After living here for more than a decade I've learned a few things about this place. First and foremost is to never predict the weather. Second is to never make plans without making backup plans. Third, never predict the weather. . .
That said, I'll make a forecast. This fall, 2012 on Glacier National Park's east side (photograph of the Empire builder clipping along the tracks just outside of East Glacier Park, Montana), should be stellar! By all accounts this is shaping up to be one for the record books. We had good moisture, warm summer days, and now the evenings are cold but the days are warm, the perfect combination for fall photography! The unknowns are the weather. At this point the leaf's are already changing but since I cant predict the weather, I cant tell you what's going to happen.
That said, if we stay on this warm day, cool night pattern, in two more weeks the color is going to explode out here! If you're going to plan a trip, just watch the weather. If you see conditions on the east side around East Glacier Park, Babb, or Saint Mary dip much below 20 degrees for a day or two, and it snows more than a few inches, you should plan to hit the west side of the park. Those conditions usually are followed by a strong Chinook wind that will strip the leaves so fast you'd swear the trees never had any in the first place.
The outlook is fantastic this year! Plan a trip out here, but make sure you watch the weather and adjust accordingly. If you're coming no matter what, the west side around the North Fork, and the Lake Mcdonald area, along with Highway 2 are always fantastic but usually it ripens a little later than the east. . . Look for more larch than deciduous trees on the west side, and be sure to bring a Tiffen 77mm Circular Polarizer.
Have a great fall season in Glacier National Park!
What more can I say - this is the most beautiful place on earth . . . Sometimes when you try too hard to find a photograph you overlook the obvious . . . Try to focus less and laugh more . . . you'll find it!
On Saturday, June 9th, I finally made good on a conservation donation I made almost a year ago. Back in September I donated a day with me photographing nature to the Glacier-Two Medicine Alliance. The purpose of the donation was to help raise money for the organization and help it reach it's ultimate vision, "A child of future generations will recognize and can experience the same cultural and ecological richness that we find in the wild-lands of the Badger-Two Medicine today." Fitting!
Based on the request of the person who purchased the auction item - me for a day - we headed into Glacier National Park. Our first stop on that mostly cloudy and rainy day, as it turned out, was Saint Mary's Lake, and Wild Goose Island. That location is best photographed in the morning. As I was learning to photograph Glacier National Park, I once drove back and forth from Browning, MT where I was living at the time, to Saint Mary Lake 25 times over the course of 25 days just to photograph it. However, on this outing we have only one day to get it right!
I like the look of time lapse, particularly when there's some motion. Notice the trees, the lake and the sky. If you want to change it up a bit, try some time lapse, it's really fun!
If you're from Glacier country, you learn to never be surprised by weather and you cant ever rely on a forecast. Yesterday, I read the forecast, it called for one inch of snow. I woke up this morning to a foot, and it's coming down! So, winter has come a little late this year, but, as the saying goes, it's better late than never. We need the moisture! Thank you weather Gods!
Press Release from National Park Service - Glacier National Park
Wildlife Protection Limits Travel to Designated Trails Travel on Trails Only in Specific Areas Through May 15
WEST GLACIER, MONT. – Off-trail travel through critical winter range areas is not allowed through May 15 in specific areas of the North Fork, Lake McDonald and St. Mary Districts of the park in an effort to protect wildlife. This restriction is intended to protect wintering ungulates such as deer, elk, moose and sheep from disturbance. Limiting human use to designated trails will help protect the animals during the critical winter and spring months.
This restriction does not affect the public’s use of designated roads, trails or river in these areas. Only off-trail use is prohibited between December 1 and May 15 of each year. Signs are posted at public access points in these locations.
In the North Fork area, the protection area is between the North Fork of the Flathead River and the Inside North Fork Road south of Logging Creek and north of Dutch Creek. Further south along the North Fork of the Flathead River, the winter range immediately east of the river from Big Creek south through Great Northern Flats, the Apgar Mountains area, is also protected.
In the Lake McDonald area the restriction to designated trails is in the Belton Hills area along the Middle Fork of the Flathead Rive r corridor. On the east side of the park, the winter range protection areas include the St. Mary, Two Dog Flats and Rising Sun areas.
