A couple weekends ago, time and the weather permitted my wife and I the opportunity to hit the road. Naturally, I wanted to take pictures, so I lobbied for a drive to my old fave haunt, the Miami/Globe area.
Miami’s charm is undeniable. Huddled around decrepit mining operations, crumbling homes rub shoulders with shuttered processing plants and massive barren tailing mounds. The best stuff is out of public view, hidden behind locked gates and barbed wire fences on land owned by the mines, which continue to function. But the neighborhoods offer up plenty of wealth on their own. My wife hates it when I hunt for subjects in the residential streets. She feels that homes should be off limits, and says it’s only a matter of time before I earn a confrontation with an irate resident. But these places are clearly empty, and not long for this world. Besides, I can always say I work for a real estate company.
Here’s an article I wrote last year for a proposed column over at 
A month into 2008, I’ve finally settled on my so-called “new years resolution” — to take better pictures. Time to set aside the automatic modes of my point-and-shoot. Instead of composing quirky sentences to delight the Bostworld visitor, I find myself trying to memorize the various formulas of f-stop, focal length, ISO and depth of field. I’ll need to brush up on my math as well. (What’s the reciprocal of x times 1.6?) The whole thing reminds me of balancing the chemicals in my swimming pool. If the black algae spots in my plaster are any indication, 2008 should be a banner year.
Why would anyone want to take a vacation right in the middle of the holiday season? A confluence of factors — coinciding free time availability, expiring vacation days, overwork and its attendant unstoppable urge to flee — caused my wife and I to travel cross country to visit the Florida Keys three weeks before Christmas this year. Encamped at an ocean-facing getaway that could also provide animal-free meals, we spent a lovely handful of days sightseeing, indulging in water sport, watching satellite television, getting eaten alive by invisible sand fleas, and generally trying to get some rest before the onslaught of year’s-end celebration.
