 to 140 miles per hour and devastating everything around us. Alex and I stayed near our closet underneath the stairs anticipating either the sliding glass door to break or the roof to lift off. After the storm ended I went out on my bicycle and surveyed damage of an experience that left me shocked and not being able to fathom what happened. The smell of wood, rain and soil was so strong and upfront. Everything was damaged and destroyed. I nicknamed the storm ‘The Massacre of the Trees’ due to seemingly every tree being uprooted or snapped like a twig. With Alex being sick I scrambled to prepare items knowing we’d be out of power for quite a while. On my way home I was appalled to see a tire shop I drove by everyday torn to shambles. There were two vehicles still hoisted on lifts, showing that they were being worked on when the storm came in. I walked around photographing in awe when I heard someone sifting through the damage. You can see him photographed here, sorting through debris and looking around. I had no idea what to say and all I could say when he saw me was “…Holy shit…” he replied with a shaking, hollowed voice saturated in broken tears. “Yeah….yeah its pretty sad.” It was heartbreaking. He told me that he owned the shop and that he was obviously crushed by the destruction. He also refrained and said that he was happy to be alive and that he had insurance. It was this moment on this day that stuck with me as far as photographs go. Effected by the storm, his whole life tipped upside down and destroyed, you saw the power of the moment and the power of life. Mother Nature at her fiercest. Every person I spoke to said they’d never seen anything like it before in their lives. For the people in Iowa id say less than 5% ever knew what the word “Derecho” meant. Now I guarantee everyone does.

Day 222; Hot Summer Days; Jordyn holds the fan to her face to cool herself as we both work upstairs on a Sunday evening. The August afternoon temperature reached over 90 and I felt like butter melting in a pan. The heat wave was exhaustively annoying, none of us knew what the weather was about to bring the following day.

Day 221; Work Mask; while at work, I realized that I had not taken a picture of anyone and their mask at all really. I asked a few coworkers until I stumbled upon Richie. With a sweet floral mask matching an exotic foliage polo the match had been made. He struck this pose near the end of the bar. Its worth noting we watched a double overtime thriller during this time, between the Denver nuggets and Utah jazz. The nuggets pulled out the win.

Day 220; Indian Creek Stomp; Nearby our home is a small creek called Indian Creek. It’s a small creek surrounded by brush and trees and is a small get away from the city. On this day I trekked through its cold waters and by the end of the trek my sandal was busted and no good.

Day 219; Field of Dreams; On this night Alex bought tickets to a movie being shown at the home of the Kernels baseball stadium in Cedar Rapids. The Kernels are a minor league affiliate of the Minnesota Twins and on this night, they were showing the classic movie Field of Dreams. It was a relatively small crowd on hand and Alex bought tickets for her and me, her brother and her father. The screen was located on the center field scoreboard so everyone could see. I wandered down onto the field by myself after a while, watching from the grass and marveling at what a cool moment it was. I shed a tear and remembered and thought of my father, not just wishing he was there with me this time, instead feeling like he was. Its not heaven, its Iowa. 

Day 218; Dude’s Morning Gaze; I woke up as the sun came to a rise on this morning. I followed Alex into her office as she began work and I began to photograph light patterns that landed on the floors and walls. I desperately tried to get a silhouette of our tiny cat Presley, but she wouldn’t come around for it. Instead I got a dazed and melancholy look of Dude, beginning his morning. Which…for a cat he probably has about 3 mornings in one day.

Day 217; Mikes Sidework; I’d call it official now that my job at 30 hop has been and will be a consistent story line in this project. I spend a lot of time at work therefore there will be images of my days documented there quite frequently. Here is an image of my coworker Mike, rolling silverware as his shift comes to a close.

Day 216; Dumpster Bird; On my day off I wandered the streets and checked out some places id never been to before. I had hell of a time finding metered parking and was surprised yet happy by the still low activity in the city due to the pandemic. A habit I’ve formed ever since I began photographing is to peek into open dumpsters because you never know what interesting thing you might see thrown out. In this case I captured a sprawled out dead Pidgeon. My friend Brooke compared the image to Andre Serrano’s ‘Piss Christ’ photograph.

Day 215; Mask It Up; It was a Sunday night and I had the next day off. I went to the local grocery store and picked up a sixer of beer and a frozen pizza because why not? It was time to get drunk, eat pizza and enjoy looking forward to a day off. The pizza was a Hawaiian style. The beer was Big Grove Boomtown.

Day 214; Sports Is back; I asked my boss Darin to take a break from his phone and show me a reaction to what its like viewing live sports again. His reaction was captured. We were watching an NBA basketball game broadcast from the bubble. 

Day 213; Sports in the dump; On this day i ventured around and got glorious photos of iowa farmland and street photography downtown. It was this photo though, the first one i took of the day, that is the feature of the last photo of the month. I went to the dump to get rid of some stuff in our garage and saw this hoop. This week baseball was bombarded with a handful of positive corona virus tests postponing baseball games and making fans of the sport sure that the season will soon be cancelled. Meanwhile basketball operates and manages players and coaches through a "bubble". Meaning teams and every person is in a bubble where they never go home, go to restaurants never go to a barber. Everything is provided right there which could make basketball the only major sport in America during this pandemic that can survive without being shut down.  So this picture resembles sports above all others right now but all sports are in the dump.

Day 212; The Cicada; On day 192 i took a photo of a cicada killer and its only fitting in the same month i take a photo of its prey. This Cicada somehow got inside in the bar at work and after i clocked out i took a picture of it in my hand before setting it free, where it flew off about 20 feet high and came down and crashed to the ground. 

Day 211; Drone at Home; I get a drone in the mail and after charging up the batteries i decided to test her out in the house. It suggests you use it in the house and get used to the auto controls as it assures it wont crash into anything. This resulted in the cats running for their lives and Presley not seen for many hours. I took it outside where this picture was taken and as Dude hissed from the sliding door at the new machine in his presence. 

Day 210; Hyvee Roses; I go grocery shopping late at night after work and bring Alex home some roses. This was the color of bouquet. 

Day 209; Big-Wrig; I went to a local sports bar here in Marion Iowa called Wrigleyville. Wrigley of course is the famous name of the ballpark that hosts the Chicago Cubs baseball team. On this day i went in and enjoyed too many beers and drunkenly left on my bike. Before ever going in i took this photo through the hallway located on the side of the building that  brings you around to the front of the bar door. I thought it was cool that i captured this trailer of a semi that went by.  I also thought it was cool that this hallway felt like you were walking out of a locker room and onto a baseball field. Later that night the Cubs won a thriller against the reds  8-7. 

Day 208; Warning Roads; After being called off work for inclement weather I went and hung out with family for a bit before headed home. There was no storm, no rain no nothing. On the drive home there was though, an incredible sunset and lightning in the distance. I went off the radar and traveled around in the country and got this shot of a country road before the light completely vanished on this day. 

Day 207; Home in the fields; On a hungover trek home i take pictures out the window at the Iowa landscape. This was a home tucked back and surrounded by corn fields near Dubuque Iowa. 

Day 206; Im on a boat! In honor of Kayla, who passed away one month ago, the family went on a "Booze Cruise" for her birthday. The large boat named 'The American Lady' was a two story boat with a bar downstairs. They served sloppy Joes and it was a beautiful drunken ride im sure she would of approved. This was a shot of the captain navigating on the Mississippi river. 

Day 205; Baseball is back!; Pictured here is my boss Darin, watching opening day baseball from the bar at 30 hop. The defending champion Washington Nationals hosted the New York Yankees and lost 4-1. To have baseball back is so unbelievably exciting and pleasing. Its like a breath of fresh relief in the best of ways. Im skeptical that the season will last long with the possibility of outbreaks among teams, for now though, baseball is back. 

Day 204; Empty Glass; I work the bar at 30 hop and took a picture of a customers empty beer glass after he had paid and left. The sun reflecting off the glass and random lights in the back make it look like sun bubbles coming out of the glass. 

Day 203; Advance; Pictured here is a collection of film that i am taking to a nearby photo lab for processing. Thanks to this project i have shot significanlty less film this entire year, opting to go digital to keep the everyday project going. Nonetheless i still photograph here and there with my film cameras and this marks the first time i will use the lab located about 5 minutes from where we live. 