Scientific evidence and research shows that human disturbance in ungulate winter ranges can adversely impact and stress wintering ungulate populations. In particular, ungulates occupy these areas just before and during the spring green-up, at the time of year when they are at their poorest physical condition. Disturbance to the wildlife can inflict major stress on the populations, which may result in the death of individual animals. By implementing these off-trail restrictions in some of the park’s most humanly-accessible winter ranges, the park is also mirroring state restrictions and providing consistency in protecting big-game populations and winter ranges.
Specific information about the protection areas is offered through narrative and maps in the Glacier National Park 2012 Compendium which is located on the park’s website at www.glacier.nps/glac by clicking on park management, laws and policies.
Sure sign of spring, the grizzly bears are out. This means pull your bird feeders and pack your bear spray! Nuf-said . . . Grizzly bears are out along the Rocky Mountain Front! (link to full story in the Great Falls Tribune).
Chief Mountain on Glacier National Park's East Side and the Blackfeet Reservation during fall.
It's a rare treat to have the fall colors this good along Glacier National Parks East side. In most years the leaf's ether freeze and fall off or they begin to change and the fierce winds strip them before they get to full color. I captured this image of Chief Mountain (above), along Glacier National Park's north east corner on Saturday October 8th 2011. Chief Mountain is an iconic spire the world over. It's eastern edge is on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation while the west side is in Glacier National Park. Chief Mountain is still cherished today and vision quests and ceremonies are a regular occurrence.
The image below is of a forest of aspens in Glacier National Park near East Glacier Park, Montana, ranging from bright orange to light yellow and green.
Colorful aspens changing from green to orange and yellow in glacier national park.
Fall colors with snow, Glacier National Park, Logan Pass area
As these photos show, not this year though. Glacier National Park fall colors this year are as good as I have seen then in the last 5-6 years.
I captured this tree landscape image near Logan Pass in Glacier National Park just after a fresh fall snow storm, notice the range of colors and the contrast it creates with the snow.
The forecast for the next week or so is for rain, wind and snow starting this weekend, so this may have been the weekend to be here - you just never can tell with fall colors in Glacier National Park. On the bright side, if you miss the color on the east side I'm sure you can catch some great color around Lake McDonald, on Glacier National Parks west side. And on of my favorite scenes are the fall larch, and they have not turned yet, so look for better color in late October and early November along the middle fork of the Flathead River along Highway Two on Glacier National Park's south end.
If you're interested in looking at more western tree species please take a look at this gallery of rocky mountain trees on Tony Bynum's website. Tony Bynum makes all of his images available for licensing or prints, please contact him at tony@tonybynum.com to discuss your needs.
This is a departure from my regular glacier park posts, but it is important to me to share this response to Congressman Rehberg's hearings to consider gutting the Antiquities Act - the question is where are the jobs Mr. Rehberg?
Need Accountability for attacks on Sporting Heritage
Quiz time - What’s the most popular place in the world to hunt trophy Bighorn Sheep?
Give yourself a pat on the back if you were thinking of Montana’s Missouri River Breaks National Monument. If you didn’t get the answer, don’t worry, your about to learn something else. The coulees and canyon lands of the Breaks Monument will still be a huge sporting destination one hundred years from now because it’s world-class habitat and our hunting traditions were protected by proclamation a decade ago.
Hunting the Breaks country is big deal, which I can attest too as both a hunter and commercial photographer who’s always on the lookout for the best hunting and wild game photographs in Montana. Last year alone sportsmen spent over 20,000 days in search of trophy elk, deer, and big horn sheep in this popular ‘bread and butter’ hunting destination. But not everyone is as proud of our Breaks as the pick-up loads of sportsmen who are beginning to make their annual migration to central Montana from all corners of our state, and Nation.
Representative Denny Rehberg recently took the podium in Congress to demonize Monuments like the Breaks in an attempt to gut the Antiquities Act and make it harder for Montanans to pass along our hunting heritage. After scaring people for more than a year with the threat of a phantom Monument, he’s now trying to reap what he’s sown.
