WEEK THIRTEEN
I am starting to feel like one of those pregnant women posting weekly photographs of the progression of a baby bump. When I start to prep a new post I think, “People have got to be sick of this by now.” And I am sure that many of you are, but when I log into the website analytics and see how many hundreds are opening the posts I am blown away and totally embarrassed and think “good thing I decided NOT to write about how proud I was of myself for pooping in the woods.”
But then I remind myself that these posts really are not for anyone else, they are for me. And maybe my Mom. I sometimes feel irritated that I committed myself to these weekly posts because it made it feel a bit like work. It wasn’t always convenient to pull over at the nearest Starbucks to edit photographs and try to come up with witty and interesting things to say, but it kept me working. Rather than hanging out in Michigan for a cold winter, shooting occasionally, I had my camera in my hand nearly every single day. The weekly blogging really pushed me to be continuously shooting, editing, updating. I took over 20,000 images from start to finish. If you want to be successful at anything, at least for most people, you have to practice and I am pumped to see the quality of my work improve from the beginning of this journey, and excited to bring that experience to the 2016 wedding season.
We went all the way back to California this week to camp out in the Redwoods. When we visited the first time it was monsooning for three strait days and we had other commitments up the coast so we had to leave it behind. The whole drive north we talked about how much we wished we could have slept out in those woods. There were still a couple of weeks before I needed to get back for work so we decided to go back. Why not, we were already this far, and who knows when we would be able to be out here again. Hiking four miles up a mountain to sleep in the middle of the giant forest was definitely my favorite part of the trip. So yes, it was totally worth it.
On the last day, while out exploring Fern Canyon, the sun started setting. I stopped following Vlad who was well ahead of me on the trail and sprinted out to the ocean. As I was running, it dawned on me that we would be leaving the coast that night to start the long drive back home. After running as fast as I could in sopping wet hiking boots I discovered that there was a flowing river standing between the myself and the pacific. I abandoned the boots and starting jogging barefoot through the tall grass looking for a way to cross. Vlad had caught up to me now and spotted a tree bridge a ways down. The ground was saturated and we were covered in mud. It felt like being a child again running wild through the back yard. My mom used to yell “Quit running like a wild banshee!!” I am forever a wild banshee.
We made it to the water just in time to dance in the last of the sunlight. Waves crashing on our dirty feet, taking in deep salty breathes and all of the scenery. It was time to say goodbye.
How could I even be mad though. The last three and half months have completely exceeded my expectations. And I have a wicked awesome wedding season to return to with the most patient and supportive clients ever. For all of you that met with me via Skype in random wifi establishments, thank you. Because of all of you and blustering Michigan winters that no one wants to get married in, this road trip was made possible. I am so super pumped to be surrounded by all of your love and best day evers this summer.
Just one week and one post left.