Day 202; Wicked; On my day off i went to the Czech village to check out some of the sights and to photograph. I ran into this young man who went by the name "Wick" and had Wicked tattooed on his arm. I asked if he wanted a portrait by the train tracks i was standing on and he happily obliged. He gave me a glimpse into his barbaric child hood in the Virgin Island and his upbringing to the US. He was a character for sure. 

Day 201; Working the Top of the Hop; On Sunday i opened the top roofbar for the first time. This image is of the water tower right outside of the business and the landmarker i always look at coming to work.  The picture was taken behind the bar and features our hanging lights.  It was a good night. 

Day 200; Bray the Brave; Pictured here is Alex's nephew Braylen. Last week we had the 64 kids over and this week we treated Braylen to the house. Here he showed me a toy he brought over in which you can make imprints of objects by pressing the object against the soft pins inside it. This is him showing me his face. 

Day 199; Lazy Day; Dude looks back at me as i move just slightly. I was laying on the couch and so was he. A Lazy Friday for the books. 

Day 198; Feeding Time; Pictured here is a fleet of birds, aggressively getting their fix on generic bird seed in our feeder. Watching the birds is comical to me. They wait about a day after the feeder has been stocked before rushing in and just completely feasting on the seed until its out, about a span of two days. This is the cats entertainment. My brother, a fan of birding, was asked to identify these birds. 

Day 197; Extinction; The sun set with a blazing orange that would even impress Jesus. I got out my zoom lens and took a shot of a nearby sinclair station, lining up this dinosaur in the shot. The fiery sky and the dinosaur reminded me of the asteroid that blew them all away, hence the naming of this photo 'extinction'

Day 196; The comeback shot; I ventured out of the house with a sense of purpose after gazing at the radar. It called for rain for the next 6 hours and a massive storm cloud was on the edge of town. I aimlessly drove around looking for an open field before settling here.  The lightning never showed up and now the radar said we wouldnt get rain for another 10 hours and the storm cloud dissipated. Let down and sad i left. On the way out i noticed a lightning bolt and strike in the area i was once positioned so i turned around and raced back to the location. After that I witnessed two beautiful lightning strikes. One as i got out of the car. Moments later this one that i captured. No more after that. After half an hour i packed up put the gear in my car and as i got in my car i saw the bright flash behind me indicating one last strike. A hello a picture and a goodbye if you will.  

Day 195; Monday Shorts; On a second consecutive Monday, Alex and i go to a burger joint called Shorts. The burgers are massive and delicious. Before leaving we stopped at the bar upfront and watched the bartender make a whiskey sour using real egg whites. Pictured here is Alex enjoying that drink. 

Day 194; The 64 Kids; Alex's brother and her little nephew have a sleepover at our house. Instead of letting them play video games on a console they are used to, Alex introduced the boys to the 90s hallmark video game system 'Nintendo 64.' Chris, pictured on the left, at one point said "Its so hard to aim!!!" while getting destroyed in a game of Golden Eye. 

Day 193; Watching the storm come in; I was astonished and pleased watching a weather phenomenon occur like it was on play for me to see. While working on the rooftop i watched with fascination as clouds formed, got really dark and moved in on us silently and without wind within 15 minutes. This was a look at the giant cloud coming in right before it hit us. Once it did the temperature dropped by at least 10 degrees, the wind howled and rain came down in buckets. It was fucking sweet. 

Day 192; Dudes eye view; I lay on the ground and photograph Dude. I enjoy getting different perspectives of the cats that make them look like lions. 

Day 191; The Cicada Killer; On this day i met up with my friends Carl and Nolan and took photos of her for graduation. I met them at her college she recently graduated at and while waiting for them i found the largest bee or hornet id ever seen. It was so large i thought it was the famed 'murder hornet.' Alex's brother  informed me it was a cicada killer, common in the area. Still the talons on its feet and the fact it was as big in diameter as my camera lens will tell you this is a badass in the insect world. Funny sidenote: My friend Scott thinks he looks like this be is rapping and i cant unsee it. 

Day 190; Digital versus Pentax; This is the digital version of a photo i took of Dude and Presley sitting in the window. I also used my Pentax 6x7 film camera and took a few shots. When i publish this years images into a book it will feature both the digital and film photo for the viewer to decide which is best. For now. The digital image will do. 

Day 189; The Golden Rule; I photograph writing on the wall off the Hanna trail that i occasionally bike ride. I met the person who often writes on these walls. They shared their views on the controversial times we live in and why they always write on the walls. They told me they show up on a daily basis to cover up profanity and to write more positive and openly accepting messages. 

Day 188; Will Miss you Kayla; After the service family and friends attended a get together at Kaylas fathers home. This chalk art was drawn on the driveway. I couldnt help but smile at the innocent and sincere message with Kaylas name accidently misspelled. It was evident it was by a youngster and drove the message home so much harder. I met you once Kayla and you were such a firecracker it was awesome. You had more energy than i did and that is so rare that i ever see that especially in a crowd of people. RIP to you. 

187; La Motte; On June 24th Alex's cousin Kayla suddenly passed away. The funeral was held in La Motte, Iowa, where this photo was taken out of the vehicle while driving. Today marked the wake followed by the funeral tomorrow. We got together with family and i was introduced to a small town that had Alex's wonderful families prints all over it. It was truly a wonderful thing to be introduced to but unfortunately during a somber time.  

186; Happy Fourth!; The fourth of July landed on a saturday! The explosive holiday i thought would result in fireworks blasting in front of me. Instead i worked a double at work and took a picture of this wonderful couple I work with. The fireworks blasted behind them as Emily was off work having a drink while her man Rik closed down the bar. Happy Fourth. 

Day 183; In Hot Water; Last night Alexs sister, who i work with at 30 Hop told me to check my phone because Alex was concerned. Nervously i checked and she revealed our smoke alarm went off and she went to check it out and water sprayed out the ceiling funneling out of the smoke alarm. Water poured and poured and Alex, the smartest woman i know, rushed to turn off the water. The landlord said that very move saved the entire downstairs ceiling and avoided a flood. He also told us that it saved us from being stuck in a hotel for a week with our cats. This was the hot water heater in the yard and am so proud of my woman for saving our home. 

Day 182; The Dramatic Sky; A look at the clouds from our street before i head to work. Tonight is the first night i get to bartend on my own at 30 hop. 

Day 181; Red Microwave; I feel guilty. The last couple of days i haven't even thought of touching the camera. In a pinch i needed a photo. I welcome you to our kitchen and the magical futuristic looking red microwave. My mothers gifted cook books are featured along with two different types of pepper shakers and cherry tomatoes. WOW!

Day 180; I realized i hadn't gotten a picture yet. After work i ventured to a nearby store in the neighborhood. 

Day 179; Saturday Night Crew; On a busy night at work we were informed we broke a sales record since we reopened after Covid-19. I wanted to get a picture of some of the crew from that night after work. 

Day 178; Open Seating; The rona is still effecting lives. Pictured here are a couple of bar seats placed two next each other and then spaced apart as part of social distancing. I trained behind the bar and am so excited to be back there. 

Day 177; Dream Date; I take pictures of Alex as she peers out at the sun peaking through the blinds at the restaurant Granite City. It was the first time we really got to go out and eat together as a couple while being here. I got meatloaf of course while Alex ordered the fish and chips. They then promoted all you can eat fish fry friday and we decided we'd be back.

Day 176; The Bird Bath; A feather lays in the water of our birdbath in the yard. The bird feeder is a fan favorite for not only us humans but the cats for sure. 

Day 175; Happy Birthday!; Happy birthday first off to my wonderful sister Lindsey. I love you so much. When i spoke to her I told her picture of the day will be dedicated to her. At the end of my shift this night i sat down and spoke to Mike pictured here. He said it was his birthday. I knew then and there it was a sign and reflection to photograph him. Hes a huge wrestling fan and had one of his championship belts with him. He stood on top of the seat in the booth, slung the belt over his shoulder and slammed a birthday drink. Happy Birthday. 

Day 174; Fast Brewing Storm; I ventured out to photograph a storm that was closing in quick. One moment there was no sign of anything happening. The next there was lightning in the clouds, wind howling and corn crops making noise enough to make me feel uncomfortable. The grass below in this photo was highlighted by a car coming up the road. I was even able to catch a fire fly in green on the lower left. 