Its decisions like these that have caused many folks in the sporting community to wonder who has the ear of our Congressmen. Whoever it is, I don’t think its public lands hunters because the evidence is pretty clear his voting record hasn’t favored our pastime.
Recall, it wasn’t too long ago that Congressmen Rehberg voted alongside then California Representative Pombo on a 2005 bill that would have sold our public lands and prime elk habitat to developers of casinos, ski resorts, and condos for rock bottom prices. It was the largest public lands scam in recent history.
Now this year Congressmen Rehberg has supported another California lawmakers legislation to immediately axe roadless protections throughout Montana and the nation- from the limestone reefs of the Rocky Mountain Front to the deep larch and cedar forests of the Yaak. Its one-size fits all legislation and its causing a huge uproar among hunters. For good reason.
Montana has one of the longest hunting season in the country because of the habitat security that roadless public lands provide for elk, mule deer, and other big game. If you lose your roadless security you’ve just lost the headwaters of your hunting opportunity. It’s happened before in other states.
In defending his record, we’ve often heard Representative Rehberg say he is protecting Montanans from bureaucrats in Washington. It’s a good talking point but it ignores that both the Missouri River Breaks designation and the original roadless process were both transparent and open public processes which Montanans supported.
I watched the Breaks monument process very carefully as past member and chair of the Central Montana Resources Advisory Council. I was at every meeting for five years and heard every issue first hand. The truth is that there are people who just don’t like the government, period, so it’s easy to get them fired up when you tell them the big bad government is taking away liberties, regardless of the facts.
Montanan’s are always going to need clean streams to fish in and wide open spaces to hunt. Our roadless forest lands and BLM prairie lands are central to healthy wildlife habitat. Our patriotic duty is to protect our states hunting heritage not to make short sided, mostly selfish decisions that in the long run will take that away from Montanans.
Let’s remember what matters most. What legacy shall we leave our children and theirs? Public land, open hunting for the common man is a tradition out west. I wish to leave that legacy to my children and when this heritage is threatened by bad leadership decisions we need to hold our leaders feet to the fire. It is far better to manage wisely and preserve our intact systems than it is to dismantle and try to rebuild them later.
Tony Bynum is an award winning professional photographer, small business owner and adventure sportsmen who lives in East Glacier Park.
Busy summer so far. It seems like the days are too long, but how could that be, as photographers we need light right? Well, the obvious answer is yes, but in the summer the golden hours of photography are only hours apart - apart between night and day that is! That means that there's about 4-5 hours of sleep when it's dark, if you are on location. Which means most photographers switch to bartender hours - but all of us sleep less - up all night, sleep during the middle of the day. To that end I'd like to share with you a few shots I captured recently.
There are few things that are as captivating to me as tepee's on the prairie and ad some nice clouds and beautiful light and you forget about how tired you really are! The one thing I must share with you is a secret which every photographer knows and until you graduate from knowing it to practicing it, you're just like everyone else.
The secret is - drum-role please - not a secret at all. Wa-wa-waaaa . . . sorry. In fact, it's just about shooting subjects that are available, and not stopping till you have to. Often times a unique subject, in spectacular light come along so seldom that when it does, you really need to buckle down and shoot photograph it. Seems simple ay. But how many times have you come home and looked at your files from a shoot and gone, "man, I should have shot more of that?" That feeling makes a pit in my stomach every time. It's so disturbing to me that I've turned it into one of my goals. "Never come home and say, I should have shot more of that." Or, "If only I had worked that subject a little harder." If I've seen it once I've seen it 100 times. A subject presents itself and we move on thinking that we can return, or that it will be there tomorrow. Well
I got news for you, IT WON'T!
The moral of the story, as it so often is, is get out and shoot!!!!
Summer days are already getting shorter by about 5 minutes per day. I'm busy planning trips and getting gear ready for the launch of my fall hunting photography. It wont be long now till the green grass gives way to silvery frost . . . Boy, life is about as fantastic as it gets!
