The first day of summer is Sunday, June 21, which is the date of the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, plus it's Father's Day - start making plans now for a wonderful day in the outdoors! This month, we have two extremes for everyone: a slow-paced hike in the woods to powerful motorcycles traveling over 160 miles per hour. You can decide which suits your style more, personally I like both of them.  If you ever find yourself in Northern California, in the little city of Chico, ma ...Continue Reading

Who is ready for May flowers after the April showers? This past week, the Midwest has seen its share of showers, some severe and some just an inconvenience. Hoping all readers of this newsletter are safe and only suffering minor property damage, if any, was sustained. Last weekend I went to Ventura, California, for a race and enjoyed some mild weather; most people thought it was cold, I thought it was great - mid-50's, the majority of the time. I took a little time to relax, as much as I can handle, but I still sho ...Continue Reading

Sorry for the delay - I originally scheduled this on an incorrect date. Hoping that everyone reading this message is doing well and getting outside to enjoy the weather, at least when possible. Earlier this month, on my way to Daytona, I took a few extra days to take my time traveling plus visit some new locations. Rarely do we share both images from the same location but that is what we are doing this month, both are from St.Marks National Wildlife Refuge in St.Marks Florida, it's one of the oldest in the National ...Continue Reading

Spring is upon us, at least in the Midwest, unlike some sections of the West and Northeast United States who most likely feel like winter will never end. Most likely Mother Nature is messing around with us and will bring back winter conditions one more time, not uncommon for March. This time of year is also the start of motorsport events and racing outdoors, we will be hitting the road soon and this year’s calendar is filling quick. We will share more details once everything is finalized.For readers in North and Central ...Continue Reading

Already to February and while I believe most areas of the US were having nice weather after the first of the year, Mother Nature has thrown everyone a curveball to end the month. Now, areas that don't normally get snow are and areas that are typically mild are getting cold. Hopefully whereever you are located, you and your family are safe. The first image is from a sunset in Decemeber and I like the fire look but remembering how cold the day was. Guess they say why you should not judge a book by its cover.&nbs ...Continue Reading

WELCOME to 2026! Hope your celebration was enjoyable with family and/or friends. Wishing everyone a successful 2026 and that you learned from events in 2025 - we need to keep learning to help us grow, no matter what our age. Hopefully, everyone's holiday season was pleasant and you were able to relax and remove stress from your life.Thank you to those who took the time to respond with comments and suggestions after last month's message. We have made one major change for this new year, the images are now sized for 4 ...Continue Reading

Happy Holidays to everyone, hard to believe we are starting the final month of 2025 and what a year it has been. I have not fully processed all that has happened this year, nor how many images were captured over the past eleven months. Maybe I will try to determine that value before next month but I may not want to know the number either. I am already planning personal trips for the next two years and rescheduling one for next year, so more details on those once all is finalized. A few weeks ago, I was able to head ...Continue Reading

We are approaching the end of the year already and I still don't feel like fall has arrived; leaves are still on the trees while cooler temps have been here for a few weeks. Here in Central Illinois, the colors have not been great but we have seen some good color in patches, hopefully, your area has been colorful. Both images this month are from my trip out West in August this year and I am planning to make another trip west in the near future for a visit during a different time of year than I have done previously;  ...Continue Reading

Fall is officially here and in the Midwest, the trees are dropping leaves - unfortunately, not colorful leaves. In Illinois, it has been really dry for a few months and I am not expecting any spectacular color displays. Might need to take a trip to find some color in the leaves. This month's images are from the Dakotas, one from each state, and a wildlife image for your mobile phone. I hope you enjoy them. The first image was captured a couple of months ago near Midland, South Dakota. This particular loca ...Continue Reading

First off, apologies for not having this update message in your inbox first thing today. The intention was to have it completed and ready for viewing early this morning but there was a change in images and I was not fully prepared while traveling over the weekend.The weather is changing in the Midwest and we are starting to experience fall-like temperatures, hopefully your area is having good weather and for those friends in the Southern Hemisphere, I hope your winter is ending and spring is showing its face. We wo ...Continue Reading