Day 173; Fathers day dog; Happy fathers day to all the fathers. I went golfing with a few dads and myself being a cat dad was also invited. We grilled out and i took a picture of this dog with mustard all over me. From Alex to Alyssa to Nick they all said "A hot dog is todays picture?...Not a father?" 

Day 172; Wet Fly; back to back flies!!! A first for this project. After a hard mornings rain i came out to photograph bumble bees and saw this golden fly.  I wasnt even expecting to use this photo until i pulled it up and remembered the fly i photographed yesterday and decided to put them together. 

Day 171; Classy Fly; A fly sits on what i think is a rose outside making this one fancy fly because usually they are on shit. Maybe he could pick up a bee?

Day 170; The Cats Tower; Arriving in the mail today was this beaut. I tore it open and put it together and while doing so the cats scratched the unattached posts and rolled all over the soft velvety coverings. Alex made a good point saying "its weird that even when its not put together they know it is theirs." 

Day 169; Closing time part 2; A look outside the patio after closing time at 30 hop. 

Day 168; Closing time part 1; A look at a booth inside the restaurant 30 hop after close. 

Day 167; Bird Hunting; Dude watches closely as birds flock to our bird feeder. His bird call, sounding more like something out of a horror movie, is his best attempt to lure them into the house. 

Day 166; I stepped out of the barber shop this Sunday afternoon and heard 'Breanna Taylors' name being repeated continuously. I joined a small gathering and photographed this young man leading various chants promoting the Black Lives Matter movement for equality and racial justice. The protests began earlier this month when George Floyd, an African American in handcuffs was pulled out of a police vehicle and an officer of the law placed his knee on Geroges neck for just under 9 minutes. During that span George implied he couldn't breath. Minutes later he died. The protests have spurned a social and ideological change in the way we view race and politics in general. 

Day 165; We have alex's brother Noah visit for a sleep over on this night. We barbequed, played bags and busted out these tiki torches on the back porch. To Alex's delight they kept the skeeters' away. 

Day 164; Terry's Garden; Alex's father Terry has a rose bush that is straight showing up this summer. Heres one of the buds. 

Day 163; Mr Freeze; I got off work early and i suggested to Alex we get some ice cream even though i wasn't going to get any. Mr Freeze is right by our house and reminds me of old times with always large crowds hanging out at this mom and pop ice cream shop this summer.  

Day 162; Iowa nights; While talking to my friend Alyssa she suggested i should take a photo of the stars in Iowa. I realized i hadn't done that to this point. While the stars werent out in abundance they were still there looking down on me. 

Day 161; I venture out to photograph the storm that came in quickly. I was pretty astounded by the sheer mass of rain that ended up coming down and how it hung out for so long. I stood under a tree for a long time before it let up and I snapped this shot. Storms out here last longer and i learned a lesson to prepare much more next time. 

Day 160; Rising Sun-Flower; While watering the plants before sun down i took a good look at this sun flower. The flowers are starting to bloom and come to life as summer really gets ready to unfold. 

Day 159; Old Fashioned; I enjoy a drink after my second day of training.  Was refreshing to have an old fashioned for the first time in all of 2020.  The job is going well and i can only imagine how exciting its going to be with sports going again. 

Day 158; Birthday Lights; Happy Birthday to Alex's brother Tyler who turned 29.  Pictured here are fountain fireworks going off in his driveway as people at the party look on.  Happy Birthday bud. 

Day 157; Training Day; Pictured here are Don and Chloe, the two that trained me at my new job. I now work at a tap house called 30 hop. They have awesome food, a great selection of drinks and a really kick ass staff. Im pretty happy and blessed to be working here. I wanted to take a portrait of these two since they trained me all night and i got to know them. Chloe is an aspiring dance instructor at the age of 18 and Don is a hoop head who loves Kevin Durant. I was thrilled about this aside from the fact he rooted for the warriors in years prior. Looking forward to getting to know more cool people on both sides of the bar. 

Day 156; Cemetery Clouds; On this day I got a job and Alex got a promotion. We celebrated with sushi. Shortly after eating it though I watched the weather and took off after some clouds. These beautiful clouds were over Hanna Park Cemetery. 

Day 155; Late Night Strike;  Around 4 o clock my eyes ripped wide open and stayed that way. Thunder rolled, disrupting sleep and my current heart rate. I rolled out of bed and looked out the window at whipping winds and clouds lighting up. I ran down stairs opened the sliding door to pouring rain and got this quick shot of lightning going over our backyard. I marveled at the storm and absorbed the smell of the rain and peacefully went back to sleep. 

Day 154; River Walk; While on a bike ride on a warm summer night i was in search of picture of the day. I noticed a lot of graffiti displayed in a lot of places and got this shot of a bridge over Indian Creek.  While on this night i focused on spray paint taggings, It was the scene that gave me the idea to consistently pepper this project with the seasons of Iowa in different environments.  On a side note i got on the local news on this night. 

Day 153; Cat Shelf; Dude watches curiously as Alex puts together a book shelf in the living room. Unbelievable this is the first day of June already. 

Day 152; Golfing in Iowa; Alex takes me to a golf course. This was the above view from hole 7.  We were mixed into a group of folks who were in a tournament. We golfed way better than them. (not really. But i pretended we did at the club house by talking loudly like we just beat the course record)

Day 151; I joined a gym recently on day 148 and have been getting back into a routine physically.  Instructional walking has become a thing now. Heres an example in the new gym. 

Day 150; Making A Wish; Alex and I go on a walk to kick start her weekend. We talked casually about life when i pulled this dandelion, then i asked her to blow off the stems of it. Is it stems? Seeds? What the hell do you call those things? Anyways. I hope she made a wish. 

Day 149; Leslie Cacy's 4 year; I dont know how four years have gone by since I last saw you. Im trying to think of what to type here but i guess i'll just say whats on my mind. Four years ago you passed on this day and i remember that was the very moment i knew what a tragedy was. In our world its very common to see tragedy every day, you always read or see about it on the news. The day you died was the day i felt what tragedy is. It was horrible and well...tragic. I never want this to define you. For me its incredible that tragedy doesnt define you. Love does. I know that because talking amongst friends and remembering you just shows how powerful and meaningful of a human being you were. I sure do miss you and i sure wish we could have conversations. I know you would get super into it and give me all kinds of funny looks. You were just an amazing person to share life with and I miss you. Heres a picture of a Jack and coke cause you liked jack and a sunset of you saying hello to us i presume. 

Day 148; I kept the streak going of going out to places and checked out a barber shop named Trims. It is awesome. They have a basketball hoop inside, you get a beer with your haircut and the staff was awesome. Pictured here was my barber Don. I asked him for a picture and he was more than happy to take a picture in this badass barbers chair they had in the display in the window front of the store. Him and that place were awesome and its nice finding a barbershop thats that cool. 

Day 147; Top of the Hop; Alex took to me 30 hop, a tap house nearby our home. it was the first time in over 2 months we had even been out to enjoy a drink in public. It was a taste of nostalgia wrapped in tranquility. Even normal perhaps. 

Day 146; Passing through Missouri; On this day we left Missouri for Iowa. Alex bless her heart pepped me up about the drive since ive been tired of driving so much. She told me of the beauty of the 6 hour drive and what a peculiar drive. First off the road kill: Every 1 minute id see a dead armadillo, turtle, deer, raccoon, possum, skunk, hawk, turkey. Second thing of note was the storms brewing. Tornados were surely forming and a town we left looked as black as asphalt in the rearview mirror. The drive was beautiful though and i snapped this shout out of my car window while crossing some tracks, the only ones we crossed all day. 

Day 145; The Family Tree; I dont know if Alex's mom has name for this tree but i named it the family tree because between parties of peeople stepping in front of the camera, in that very middle spot we took family photos at dusk. The whole scene was so beautiful and unreal. The tree, the short green grass, the tall yellow grass. Yes this is the same tree and scene from two days ago. Spoiler alert: Without bugs. 

Day 144; Drive way show; In Missouri there isn't really any laws against fireworks. On the first full day and night of me being there the family and myself watched a firework show set up in the driveway. I sat down the driveway from the action to capture it all. The show was spectacular and it was so fun to see what unsuspecting set of fireworks you were about to witness. I sat with Alex's nephew whose in middle school.  I felt like i was hanging out with a kid from the sandlot and watching fire works. It was awesome. 

