Summer Respite

Obviously, there has been little activity on this site this summer. Working in college sports is a crazy life. I have gone through months that were so busy that I didn’t have time to get food from the grocery store. November and March are usually these months as Fall-Winter and Winter-Spring sports collide respectively in these months.

Winter season around the Triangle is usually bad as that is also basketball season (not to mention NHL). With UNC, Duke and NC State playing games 2 times a week at time, it can be overwhelming and non stop work. I guess I can think of worse things than sitting on the floor, photographing ACC Basketball games. But between January 1st and the end of May, I didn’t have a single weekend off except Easter.

I was in Baltimore with the Duke Men’s Lacrosse team for the NCAA tournament in the end of May. I can’t recall a weekend I have been busier. The weekend wore me out but once I was back, it was as if someone shut the lights out. Suddenly, there were no more games to photograph and I was faced with something I’ve not had since August 2006: Free time.

Other than one baseball game, I’ve not really picked up the camera since the end of May. I can’t complain really. My personal life was beginning to suffer from the non-stop work. I’ve used my free time to visit my family and friends. In Wilmington I have the cutest 5 year old little cousin you will ever meet. I also have an adorable and precocious 5 year old (soon to be six in 6 days) niece in Greensboro that I don’t see enough of.

Another thing I’ve used my free time for is to teach myself Russian. I’ve always been interested in Russian culture and Moscva (Moscow-not the true spelling of “Moscva” by I’m not sure how to get a little “B” in Cyrillic to work on this blog) is a city I can’t wait to visit. I’m not expecting to become fluent. Once football season hits, I’ll be photographing so much college and NFL football that I’m sure I won’t have time to continue my studies. But in the meantime, I’m having a blast learning something new. Even though I work in academia in my “real life” beyond photography, I miss learning in the classroom so this learning experience has been rewarding.

Long story short: Don’t expect many postings this summer. I’m enjoying my free time too much and I’m not taking any photos to post anyway.