Tannin
20-05-2017, 11:46pm
I expect to be granted parole sometime this year, and be unleased on the community once more.
Sadly, I've had a few years more-or-less away from serious photography. For the decade or more previous to my unscheduled time off, I'd been neglecting pretty much everything that normal people do in order to spend more and more time travelling and taking photographs. Starting around 2003, I put the best part of 100,000k on the little blue car, and almost another 300,000k on the wonderful red Subaru. All seven states, went to some brilliant places, loved every minute of it.
Unfortunately, sooner or later, suburban reality has to intrude. In particular, my business needed serious attention and my house was falling down from neglect. Eventually, you have to roll your sleeves up and do stuff you'd rather not have to do. So I've spent the last three years or so closing down my business in an orderley fashion, doing extensive renovations to the building with an eye to selling it - painting, plastering (real plastering, not that awful plasterboard stuff), carpeting, replacing a bit of ceiling, re-skinning a couple of exterior walls ... lots. And (at home) attending to the many household chores at this 120-year-old place. I've restumped some bits, knocked out other bits of exterior wall and replaced them with something more solid and better insulated, painted one half of the roof and replaced the other half entirely - last week we had 20mm of rain in the garden and none in the kichen! How good is that?), rebuilt the verandah (which really was about to fall down!) reinforced the ancient ceilings so that they are now safe to walk on, installed roof and ceiling insulation, even washed the dishes at least twice. Oh, and built a new garden shed, moved the driveway, laid a heap of brick paving, done some pretty serious landscaping, and put up a heap of fencing. I've done the whole lot myself bar getting a bobcat and an excavator in to help with the landscaping. Oh, and a plumber to put the new hot water service in. Although I didn't want to start doing it and put it off as long as possible, and I'm pretty keen to stop it soon, I've really enjoyed it overall.
There is a great deal of satisfaction to be had in doing stuff you didn't think you could, and a great sense of freedom too: once you've done a couple of major jobs, you realise that you can pretty much learn to do anything you want to if you put your mind to it. Things around the house that have bugged you for decades ... well, you can look at them through fresh eyes. For example, my front door is in the wrong place. I've always wanted to have someone come and move it, but it would cost a heap. Now I can look at it and instead of being annoyed about it, I just remember that I can move it myself anytime I want to. It would take a few days' work and maybe $100 in materials ... no big deal. The funny thing is, I don't have to actually move it to feel better about it. Just knowing that I can is enough, at least for now.
There is still a heap of stuff that wants doing, but I reckon I've done the worst of it now (and learned a lot about making stuff with my hands - it's amazing what you can learn to do if you just take on one step at a time) and it's time to start thinking about getting back to the serious business of life - i.e., travelling and photography.
So I'm back.
Well, I'm expecting to be back.
Assuming they really do let me out, that is.
Sadly, I've had a few years more-or-less away from serious photography. For the decade or more previous to my unscheduled time off, I'd been neglecting pretty much everything that normal people do in order to spend more and more time travelling and taking photographs. Starting around 2003, I put the best part of 100,000k on the little blue car, and almost another 300,000k on the wonderful red Subaru. All seven states, went to some brilliant places, loved every minute of it.
Unfortunately, sooner or later, suburban reality has to intrude. In particular, my business needed serious attention and my house was falling down from neglect. Eventually, you have to roll your sleeves up and do stuff you'd rather not have to do. So I've spent the last three years or so closing down my business in an orderley fashion, doing extensive renovations to the building with an eye to selling it - painting, plastering (real plastering, not that awful plasterboard stuff), carpeting, replacing a bit of ceiling, re-skinning a couple of exterior walls ... lots. And (at home) attending to the many household chores at this 120-year-old place. I've restumped some bits, knocked out other bits of exterior wall and replaced them with something more solid and better insulated, painted one half of the roof and replaced the other half entirely - last week we had 20mm of rain in the garden and none in the kichen! How good is that?), rebuilt the verandah (which really was about to fall down!) reinforced the ancient ceilings so that they are now safe to walk on, installed roof and ceiling insulation, even washed the dishes at least twice. Oh, and built a new garden shed, moved the driveway, laid a heap of brick paving, done some pretty serious landscaping, and put up a heap of fencing. I've done the whole lot myself bar getting a bobcat and an excavator in to help with the landscaping. Oh, and a plumber to put the new hot water service in. Although I didn't want to start doing it and put it off as long as possible, and I'm pretty keen to stop it soon, I've really enjoyed it overall.
There is a great deal of satisfaction to be had in doing stuff you didn't think you could, and a great sense of freedom too: once you've done a couple of major jobs, you realise that you can pretty much learn to do anything you want to if you put your mind to it. Things around the house that have bugged you for decades ... well, you can look at them through fresh eyes. For example, my front door is in the wrong place. I've always wanted to have someone come and move it, but it would cost a heap. Now I can look at it and instead of being annoyed about it, I just remember that I can move it myself anytime I want to. It would take a few days' work and maybe $100 in materials ... no big deal. The funny thing is, I don't have to actually move it to feel better about it. Just knowing that I can is enough, at least for now.
There is still a heap of stuff that wants doing, but I reckon I've done the worst of it now (and learned a lot about making stuff with my hands - it's amazing what you can learn to do if you just take on one step at a time) and it's time to start thinking about getting back to the serious business of life - i.e., travelling and photography.
So I'm back.
Well, I'm expecting to be back.
Assuming they really do let me out, that is.