Day 143; First Time Fire Flies; I drove 11 hours up to Missouri to meet Alex and her mom and step dads property. I drove through beautiful greenery and the most road kill i had ever seen in my life. The environment was like a country forest, it was awesome. Up to this point i had never seen a fire fly before in my life and on this night i watched in fascination as green streaks spewed through the air long enough for you to notice.  After many hugs and hellos and a few beers i set up my tripod and photographed these streaky things. 

Day 142; Water Dog; On this morning i got a call telling me my covid-19 results were negative. This was a relief and it was also going to be the last day in Colorado now that i knew it was just a bad cold and not infecting folks with rona. I was able to visit folks i couldn't see including my friend Brooke. I had to see her dog sweet Rory, pictured here not looking so sweet. She loves chasing the water from the hose and this image was my favorite of the day. A far cry from her debut on this project (Day 58)

Day 141; Rustic Setting; In the fields behind moms house i laid in the tall grass and photographed grass, bugs, hills and the sky. It was this rustic setting i waited for though and when the sun slipped down below the fence post i framed tall grass, barbed wire and the sun to finish the scene. The work had been done but my legs itched something fierce from the grass. 

Day 140; Bumble Hands; Pictured here is my sister holding a rather large bumble bee in her hands for a photo. It was dead and we wowed over its size. It was really funny after this photo was taken I picked it up and tossed it into the wind. While we watched it blow away we saw another large bumblebee come swarming around the same exact area where the dead one fell. Lindsey and i both asked "did it come back to life!?"

Day 139; Rona Tested; On this day I expected to go fishing but the worrisome side effects of a cold had me concerned for my mother and friends. I had the sweats and a fever, a frightening sign of Covid.  Any other time its a cold and i would just go fishing, unfortunately media has grasped this virus staining it with fear. I got a nose swab that was extremely uncomfortable. This lady,giving me the test out of my car was so nice though. Standing in the hot sun in this suit and all she let me take her picture from the seat of my car where she applied the test. Now we wait and see. 

Day 138; Lightning over Florence; For the first time this year i got some lightning! It was about 10 o clock at night and i was feeling the peak of being sick. I was meant to go fishing with my godfather early in the morning and i kept telling myself to sleep. Instead the flashing light out my window rolled me out of bed. I wonder what i had missed. I got this at the tail end of the storm and then went straight to bed. 

Day 137; Game of Spades; A game night is played at the table at moms house. While dealing with a cold im cautious, applying hand sanitizer during every round. That got old. Lindsey won this round of Spades on this night.

Day 136;  Master Spirit; A swarm of interesting clouds brew at dusk. An opening of light gave way to this beautiful scene that illuminated one small puff of cloud for only about 5 seconds before the moment was gone. 

Day 135; Smoothed Over; I photographed a creek nearby my mothers house close to sunset. I was expected to hang out with friends on this night but i have been battling a cold and altitude. The symptoms are eerily similar to that of the famous and feared covid-19. This is frustrating and worrisome while staying with my mother. The bright side is i get to hang out and breath in and photograph Colorado. 

Day 134; Moody Morning; The next morning i rolled off the couch at Scotts house early. I was met outside with a stale heavy fog that blanketed the entire city. I photographed the morning fog for a good half hour until the sun rose. The fog began to disband and dissipate, resulting in this shot. 

Day 133; Crazed Reunion; Pictured here is my buddy Scott(Day 62). His mom and my friend, Kris (day 6) died earlier in March and I never really got to hang out with him due to her ailing and the corona virus. Without any closure or contact Scott was up on the top of the list of people to visit.  I was finally able to meet up with him and we had a crazy night partying and reflecting on life and all its wild up and downs. This portrait summed up the entrance of going into the wild topics of our worlds. 

Day 132; Catching up; My mom laughs over something we were joking about. I wanted to take a picture of her here snugged in comfortably by her two cats on this afternoon. 

Day 131; Mothers Sunset; I drove 15 hours. It was a long drive filled with lots of music, the Rich Eisen show, lots of interstate speeding and lots of minutes passed in the same seat. It was all worth it when i arrived home to see my beautiful mother. My sister and my mother both had an idea i would be showing up to surprise them but were so happy when I arrived. The sunset and her company was all that mattered that night. Happy Mothers Day Mom. 

Day 130; Winding Down; On this day i randomly got the idea to drive 15 hours the next day and go visit and surprise my mom for mothers day. So during the night I wound down with Alex and took this picture of her on our bed. I will miss her and I love her so much for her dear support of me in so many ways. 

Day 129; Backyard Toss; On this laid back day Noah and i played catch in the back yard. At one point the ball went over the fence into the neighbors yard and we had to use tiki torches to reach and get it. 

Day 128; The New Norm; I hate how everyone is using the term "the new norm" these days. Its indicative of the crazy times during the virus and getting used to a chaotic world. Today is my birthday, May 7th. Every year i get a cake. I am appreciative of this but i never eat it. This year after the move i checked out a local pizza place called Tomasos and their thin crust pizza was the best pizza i ever ate. So when Alex asked what cake i wanted i said i dont. I want a pie, a detroit deep dish pie from Tamasos. She gladly obliged and every year from now on, it will be the new norm that i blow out the candles on pizza. Not cake. I like this new norm. 

Day 127; Why did the cat cross the road; On this Wednesday i went up Lindale Trail for the first time with no idea what to expect. It was a 3 mile long straight shot road surrounded by trees. I came across this un-amused cat and snapped this shot as it slowly crossed the road paying me no mind, seemingly alone and un-phased in its kingdom. 

Day 126; Seasoned Cinco; Pictured here is a pan full of ground beef caked with various seasonings before being married all together and cooked for the main ingredient in our tacos. Its Taco Tuesday and Its Cinco De Mayo and sadly it is also 2020. Alex made home made tortillas and we had a feast while listening to mariachi music. The very next day a mass shortage of fresh meats is expected as many plants close due to Covid-19

Day 125; Blind Date; Presley sits behind a set of  window blinds and watches birds out the glass door. I sat on the floor and photographed our cats in and out of these blinds for over 30 minutes. Here Presley was looking back at our other cat Dude as he made his way to look out the window himself. 

Day 124; Getting Pollinated; Pictured here is an ant that I spotted zipping around from a distance. I looked closer and noticed its ass was straight into the air and Its head was  buried in the flower. It would then pull its head out and race to the end of the petal, pause a moment, stand on its back legs and then rub the pollen from Its antennas all over Its  face. After that the ant would race back and do it again. I felt like i was literally watching an ant partying. This happened several times before my lens bumped the petal and like a paranoid pollinator, It bailed.

Day 123; Drive up Tacos; On this Saturday we went to our friend Nikki and Ryans house to celebrate his birthday. For Ryans birthday there was a taco truck showing up in the neighborhood and the truck parked in front of his house. Pictured here is the birthday man himself adjusting a small sombrero we brought with us. The sombrero once worn by our cats was hilarious to be seen wearing by such a hulk like Ryan. The tacos and shots of tequila were great.

Day 122; The Cedar Trails; On this day i rode my bike out in Hanna park further than i ever had and was shocked to find trails surrounded by trees. This small dense patch was incredible and breath taking. 

Day 121; Dude's Backyard Gaze; Pictured here is Dude looking out from the top deck of our home. It was the first time we ever let him out there and he marveled at being up high and gazing out. Imagine what it would be like if he was actually able to murder birds huh!?

Day 120; Beard be gone; How about a nice bathroom selfie huh!? I felt stupid taking shots of my face. I decided to shave my beard off just for pictures sake on this Wednesday night cause i hadnt taken a photo. So instead of a before after I just shaved my face and for a fun effect i did a double exposure of my face and an upclose of the gray shower curtain. The resulting tone is almost an analog style yellowish green. I feel naked without my beard thanks to this photo. 

Day 119; 151 rain drops; A rain storm came through producing lightning in the distance. Alex gave me some  instructions to take highway 151. not really sure where i was going instead i pulled off into a park off the highway and explored. The environment around me was so green green green. With all the droplets and cool things upclose i was envisioning black and white isolated scenes like this one. 

Day 118; Blinded Princess; Alex's niece Chloe celebrates her 3rd birthday in the driveway of her home.  Unfortunately due to the corona virus and no visitors, Chloes parents  were forced to throw a private party, having people come by and honk in honor of her birthday. I got out to take a picture of Chloe in her princess get up, as she perched in her chair. With everyone else taking a quick picture of her, Chloe shielded her eyes from the setting sun behind us, resulting in this photo. Happy Birthday kiddo. 

