I stopped writing for a while, actually I stopped doing a lot of stuff I enjoyed. "In a rut" as they say, nothing to do now but pull myself out. There's not a better time to come out of a dark hole than during Spring, and what a Spring we've had. But that's another story. One thing I know for certain...I've really enjoyed the view out my porch window the last few days.

I love photography but I think concentrating on Photography as a way to make money made it less enjoyable in ways that I had not expected. In the beginning photography was about exploring the world around me, looking at things in a different way, seeing the magic all around us.

When it became about money I suddenly had to worry about deadlines, profit, loss, taxes, advertising....a host of responsibilities I neither enjoyed nor had the self discipline to deal with.

I suppose the final straw was the letter I got from the County Auditor's Office, letting me know that I had failed to file Business Property Taxes. Not that I had purposely evaded paying the tax, I simply had no idea such a thing even existed. I knew the county had done away with Business inventory taxes years before...I didn't have "inventory", I pay real estate property taxes, I pay income taxes, and self employment taxes on the profit I made doing photography but I never suspected my cameras and lenses and even my computer would be subject to a separate property tax, simply because I sold some of the pictures I took with them. I'm not an anti tax, anti government person, quite the contrary, but gee whiz, this just seemed a bit more weight than I wanted to carry.

During the cold, gray days of winter I had pulled out some of my very old family photos which inspired me to begin working again on my family history. A project I've worked at for more than 30 years. (No, dear reader, it won't ever be "done", whatever done means.) In November I was provided with an opportunity to take a free DNA test by Ancestry.com as part of a beta test group for a new DNA product they are introducing. I jumped at the chance and am anxiously awaiting results which are expected any day now. In the mean time I've been reading up on a subject I knew little about....and still know little about.