If you're in the Glacier Park area, stop in to Glacier Impressions Gallery in East Glacier Park and say hi to Gina, Stacy or myself! Oh yeah, and one more thing, if you cant get over to East Glacier Park, but you can make it to the Flathead Valley, I just signed on with a Gallery in Polson, MT, it's called the, "Montana West Gallery," stop in and say hi to Shawna Croft, she'd love to meet you! And don't forget you can always check out images on my website, www.tonybynum.com.
Grizzly Bears and Grizzly Bear Management
The Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks and other's in the bear management team are ramping up efforts to trap grizzly bears along the Rocky Mountain Front and in Yellowstone National Park! Locations will be well marked. Be aware when you're out in the woods and pay attention to signs of bear activity (tracks, scant, freshly turned over rocks - usually large one's - winter kills, crows and ravens in trees - could tip you off to a carrion, etc). This season it seems that bears are roaming farther out, away from the mountains and subsequently may stay longer in search of greener pastures - pun intended! For more on the story find it at, "agency to trap grizzly's."
Scouting for that Perfect Shot- sometimes that means I'm not looking to capture that that perfect shot!
Scouting is one of the most important parts of being a nature photographer. Sure it's thrilling to trip on a gem of a spot and just shoot it on the fly, but in order to create those one of a kind shots, consistently over time, you need to find those locations that are capable of producing the kinds of images you want to create. After you fine them, you need to put together a plan and be ready to implement the plan when the conditions are right.
For example, in glacier national park this season it's been cold and wet with lots of snow lingering. In some places the snow pack is well over 200% of average water content and some say it's as has high as 390%! This tells me that the potential is there for great color as it warms and the flowers start to bloom! But it also tells me that all the pot holes that have been dry or very low will fill up.
Yesterday, the air was calm, hardly a breeze - which is unusual around here. So I sprang to action, grabbed my gear and raced out the door. I spend a good half day just hitting all the places that in the past I noted would hold water and be a possible source for a cool glacier park reflection photograph. My mission yesterday was to scout those locations that I know have the potential for producing a great shot given the right set of conditions. On this trip, I did not set out intending to create a master piece photograph, I wanted to cover ground and see as many locations as I could while it was calm!
I know that in the next month things will ripen, the grass will turn green and the flowers will pop! When it's "ripe," I dont want to be searching around looking for that perfect shot location. Instead, I want to know exactly where I need to be for the shot. To that end, I still shot the scenes while scouting just so I could analyze them back home on my computer, knowing full well that the color was not going to be what I wanted. Imagine this shot if the ground were green and the sky and mountains lit like this shot of Sinopah mountain.
Scouting enables me to plot a course for photographic success rather than leaving it to chance. For sure the weather will have to cooperate, but success is when opportunity meets preparation, and I need to be sure that I've done what I can before the opportunity arises. I do love the organic nature of just wondering around and finding those great places and capturing those spontaneousness photographs that turn into gems, but that's not a good way to do things if your trying to make a career of photography.
Stay tuned for my next blog post when I explain these . . . Care to take a guess? Give it a shot!
Glacier Park Art online Gallery
I recently set up a new online gallery with a few glacier park photographs. The online gallery will allow you to purchase directly a few sizes of prints, and other types of swag like key chains, coffee mugs, mouse pads and more! Any would make a great gift for the Glacier Park enthusiast in your life! The images are of Glacier National Park and were created over the past several years. Click on the picture you like, let it load then add it to your cart (button at the top of the page), then you will be able to select from the list of available products. If you find a photographic image that you like, that's not in the online gallery but on my site, or want to know more about any of the the images, please ask! Some of the photos in this gallery will also be available this summer at Glacier Impressions Gallery, Highway 49, just down the road from the Glacier Park Lodge here in East Glacier Park, MT.
Bear Aware
How about a few bear refreshers! I've seen several grizzly and black bears around recently and would like to reminded everyone to be bear aware!