Day 117; The Swamp; On a second day in Hanna Park i head down an unmarked trail to discover a swamp. 

Day 116; Hanna Park; Nearby our house is a park called Hanna Park. It has long winding paths that fork off in different directions and i am excited to run, bike and most importantly photograph this area. 

115; First Night At Home; At first I was saddened this was photo of the day because it was literally the only photo i took all day. Then i realized sometimes a day will go by and you won't really pick a camera up and you gotta live by the day and not the shutter count. This is an image of Alex and I 

'Cheer-sing' during out first dinner in our new home. I made a chinese stir fry and was so giddy to cook at home again. We are getting the house set up and going.   

Day 114; The Movers Arrive; Pictured here is Alex and her dad as they look on at the giant semi that backed down our cul-de-sac and blocked in a few neighbors from leaving or entering their drive ways. A lengthy review of this scamming moving company is going to be made and hopefully we stop finding certain items of our stuff smashed and broken. Overall. We are happy to have our stuff back. Most of what they didnt break or lose anyways.  

Day 113; Noahs School Picture; Noah, pictured here, poses in the back yard for a school photo. Since the 'Rona' has shut everything down Noahs school asked for updated pictures  of other students, just so other students can check in with one another. When finding this out i was more than happy to help. This young man has been photographed a few times in the past couple weeks and he plays a big part in my life. This is one cool dude. 

Day 112; Cheers; Alex and her brother share a beer in our new home on Alex's 26th birthday. The movers were originally supposed to be here the day before but the sketchy fraud moving company continues to jack us around and hold onto our stuff with no idea really when it will actually get here. So in the meantime we cracked a couple of beers inside an empty home and just hung out, hoping and wishing that the movers will have our stuff sometime this week. Happy Birthday to the wonderful Alex Nemmers, glad we are here for your birthday and so is your family. 

ALSO: On this day Rob Gronkowski came out of retirement to sign with my Tampa Bay Bucs.

Day 111; Hey Little Fella; On this day we finally got to begin moving into our new home. For the last couple weeks we have stayed at Alex's dads house and now its slowly time to transition once again. While moving in a few things here and there i noticed this little guy on the sliding glass door. I busted out the macro lens and took a few shots. The wind picked up blowing his set of wings sideways and i snapped this shot as he hung onto the glass. 

Day 110; Chain Hoops; Yesterday after finding a hoop we stopped at a gas station and i saw this hoop and laughed that we took so long to find a backboard when there was one so nearby. I went there today and played for quite awhile. Its been great shooting the rock on back to back days. The hoop is lodged between a gas station and an abandoned church next to the highway. It feels so private and so open at the same time. 

Day 109; Found a court; On Saturday Alex Noah and I went out seeking to find a basketball hoop. We checked the parks and schools and there were some sections that literally removed the rims from the backboards to stop people from gathering and playing basketball during this pandemic. Luckily we found this hoop in the parking lot of a school. 

Day 108; Basking; Dude looks out the window as the setting sun nears its exit. The cats are officially settled and comfortable in this house and come Monday will have to adjust to a third house in as many weeks.

Day 107; Sheltered In Place;  A self portrait of myself by the window. staying indoors and on my phone has slowly started to get to my head. We haven't left the property in 6 days. 

Day 106; Missing Ball; On this day I talk to my friend Nick on the phone. One of the things we discussed was baseball. As big sports fans we are really struggling with the lack of sports in our world and one of the big topics was baseball. In spring training there is the grapefruit league in Florida and the cactus league in Arizona. With no baseball being played and talk of further interruptions expected down the road, there is talk of playing all baseball in those respective states. It benefits the Colorado Rockies well since they won't have to pitch at Coors field in Denver if they do go that route. I was tossing this baseball in my hand while talking to him and took this photo shortly after i hung up. 

Day 105; Occupying Time;  Noah pictured here plays a golf game on Xbox in his room. Another day inside for all of us has us all going a bit of stir crazy. Noah was expecting to return to school at the end of the month. To his dismay he will have to wait to see the majority of his friends until next school year as all schools have been closed. You'd think a child would be excited by no school and staying home but hes quite sad and was looking forward to going back. I feel bad for kids effected by this too. 

Day 104; Changing Seasons;  Theres a large Oak tree next to Alex's dads house that is shedding leaves and blowing all over the yard. It is strange to see a tree that is shedding leaves in the Spring but hey. Its Iowa i guess. Here is a leaf I picked up that day. The Rona has us all huddled up inside so this is the best i can do for a photo right now. 

Day 103; The Easter Bunny; Its Easter! On this day i found some flowers in the yard next door to photograph and was going to use them for picture of the day. Then it started raining and this guy showed up to steal the show. 

Day 102; Settled Cats; Pictured here is our cat Presley looking at Dude who is under the covers. This is the bed we are currently using in the guest room of Alex's dads house. As you can imagine a 15 hour drive in acar and being transplated in a new home was not easy for them. Thankfully after 5 days the cats are calm and settled. Unfortunately for Presley here, Dude was in no mood to play and no rush to get out from under the covers. 

Day 101; Shopping in April; During a tour around Cedar Rapids i try to begin a project and photograph the process this corona virus has on our everyday lives. I decided to try and shoot from the hip in the grocery store and get a frenzied and chaotic take on how people do everyday things like shopping. This is an image of a woman entering the store equipped with a mask and gloves. 

Day 100; Haircut; Alex nervously begins to buzz my hair as she has never done this before. Thanks to the shutdown because of the corona virus there are no barbers or hair stylists. kudos to Alex for doing a good job on my hair. Her nerves slowly went away after a while and she did great. "Im just happy we didnt have to buzz it all off" she would later say while admiring the work she had done. 

Day 99; Air Noah; Alex's little brother Noah mimics dunking a basketball on a shadow against the garage. I told him to get a smaller basketball to grip to make it look like he was really dunking on a regulation size hoop.  The angle of the sun and small ball hes palming makes him look like  a modern day midwestern  MJ. 

Day 98; Iowa Sunset; After a small storm dramatic clouds build up over Cedar Rapids. It was the first night i had been here as someone who is going to live here. My friend Brooke said that this sky was meant for me and Alex. 

Day 97; Goodbye house; Alex stands in the garage with the jeep running,  looking into our empty home on Monday morning.  With the lights turned off, the cars packed up and a 15 hour drive ahead of us this marked the last time we would see the first place we lived together. I will certainly miss it and am so thankful for having lived here. 

Day 96; Farewell Canon City; I travel up Skyline Drive for the last time in a while. Shout out to my friend Alyssa who told me before she moved from this city she never went up skyline one last time and that i shouldn't make the same mistake. Im glad she put that idea in my head as it was a beautiful night unwinding over the town. I'll miss this place but its not the last time i will see it and am looking forward to the next adventure. Thanks for the memories and all the wonderful souls in this place. 

Day 95; Picture during the deal; While playing cards are being dealt my mom poses for an image where she was sitting in the garage. This marked the last time for a while we'd all play cards together. On this night we had a small party to celebrate Alex and my birthdays. We played Spades of course. Ill miss this wonderful woman. 

Day 94; the movers show up; They were shady, they were a rip off and they are scammers. This moving company has been a pain in the ass from the get go and its a learning lesson to really make sure you do your homework on who moves your stuff. This semi was backed down into the alley way and right to our driveway. A semi was unnecessary for our small 2 bedroom place but we certainly weren't the only house they were packing into this truck on this day. 

Day 93; Sleeping in the Living Room; Alex facetimes with our friends Holly and Shannon while enjoying a cupcake from the comfort of our bed in the living room. With the movers set to show up in the morning we literally cleaned out almost everything to make it easier on us with the move the next day. To spice things up a bit the bed was moved to the living room this night, the cats approved. This marked the last night we stayed in our home. 

Day 92; I take a small break from packing and cleaning up the house and jump on my bicycle at sunset. I rode around and headed toward these abandoned train cars to photograph them. I have always been interested in these cars and have photographed them here and there throughout my lifetime but am always worried of getting caught. With everyone at home and focused on the Rona and with us departing in just a few days now was the time to strike. 

