The signs of the season are all around us. Lit up Christmas trees, off-key carolers, wreaths hanging on every door and everyone wearing red Santa hats show that we are firmly entrenched in the holiday season, and the only way we’re going to get out alive is to show a little cheer—or drink a barrel…

This week, I had what could be described as a bittersweet moment, a moment when I capped off my collection with something big and amazing that I had been waiting long and hard for to possess, but at the same time, it was a big, hulking reminder that the collection I’d been amassing for years…

    It’s been a while since I’ve been able to enjoy Independence Day without having to work. Usually, I’m the one covering the holiday festivities and/or laying out the pages for the next day’s paper. However, I got lucky this year, when my anticipated July vacation—next week—had to be moved up to accommodate a…

I’ve taken a lot of different photographs with my camera, but one of my latest efforts has been to capture pictures of food. Granted, I’ve captured food images before, but I’ve been fascinated recently by trying to capture images of the food I made.   Most of my food photos lately have been of breakfast,…

It hasn’t always been easy getting up and going out for some exercise, which might explain why I went from being a skinny stick in my teen years to being a tad overweight now that I’ve passed the 40 mark. It helps when there’s some kind of motivation, like a loved one encouraging you, or…

Every community has some kind of identity. Many times, the identity comes from a moment in history, like my hometown being the first unofficial territorial capitol of Arizona. When I was working for a newspaper at Lake Powell, the community identified itself as the “Gateway to Canyon Country.” Of course, regular readers of this blog…

It’s fairly easy to take photos of people. Lump them together and snap the shutter, and you’ll easily capture an image of friends and/or family for all to see. You might have an occasional grump who doesn’t want a photo taken, but otherwise, there’s not a huge challenge. That’s not the case with puppies. Oh,…

I was excited to read in the newspapers back home that the Yavapai County Fair was returning to the original fairgrounds in Prescott, Ariz. After the fair had been moved out to a new site in Prescott Valley and later run into bankruptcy, it was resurrected with the help of dedicated volunteers who have now…