All Good Things

All Good Things

This photograph was made in Key West, and I like to call it “All good things”, because it reminds me that all good things come from bad things.

It’s a picture of a royal poinciana tree in full bloom in a cemetery, growing between graves.  In the graves are humans experiencing what most humans consider to be the most tragic thing a human can experience.  Surrounded by all that tragedy that grows a beautiful flowering royal poinciana tree.

I haven’t experienced anything quite that tragic, but in June of 2021 I was diagnosed with severe heart problems and then in July of 2021 I was diagnosed with cancer.

My heart problems were severe enough that my cardiologist wanted more tests before my surgical biopsy for cancer diagnosis which delayed cancer treat by a full month. 

Anyways, I made it through that and I started cancer treatment in early September and that’s when I caught my (now ex) spouse cheating.

This all happened in less than 90 days and I thought it was pretty much over.  It seemed wild because just five years prior I was a triathlete and martial artist.  How did my health get here?

I’ve never been one to give up so I didn’t.

I did what the doctors recommended.  All of it.  I had a full healthcare plan that included self-care, nutrition, and therapy.  And I worked on it, every day, and I made it through.

Eventually I started hiking as part of cancer recovery, to help me get my strength back and it worked.   So, I kept hiking.

In 2024, as I was approaching three years cancer free, I decided to take my bucket list trip.  I always had this dream vacation of circumnavigating the USA in a car; which would basically be driving the perimeter of the country and visiting national parks along the way – especially the Grand Canyon.  I had to see the Grand Canyon.

This trip and the Grand Canyon have been my bucket list trips since I was about 12 years old, and at 57, I was finally going to take it.  Bonus - do both in one trip.

I did the trip unplanned, no itinerary, except see the Grand Canyon and Key West, and just go and enjoy and I decided to take a camera.

I always wanted a good camera that had changeable lenses so I decided to get one for the big trip.  One thing led to another and I fell in love with photography.  Specifically landscape and wildlife photography, but I also love other genres as well.

I left on May 1, 2024 for the big trip and I returned the first week of August 2024…for two months.

Now I have a new career as a landscape photographer that I thoroughly enjoy and it takes me to some fantastic places.

The places I have traveled are documented within the pages of the https://www.greenlush.studio website, and on social media, Facebook and Instagram (links below).