Day 91; Afternoon fishing; With nicer weather we venture out and fish on this beautiful Tuesday afternoon.  this shot of the Arkansas river down in the Royal Gorge Valley marks the last photo of March and the last time i'll touch this river for quite a while.  I love this river and this gorge dearly. We will be leaving for Iowa on Sunday. 

Day 90; No fishing; Pictured here is my buddy Nick, looking down on the Arkansas river from on top of black bridge. The plan was to fish today. With rain clouds and wind gusts the only thing we caught was a buzz.

Day 89; Morning Cuddles; My sister pictured here loves on her cat stubby.  During this pandemic its worth noting how excited and happy pets must be to have their owners home keeping each other company. Also of note is the notorious show 'Tiger King' that has attracted viewers during this stay at home process. Its the story of a homosexual tiger breeder in a lawsuit battle with a animal rights activist who is suspected of murdering her husband. If that isn't thrilling television i dont know what is. 

Day 88; Rollin Dough; Pictured here is my mother as she works out some dough in the process of homemade pizza. Her and I made 3 pizzas for dinner that night. It was absolutely a blessing to have done this with my mother. After the pizza we all had a game night and Alex and i stayed the night there. A total sleepover. 

Day 87; Goodbye fish; With the movers set to come in exactly one week, preparation continues to get everything stowed away for the move to Iowa. Pictured here is our cat Dude watching Alex scoop out the fish in our tank and into a bucket for transfer to the pet store. Thanks to All Star Pets for taking our fish so we never had to flush them. 

Day 86; Jesus tests positive; Churches are closed during the corona virus inspiring online services for people of faith. Also a popular trend online has been funeral services and weddings. 

Day 85; Fire it up; Pictured here is my buddy Nick getting some tequila wings going for an order at Canon City Mugs.  Business is steadily starting to incline now that the initial panic wave of the corona virus has come and reality is set in. On this day Mugs tested out their first prepped meals that they offer for delivery along with everything on the full menu still available. 

Day 84; Golfing; My friend Bradley takes a swing at a golf ball on Tuesday. With the pandemic showing no signs of slowing Bradley and I got out assuming this could be the last time we could even do something as simple as golfing. Last Tuesday (day 76) was the last time we could eat in a public setting and it goes to show how fast the virus as effected our lives. Two days later the golf course was closed as a statewide shutdown was issued. 

Day 83; Along the tracks; Alex my buddy Nick and myself get out of the house and go on a little adventure.  Fresh air was needed. These are train tracks in the Royal Gorge. The last time i will see this stretch for a while. 

Day 82; Sunday Mimosas; Colorado Governor Jared Polis passed a law where its legal for restaurants to deliver alcohol amidst the pandemic. You must order food while having alcohol delivered as part of the rule. On this Sunday Alex and I ordered mimosas from Mugs along with some sweet potato fries. With the pandemic effecting essential businesses thankfully restaurants can still offer take out services. Alex and i are slowly feeling better and this vitamin C was a boost :) 

Day 81; Non-essential shutdown; As the virus spreads and infects people at a torrid pace non essential businesses close their doors down for a while, effecting the economy and the human psyche. 

Day 80; TB to TB; As if the country coming to a complete halt and dramatic circumstances changing everyday life as we know it wasn't enough this happens.  Tom Brady to the Bucs. As a life long Buccaneer fan i am stoked and excited. It rejuvenates a sad fan base and a struggling organization by bringing in the greatest Quarterback of all time. No one believed me when i told them that this really could happen. Well now it has happened.  Its like the world is ending or something! 

Day 79; "You like my space buns?" Alex is pictured here holding our cat Dude. She is also sick with a cold but is used to staying indoors since she works from home. While taking this picture she asked me "babe ya like my space buns?" Yes babe. Nice space buns. 

Day 78; Tylenol; On Wednesday night i came down with Flu like symptons, hot and cold flashes and fatigue. I took some medicine and laid in bed waiting for the symptoms to leave. To be sick during this time is absolutely frustrating and concerning. Add to the fact we have to be out of this house, packed and moved 3 states away in two weeks is terrifying and stressful. Take your meds and rest up for the time being i guess. 

Day 77; Clean Hands; My godfather Mark washes his hands in a sink at his shop. The CDC recommends you wash your hands for at least 20 seconds while scrubbing vigorously. Mark did just that here in this example. 

Day 76; Last Call; Dalton takes a drink of beer out of a glass at The Owl, a popular burger joint here in Canon City. On this Monday we were certain this would be the last meal where we could all eat out in public and have beers together. Shortly after we left the establishment a rule was in place that for at least the next 30 days all bars and restaurants in Colorado would be closed, thanks to the corona virus. This served as the last time we'd be together in public for who knows how long. 

Day 75; Spring Training; Spring rain drops line an Iris outside of our house early Sunday morning. The smell of rain and the welcoming moisture is wonderful. 

Day 74; 16th Street Reflection; I get out of my car and wander to take pictures in the puddle soaked parking lots near my home. I always find a nearby cement walk-way lined with businesses interesting to photograph so i pulled out a multi-exposed image of that walk -way coupled with an image of my reflection looking into a gas station window. I love me some reflections.  

Day 73; Self Portrait; My friend Brooke suggested i take a self portrait as a challenge photographically. On a day where i have a lot of cool moody images i chose this image of me looking almost Russian. Thanks for the idea Brooke. Its nice to have what i look like on this project. 

Day 72; No Tee-Pee; The Corona Virus in the USA is getting very real and folks are stocking up on toilet paper in response. On this day my boss asked me to go to Safeway and get a plunger for the store. I can't tell you how ironic it was that I had a plunger and everyone else wanted toilet paper.  I took my camera with me to take a few shots of this aisle and in the process ran into two people in less than 1 minute who needed toilet paper and were visibly frustrated it was all bought out. As of right now a 36 roll of toilet paper is going as high as $100 on Amazon.

Day 71; Corona Cubes; On this day America was set back by the rapidly approaching Corona Virus that is effecting peoples lives. The NBA suspended its season after a player tested positive for the virus and even star celebrity Tom Hanks and his wife were confirmed to have it. This has spun the country into a sobering reality and a bit of a panic. On this night i poured whiskey over ice and watched the news. I looked closely and thought these bubbles looked like bacteria and wondered if this is what the corona virus looks like. 

Day 70; Red on White; Pictured here is my friend Shannon. On this day we photographed her dressed up for college graduation shots to send out. When i saw this red door and her red hair complimenting it i was thrilled. Congrats to you my friend, im proud of you and love your view on life. 

Day 69; Laid Back Dude; Dude relaxes on a chair in the afternoon. Dude recently went to the vet for a bad tooth and they gave him fluids and an IV, as evidenced by the missing patch of hair on his arm. 

Day 68; Weight Toss; The clocks went forward as Spring approaches. On this beautiful day me and these fellas went fishing after work. Our buddy Dan in the blue plaid smoking a stogey brought a magnetic weight tied to a long rope in hopes of picking up something out of the river. In this image Nick tosses that magnet out into the river as they all watch in anticipation, including Nicks dog Toby. 

Day 67; Carlos goes by; This is Carlos. He is what i call a bar ninja. He comes in weekly and will have a handful of drinks over a span of time but they are never the same drink. For instance he can go with beer, to coffee, to vodka, to tequila, a different beer to soda. He has the guts of a god and he rides his bike everywhere. I don't know how he does it, i dont know how Ninjas do it. We laughed at this photo since i told Carlos i had no pictures of the day. He was totally cool with me randomly photographing him with my giant ass off camera flash. Thanks Carlos. 

Day 66; Missing Film; I miss film and all the different kinds there is to shoot and all the diffferent cameras to use. Can't wait to get back to it. In the meantime i got a year to live. 

Day 65; Walking Alone; After the service for Thomas Bright was held at a church the burial followed in the next town over where this image was taken. I took a picture of this woman leaving the ceremony, far behind a few others ahead of her. I don't know who she was but i was intrigued by her funeral attire among the gravestones and the trees. Like myself, she wasn't accompanied by anyone else she was there alone and i could relate to that. RIP Thomas. 

Day 64; Loving Tattoo; After being able to take off her protective wrap, Brooke shows me her memorial tattoo and some of the flowers she recently received as well. 