Here's a great video on being bear aware: http://bit.ly/iCaNvg
Here is a great video on how to use bear spray: http://bit.ly/bu1Kcx
Spring in Glacier Park
It is spring in Glacier National Park, finally! I've been told that some of the park camp grounds on the east side wont open till June 10th, and as of today, May 18 (Mt Saint Helen's erupted on this day in 1980), the roads on the east side of the park are only slightly open . . . what that means is they are not open very far, if you want more information on the park roads, Google "glacier park roads."
The Pasque Flower (Pulsatilla vulgaris) or the crocus flower is in full bloom. In fact this bloom is as good as I've ever seen it. For those not familiar with that flower, here's an example of one I shot just two days ago. In the coming weeks expect the following: balsam, glacier lily, yellow bells, camas, and many more!
The snow is melting rapidly around east glacier park. Luna's, a local restaurant is open, Serrano's opened a couple of weeks ago, the Grill and Ramsey's (not there are not kitchen nightmares there) of course remain open for business, and i'm seeing lots of activity in town! Glacier Impressions Gallery plans to be open soon too although I'm going to miss the opening few days.
I hope if you're planning a trip out to Glacier National Park, you'll find time to stop in and say hi to us at the Glacier Impressions Gallery on hwy 49 in east glacier park (on the road though town if you're going up to Two Medicine Lake, or driving over the scenic Looking Glass Road on your way to Saint Mary's), - Looking Glass is not yet open, too mush snow still; I'll update this blog when it opens!
Glacier Park Photo Gifts
I've also just launched a new online gallery with a few Glacier Park images that can be purchased online in the form of prints on paper, mugs, key chains, puzzles and cards, if you're interested, please take a look! Once there, just click the "add to cart" button and it will give you a list of items you can buy.
The recent news from the National Park Service, Glacier National Park is that most of the camp grounds on the east side wont open until June 10th, which is much later then average, due to snow pack and delays in getting roads open and other facilities operational. In some places the Park is reporting almost 400% of average snow pack! Wow . . .
The delays have impacted me and slowed my progress this spring that's for sure. The delays likely will have dramatic impacts on the businesses here in East Glacier Park as well, including my gallery. But with lemons one can decide to make lemonade, right! What does that mean, it means this is a great opportunity for me to photographs things that have, for one reason or another escaped me. Here's a list of a few things you can do to turn some bad news into a learning opportunity!
Start by thinking more about what the light is doing NOW, at this time of year, than on where you wish you were. The fact is that the most important aspect of great landscape imagery is LIGHT! Think more about light angles and less about that exact location you were planing, since last fall, to be at in May. Trust me, when you start shooting light and not subject it will open up a whole new world!
Try shooting small subjects close to your home, like budding flowers or buzzing bees in your yard.
Shoot landscapes when the trees are not fully leafed out (try them back-lit by the sun too), the colors and smaller leaves often allow you to produce interesting images that you've always missed in the past due to being in that "perfect place."
Try shooting water themes. Spring often is the best time to shoot water themes. Try to shoot them under cloudy sky's, you'll be surprise - try a polarizer, use a tripod!
Try shooting migrating waterfowl including shore birds are always available in the spring and not often in mountainous regions like Glacier Park, so look to your local pond or wetland for great waterfowl and bird opportunities.
Watch for clouds and shoot rainbows. Rainbows can be found almost anywhere and spring is often the best time to fine them. The trick to rainbows is to know when they will appear and how to find them. When you have rain and direct sun, you will have a rainbow. Put your back to the sun, look straight out in front of you and you will find the rainbow. Try to get the end of the rain bow landing in something interesting, or balance something right in the center, but under it if it's a full rainbow.
If you can't alter your travel plans, or you're coming to Glacier no matter what, all of these suggestions can be applied around Glacier National Park as well. There is so much to offer photographically around Glacier that no matter what, you should be able to find interesting subjects under any conditions. In fact, less than "ideal" conditions, and forcing yourself to shoot other subjects is what makes you grow as a photographer.
The Rocky Mountain Front in Montana, the area from roughly Rogers Pass north to Glacier National Park is the subject of the Discovery Tour. Recently the Coalition to Protect the Rocky Mountain Front teamed up with several others to sponsor the "Rocky Mountain Front Discovery Tour." The Tour was meant to showcase the unique outdoor recreation, cultural and physical qualities the Front offers. Many years of conservation activities have culminated in a place where grizzly bears still come on to the prairie, elk, deer and wolves are free to roam and blankets of wildflowers bloom freely every spring and summer.
