Now for something different. I am now in Santa Rosa, CA and will be for the next month or so.  Santa Rosa's a little more than an hour north of San Francisco near Sonoma, Napa, Sebastopol, Healdsburg, Guerneville and the Russian River floes just north nearby.

Why here? Why not? Escaping Boston in February to go make pictures where it is warmer to an area that is incredibly rich with all kinds of things to discover seems like a no brainer to me. I can get down to San Francisco easily to visit friends, go to a museum or gallery and to my favorite restaurant in  Chinatown.  As I said: no brainer.

Once again I will bring you posts that sum up my experiences and adventures while away and share my thoughts about things photographic, artistic and aesthetic. Since these trips are mostly solo, I tend to have a lot of thoughts rattling around inside my head and I will write about those in the blog too.

One of those, and I think this every time I do one of these trips, is that it is not necessary to go to countries far away to find things that are interesting and different to work with. I am constantly struck with what a large, beautiful and diverse country we have in the US. We all have the same currency, the same politicians in Washington (unfortunately), the same laws like driving on the right, and the same language, although I understand that's a stretch. Have you ever tried to have a conversation with someone born and raised in the deep south?  That's like from a whole different country. 

So that's my plan. I hope you'll come along for the ride.

Below:

At Logan airport just as the sun was coming up, waiting to board the plane on Friday: It was about 15 degrees out.

And the first picture I made out my back door yesterday afternoon in Santa Rosa:

Since I arrived it's been raining, which is good for them here as they really need it but bad for me. I am waiting it out. I am sure sunny California will return soon. I can't wait.

Stay tuned.