Day 63; Old Bills; While counting out cash i get some of my older bills out to photograph. Ive had these tucked away for a couple years now just because i think they are pretty cool. Ive taken a few pictures on different days and this was this days edition, pretty simple.  Im taking them to the bank soon to finally cash in. Fun fact on Day 24 photoshop wouldn't allow me to even open an image of a newer 100 dollar bill.  Apparently photoshop doesnt care about old bills. 

Day 62; Afternoon Guinness; Every Monday or Tuesday i go and see my friends Scott and Kris (day 6).  This usually consists of having a Guinness or two. Cheers bud. 

Day 61; Walk of Shame; After that crazy leap year party i had to walk to work at 730 AM since i left my car at the party to avoid drunk driving. I took a picture of this stop sign in our neighborhood which sums up our slummy corner quite well. We live next to an abandoned house that kids like to tag and destroy and im sure they really do hate us snitching on them when they are caught doing it. 

Day 60; Leap Year Party; Pictured here is an image of two girls shot gunning some white claw seltzers and drenching a crowd at my buddy's leap year party. It was the craziest party I've ever been to.  It was hard finding an image for this day as that party produced the funnest night of photographing i've had all year by far. 

Day 59; Tulips; I take a picture of some tulips I got for Alex. Thankfully our cats haven't thrashed the hell out of them yet. 

Day 58; rory; I meet my friend Brookes dog Rory. I actually used a combination of Brookes camera with a lens i am letting her try out. In this shot we went to the kitchen and we tried getting her to jump for treats. She was confused by the gesture at first, jumping for treats, figuring it out rather quickly. She was sweet and gave me puppy fever. 

Day 57; why?; 

Day 56; Hannah, Phoebe and the Birds; I go and visit my friend Hannahs in her new home. I finally got to meet Hannahs cat Phoebe as she looks out in a common perch of hers, watching birds, while Hannah eats lunch.  Hannah has all wood floors and i am shocked that cat doesn't shed and i can only think how lucky she is not having to clean it up compared to ours. 

Day 55; Ducking Darts; This is my friend Jen. I took this picture of her while she shot darts and was telling me to move or else it wouldn't be pretty.  She has been my boss for over 7 years. On this day she took me and Nick and Tahnee on a 'Thanks for working for us for so long' trip. So shout out: 

Jen,  I am going to be hard pressed to find anyone that has ever treated me so well as an employee and small business owner. I am always so thankful for how you care for us like family. You give a shit about us. Its hard to find people that run a business and care about the employees as much as the business so thanks for always being not just my boss but a friend and such a reliable person in my life. You are an idol of mine by the way you carry yourself  so well as a business owner, a wife, a friend, a mentor and an American damnit. Thank you so much for being a part of my life." 

Day 54; Winter\Spring; This day i woke up with rain on the ground and the smell of spring in the air. A few hours later the biggest snow flakes i have ever seen began to fall from the sky. It looked like giant feathers floating down. After a day shift at work the snow had passed but everything was soaked, including cactus spikes pictured here. 

Day 53; Happy Birthday Gary; My friend Gary stopped in for a few drinks celebrating his 69th birthday.  Gary is my friend who i confide in when it comes to music. We both collect vinyl records and he often is a sought after vendor when he attends vinyl festivals in Denver and Colorado Springs. Gary's vinyl collection of the Beatles is awe inspiring and id wager money its one of the finest and most collect-able collections in the world.  Happy Birthday pal.  

Day 52; Latte Pour; On this Friday i get a latte from the bean pedaler. Its been a while since i have had a latte and decided to get one over black coffee for pictures sake. 

Day 51; Missed MAGA Rally; Pictured here in his 'Make America Great Again' hat is my friend Dakota. He attended the rally in nearby Colorado Springs but stood in line for over 5 hours and didn't get in. There was a reported 70,000 registered for the rally in a venue that held 8,000. 

Day 50; A Cold Walk Home; A late night walk home after work was a cold one, as another cold front moved through producing snow. While the majority of people in this town complain about it i am thrilled to see so much snow and a real winter for the first time in years. 

Day 49; WW1 Mementos; My godfather Mark pictured here has owned his own antique store for close to 30 years. Over that span he has come into contact with many amazing items that he has either shared with me or told me about. This year a man came into his shop and sold Mark his entire great grandfathers World War 1 collection. When asked why he was selling it all the man said was he needed to pay  bills and all this was "just stuff". The collection included the soldiers helmet, canteen, medals, 3 bibles he carried and wrote in, a piece of a propeller off of a WW1 fighter plane, his own hand made trench art, a Japanese katana sword and a german helmet. This book though was the personal favorite and something that would make this whole collection appeal to museums and history buffs. It was his very own handmade journal featuring his enlistment and discharge papers, letters to his wife, facts about the planes he was flying in, newspaper articles about the war, food menus where they stopped and ate, prayers, snippets out of books, photography, you name it. Looking through it made you tear up and cherish the lives and freedoms we have thanks to men like him.

Day 48; Dealing Cards; Mom finishes dealing a deck of cards again during our weeky match of spades. 

Day 47; On a Sunday afternoon i went out with a crew to have some drinks. I called my friend Brooke and told her we should shoot a sunset on Skyline drive, a one way road that takes you on an aerial view of Canon City. My tripod head was a bit loose and the wind was literally moving my camera so im surprised and happy this long exposure was born. 

Day 46; Sunbather;' Dude basks in sunlight in a small section where his fat ass can fit. 

Day 45; Valentines Rose; In the cafe at work the owner always gets fresh flowers for the tables. The roses were a fit for this day. 

Day 44; Icy Windows; A photograph featuring a single snow flake on my car window is taken in the driveway. I was curious to why the flake itself had an orange hue to it. Then i figured out it was the light from the outdoor garage light touching it. 

Day 43; Asian Nachos; Food photography is hard. I went to photo school with a girl named Nikki who is now an established food photographer and i remember how difficult it was in studio with reflections and color corrections and lighting. I'll feature about one picture a month of food but i am no food photographer yet. I named this picture Asian Nachos because to me it looks like an Asian version of Nachos. 

Day 42; Spades; My mom looks at me as i sneak a picture of her as she surveys her hand in the card game spades. 

Day 41; Droplet; A drop of water trickles off an icicle outside of the cabin we stayed at. Over the entirety of the weekend a ton of snow and cold weather was sent  to the region.  

Day 40; Love Day; Alex pictured here on a blanket with champagne ready and snacks poses for a picture before i head outside to photograph a nearby creek. She laughed and told our friends over snapchat how inside by a cozy fire with a robe and champagne is an ideal place to her while she pans the video to me in a freezing ass snow storm photographing and thats my ideal place. 

Day 39; Courtney Barnett; I got to see one of my favorite musicians again that weekend when we went and saw Courtney Barnett perform at the Stanley Hotel. I was thrilled i got to bring a camera into the event and was happy with the images, including this one of her looking me dead ass into my soul. 

Day 38; Illusion Forest;  My friend Forest plasters his hands on the window in this multi exposed image. I had been planning this image for a few weeks and was funny instructing him to cover the window with his hands many times. The nice fella didnt want to dirty the windows up too much to which i replied "Dont worry. The print will be worth it."

Day 36; Bird Watching; Presley watches birds outside of our window. 

Day 35; My weekend after a drunken super bowl Sunday brought snow and bitter cold temperatures and beautiful landscapes. 

Day 34; Back to the Car; Snow begins to fall as a cold front and winter storm hits the area this Monday. Pictured here are my foot tracks between my tire tracks as i make my way back to my car parked on the side of the road. 

Day 33; Super Bowl Blur; This image taken at Mugs where i work shows a blurred state, representing what i remember. Lots of beer, lots of shots and lots of laughs. Thankfully my cat won us 250 dollars on a super bowl square and everyone here was pissed. 

Day 32; Izzy's Birthday; On the 1stof February it was my moms dog Izzy's 11th birthday. This dog was around when my dad was alive and is such a sweet girl. Way to be a good girl Izzy. 

Day 31; Dave is retired;  Dave wanders in late for a drink close to closing time. I hadn't seen Dave in mugs in close to 5 years. I took this picture of him and his hat that says "Im retired...having GOOD times IS MY JOB". Dave said he didn't know where he got the hat. Nice seeing you again Dave.  Keep enjoying retirement. 

Day 30; Late Night Mercury; To this point on this night i hadn't shot a photo all day and i was now off work and approaching midnight. I drove around town searching til i found this ole classic sitting out by a mechanic shop. 