The folks that put on the Tour and who created the Discovery Guide asked me if I would help them by presenting some of my photographs during the Tour. I was more than happy to help. In response to that request, I produced this video/slideshow of the Rocky Mountain Front. It contains some short video, a lot of photographs of local people, outstanding landscapes, and wildlife. I hope you take a minute to watch this video and if you find it interesting share your thoughts with me and share the video with your friends!
I hope you all are having a great spring! It's finally warming up here in Glacier National Park and I'm anxious to get out and get some spring photographs.
What makes one creative? Is it place, is it age, is it genetics, experience . . ? As I crossed back into Montana from Idaho along I-90, returning from a recent trip to the Pacific Northwest, I felt like I was back home. Immediately after passing the "welcome to Montana" billboard, I rolled down the window, even while the snow was clipping by at 50 mph, and snatched a gulp of cold, clean, crisp Montana air. Next, I happily pushed the clock ahead one hour, to catch up to the mountain time zone - just being in the mountain time zone makes me feel more at home.
Do you have a place that makes you feel like you're at home? Does your soul know when it's connected to the earth and the air? Where on this planet do you feel most connected, balanced and at home? For me it's Montana and the Rocky Mountains, particularly the eastern slopes where it's cold, windy, and the sky's are as large as my imagination with boundaries set only by the rugged cliffs, endless sky and my ability to navigate the terrain.
Being in a place that makes me feel like I'm at home is what allows me to be creative. This does not mean I dont travel or that I'm not creative when I'm shooting on the road, quite the contrary. It means that place is important to me and it's important to have a place that allows you to feel at home. For me that's Glacier Country in Montana. It's beautiful, remote, timeless, rugged, hard, clean, and free. There are no Starbuck's, no Costco's, no traffic and few people. It does get lonely at times, cell service often sucks, there are fewer job opportunities and housing is marginal, and I have to work harder than most of my colleagues, but the quality of life that it all brings and the creativity that it allows me to generate makes it all seem like the right place at the right time! Are you living in your creative place?
Spring In East Glacier and Grizzly Bears
It's spring in East Glacier, a good deal of local snow pack left last week, but there's still mountains in my yard, and today it's cold and the forecast is for more winter like weather. It's almost May so it can't be long now until we see more dirt, grass and soil than ice and snow! Already we are only 50 days from the longest day of the year, the trees are budding in places, all a sure signs of spring. It also means the bears are out and lurking around. Be sure to give yourself a bear spray refresher (know how it works) and above all, be sure you have a fresh can on you and ready for use when you're out!
More on Grizzly Bears. I'm often asked where to find bears, how to photograph them, how close do I get and so on. I always remark, "grizzly bears are where you find them, they are anywhere and everywhere at any time. You have to be on guard and alert at all times. Don't approach them, and for heavens sake, don't try to track them down." I very much enjoy a good photograph of a grizzly bear but I do not seek the critters out, instead I use opportunity and seize it when it presents itself and without danger.
To me there's something magical and invigorating about living and working in a landscape where a bear is on top of the pyramid, but I also give them respect, their space, and do whatever I can to avoid encounters with them while in the back-country.
On that note, this is the time of year that I pay special attention to what's going on around me when I'm outside. Since I like to roam widely and make my own path - trails and obvious routs are not my style - trails are for hikers, and I'm an explorer - in the spring I try to be more visible and less quite than ever. The bears like brush, creek bottoms and places where's there's lush green forbs growing. And soon, the boars will be chasing the sow's around which makes their exact locations unpredictable!
I dont recommend people set out in search of bears to photograph, at least not in Glacier National Park. The grizzly bears around here are well known for their aggressive and "territorial" behavior. If you want really to photography grizzly bears there are lots of great places in Alaska where you can get all the pictures you want and remain relatively safe doing it.