Day 29; Herbed Vinaigrette; At work i photograph my buddy Josh in the process of making salad dressing. This was olive oil meeting red wine vinegar. 

Day 28; Inside Dans head; My buddy Dan is the smartest guy i've ever known in my life. He is a genius and a totally out there guy. Dans mind stretches the limits and his personality stretches the line of sense of humor at times, making him the kinda guy that makes philosophical conversations awesome. Any conversation really. Dan is like talking to a real life Rick from Rick and Morty.  Im thankful for having had this dude in my life and look forward to his company always. 

Day 27; First storm; 27 days into the year and Canon City has its first storm coming in. 

Day 26; RIP KOBE; I was on the toilet playing a golf game in the bathroom when Alex opened the door and showed me her text on her phone, it sent a jolt to my brain but i dismissed it. She shrugged and walked away and i looked it up myself. To my disbelief multiple articles no more than 5 minutes old were posted all over Google, all headlined about the death of Kobe Bryant via helicopter crash.  Kobe was one of my idols growing up watching my favorite sport, professional basketball. He was one of the greats and someone you admired and someone i hated to hate.  I didnt want to hate Kobe because he was awesome. He was a laker though and as a die hard Nuggets fan i had to watch Kobe beat us more often than not.  No bigger than the 2009 Western Conference championship series, the fursthest the Nuggets had ever advanced in their franchise history. He was accused of rape in Colorado just a year earlier and when i went to a game the 'boo's' every time he received the ball were deafening.  He hung 41 on us that game and took care of business unfortunately.  That year the Lakers won a ring against a bad Orlando Magic team and i always said it should of been us. After that i  always marveled and was in awe of Kobe Bryant. His competitiveness and will to win was unlike anyones mindset i had ever seen. He did it all on the court and there was no doubt there will ever be another one like him. He basically revived one of the biggest cities in the world by giving them hope and encouragement, something to look forward to that was positive and uplifting.  Kobe Bryant was in many ways a cities saviour and all he did was simply work hard at what he loved to do. Over the next several days i read about Kobes personal life and his relationship with his wife, his kids, his friends and his colleagues. It makes the death of him at age 41 much more tragic after reading his regard for the future and his drive to get the best out of his kids.  As dominant and amazing he was at a sport he absolutely loved, he would choose family over that in a second if he had to.  He leaves this earth as someone i'll never forget and an idol i'll look up to til i die. This picture was taken in the gym that day he had passed. 

Day 25; Record cleanup; Pictured here is a splatter paint vinyl record from the band The Mystery Lights. On this night a friend of mine named Gary, gave me a bunch of fancy sleeves for my records to which i began to organize and do a clean up effort. I had to take a picture of this beaut. 

Day 24; Deposit; On this day i took this money to the bank. I transferred my change from a jug into a large bowl.  A quick guess thought the change would add up to a little over 200 dollars and was pleasantly surprised to see it netted me over 300.  Interesting note (no pun intended) When i tried to open this image up in photoshop it wouldn't allow me to even open the picture, thanks to their stance on banknotes being edited. It just pops up a screen telling me i cant edit this picture.  It left me with an uncomfortable realization that "They" are watching everything you do. 

Day 23; Edie's Embroidery; Pictured here is my friend Edie who does hand stitched embroidery and is awesome at it. Edie's house was so warming and welcoming and her pets helped make the visit so memorable. Here she is pictured in her living room. 

Day 22; Cats Etch; Pictured here is the hands of my friend Cat. Her and her husband Tom have their own art studio and they come into mugs every week and every week Cat does a new themed picture on the etch a sketch. The most impressive thing for me, aside from detailed work on an etch a sketch, is the amount of time it takes her to finish her drawings, only around 10 to 15 minutes at most. This weeks image is a advertised image of the upcoming super bowl in Miami. 

Day 21; Employee Bowl; Alex tosses a bowling bowl at some pins during the Mugs employee party. Almost no one was sober. 

Day 20; The Squiggly thing; Alex and i went on a hike by a nearby creek and i noticed a bush with these furry "squiggly" looking things hanging off the end of some of the bushes twigs. I pulled out my macro lens and went to town. This image is especially relevant because it became the first image in which i photographed and printed on the same day. 

Day 19; Jersey Swap; Levi Paxton can only smile in disbelief while resting his face on a cheese head as his Green Bay Packers get smoked in the NFC Championship game against the San Francisco 49ers. Levi's mom sitting next to him is a big 49ers fan who was wearing a Jerry Rice jersey while Levi sported an Aaron Rogers jersey. At one point while down 20-0 in the 2nd quarter i heard Levi ask her "Mom can we trade jerseys??"

Day 18; Bucco Presley; Presley hangs over her cat tower looking down on Dude in the afternoon. 

Day 17; Lunch with Lindsey; i meet up with my sister Lindsey and enjoy an afternoon catching up and talking while enjoying a delicious Italian stallion sandwich. I love her very much. 

Day 16; Impeachment Trial; An impeachment trial for Donald Trump begins as the country continues to be divided. 

Day 15; Eggs; Eggs are about to be cooked for breakfast. 

Day 14; 1917; Alex and i go and see the movie 1917, a World War 1 movie that was filmed to be one continuous running shot. The movie was probably the best movie id ever seen in theaters. 

Day 13; Presley's interest; Before work i play with my cat Presley who is snuggled in the window pane sun bathing. 

Day 12; Dude and Presley; Our cats Dude and Presley post for a white house style photograph. 

Day 11; Bo wins a beer; Bo pictured here holding two beers is an avid Kansas City Chiefs fan. On this day the chiefs hosted the Houston Texans in the AFC divisional round and quickly fell behind 24-0. Bo, then made a bold bet that the Chiefs would be winning by halftime. Everyone including myself called him a dumbass but then miraculously, the chiefs stormed back to take a 28-24 halftime lead. I paid my dues on the bet and without Bo knowing i opened up an O'douls non-alcoholic beer. When he took a drink of it he was pissed and asked "What the fuck is this!? Why did you give me a Grandma beer!?" 

Day 10; Printer setup; My cat dude offers support as i read instructions on setting up a Canon Pixma-Pro 100 printer i received for christmas. The printer is a pro grade printer and has inspired me to print print print! Its been a blessing and lit a fire under my photographic ass. 

Day 9; Rule Burnside; I like to collect cameras, photography related things and records. The record market is unbelievably wide open when it comes to vinyl records anymore. Limited edition releases, foreign country releases and different designed vinyl is all awesome. Before getting ready to prepare a meal i pulled this old record out of the stack. A record by blues artist R.L. Burnside on a limited edition "smoke" vinyl. 

Day 8; The Barbershop;  Pictured here is my buddy Aaron looking into a mirror after he had just cut my hair. I went to school with Aaron and hes my barber down at Phil's Barber Shop. 

Day7; Epsom Salt Bath; After a long week of exercise and work i run an epson salt bath to end the week. 

Day 6; Ufa's turn; Pictured here are my friends Ufa and Kris. Kris has been dealing with injuries and has been prescribed pain killers to recover. While on pain killers her son scott gets the dog Ufa to jump on the couch for a picture. Kris immediately demands Ufa to get down while Ufa does her best to ignore her. Moments after this picture Ufa reluctantly gives up her spot on the couch. 

Day 5; Presley's ailment; Alex let me know of the discovery of a chewed up peace lily on the same day of our cat Presley throwing up clear liquid.  The peace lily is a toxic plant for pets, thankfully for Presley she was alright and only digested a small amount. 

Day 4; Word search; Alex looks through a word search on a relaxing Saturday afternoon. NFL football playoffs started this day and so did Alex's laid back weekend. 

Day 3; Mike Brodies book arrives; in the early part of the decade around 2012 i discovered a photographer named Mike Brodie. He was a train hopping traveler equipped with a 35mm camera, capturing everything on his journey. It became my favorite body of work over the last decade and i finally bought the book.  The book arrived on January 3rd of the new year. Here i am looking through it with a a cup of coffee. 

Day 2; Meatball Nirvana; Turkey meatballs bake in the oven late at night, minutes to midnight.  Cooking has become a large staple of my life in the last year, remembering recipes from scratch is something i plan to work on extensively. 

Day 1; 2020; Back in the day when i thought of 2020 i would think of flying cars, robots doing my laundry and the ability to read minds.  Instead...We have beyond meat burgers at Burger King.