As a closing note, I'd like to thank the dedicated members of the Professional Outdoor Media Association for all the their generous support in electing me to the Board of Directors. I was honored to receive the nomination and now I'm very happy to accept the position! Thank you POMA!
Tony
PS
COME TO MISSOULA, MT on May 3rd for a great presentation!
If you need something to do next Tuesday, come the University of Montana on May 3rd, where at 6:30 PM I'll be showing on the big screen, some of my images of the Rocky Mountain Front, and Ben Lamb of the Montana Wildlife Federation will be speaking about the Rocky Mountain Front - check it out here: http://bit.ly/muA4aL
I want to share a story and a music video slide show from a friend of mine who lives here in Montana. He's an inspirational man gifted as as singer-song-writer, a craftsman, and in three words, a good human.
This a blog about glacier national park and photography. While this post is not specifically about glacier national park photography, the essay written by Dave Walburn has some great Glacier Country, Crown of the Continent images. But more importantly, his essay is about life. My photography is my life and Dave's songs and this essay resonates with me, so I thought it was fitting.
Some people are good with words and singing, like Dave Walburn. Some people are good with a camera, some people are good with writing, painting or power tools, but no matter what your tools of the trade are, you should follow your passion and listen to your inner voice; do what's right in your own world and don't let anyhow convince you otherwise. If it's right for you, go for it!
I want to thank Dave for letting post this to my blog. I also want to suggest that if you like his work you give him a shout out, friend him on facebook, follow him on youtube, or just revel in the fun and thoughtfulness of his words and songs . . . Thank you Dave!
Drywall, and Inner Voice
My dad always said, “If I knew the details of what was in store when I embarked on the journey, I would have probably never started the journey to begin with. But then again, I wouldn’t have arrived at my destination.” Sometimes ignorance is bliss!
I think most folks who have built a house or started a business would concur with this sentiment. If you want to change your life, make something of value and contribute, you have to start somewhere or nothing ever gets done. Life is short! Have you read Seth Godin’s new book- Poke The Box ? Here’s what he said; “Poke the Box is about the spark that brings things to life. We need to be nudged away from conformity and toward ingenuity, toward answering unknown questions for ourselves. Even if we fail, as I have done many times in my life, we learn what not to do by experience and doing the new.
This isn’t the same thing as taking a risk. In fact, the riskiest thing we can do right now is nothing.”
My good friend and general contractor, Tom Nixon, who has been helping me at different stages of this project, warned me as a friend, of the pitfalls and difficulties of building a house by myself.
He suggested I rethink the dream.
We were at hunting camp when he uttered the warning and I remember staying up half the night drenched in a wave of panic, wondering if building a house was the right thing to do. I came to the conclusion that indeed it was. You have to trust your inner voice regardless of other peoples opinions and doubts. The voice kept saying, “build it and they will come, build it and they will come.”
I have always felt that the inner voice is God way of talking to you and if you listen, He will lead. It is when we don’t listen that we lose our way. Mostly prompted by fear, we tend to talk ourselves out of what we know is right.
So what does all this have to do with drywall?
Mostly it comes from my need to share my experience and celebrate. That’s the beauty of social media. It’s a chance to share stories and experiences. If you could have seen two middle aged men hauling 50 pound bags of plaster mix, six at a time, in sleds up a 100 yard snow drift this weekend, you would understand my need to rejoice in the fact that I am nearing the end of a very long journey. Now that the drywall is complete in the basement, the building is near an end and we can all start to enjoy this magnificent place and all it has to offer. Of course, there will always be something to do, but it feels manageable now. “Rejoice, I see the light, rejoice.”
So with all this in mind, please enjoy this little slide show I have put together! A celebration of a wonderful winter hanging out at the Stonehouse and working on the basement and ripping lips on some might big rainbow trout. Again, thanks to all my friends and family who have helped me on this project. The door is always open!
Side Note: The song to this slideshow is one I wrote in 1988 on my way to Alaska to homestead with my best friends. Trading Time For Money – it is on my Cabin Song CD – which you can find on my website DavidWalburn.com .
Its all about listening to the inner voice and going for it, win or lose. See you soon!
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