Somewhere Where It’s Quiet

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Now if that doesn’t describe where we live, I don’t know what does!

We live in the most amazing place, with the most amazing people, and the most amazing animals.  It is truly somewhere where it’s quiet.  Somewhere between the Mogollon Rim and Moqui Draw, surrounded by Potato Lake, Knoll Lake, and Blue Ridge Reservoir, and littered with elk, deer, bobcat, mountain lions, fox, and coyote.  This is what we call our home.

After the devastating Tinder Fire (https://kritterspaw.com/2018/05/02/tinder-fire/)  which we still continue to clean up from that raged in our backyards, we are blessed to have friends and neighbors helping each other out.

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And this is what it looked like BEFORE the fire.  My photo of Moqui Draw, now scarred by the Tinder Fire.

“At sunset, fog shrouds a ponderosa pine forest at Moqui Draw, along East Clear Creek in the Coconino National Forest.  This spot is about a mile southeast of State Route 87 and northeast of Potato Lake.”  Photograph by Kathy Ritter, published in the June 2018 Arizona Highways Magazine, just after the Tinder Fire devastated this very same area.

Dreams DO come true

When I was getting ready to graduate from high school, oh so many years ago, like so many other young adults I was faced with that all important decision, ‘what’s next?’. What do I do with my life?  At the time, as a teenager, I was really into photography.  I used to go out every night and photograph the sunset and mess around with time lapsed photography.  I actually thought I was good.  I wanted to be a Photographer when I grew up.

Well… my dad, in all his wisdom, steered me in another direction.  “Why don’t you go do something that actually makes money?  You can be a Photographer when you retire.”, he told me.  Wise words indeed.  I don’t know what the percentage of Photographers made a successful living at it, particularly back then – before the age of photo workshops and online presence, but it wasn’t very high.  And you had to be VERY good – David Muench good.

So I followed my dad’s sage advice and became an Engineer.  Now that I’m retired I have picked up my camera and tried to get serious about taking real photos.  Moreover, I set a goal for myself… I wanted to be published.  Not just published, but published in Arizona Highways.  A girl can dream, right?!

To my total aghast and surprise, I got a call from Arizona Highways yesterday.  Crazy, right?!  They had selected one of my deer photos for the 2017 AZ Highways calendar… not for a large month photo- but as a little inset photo.  Baby steps, though.  I’m going to have one of MY photos on AZ Highways 2017 classic calendars.  Be still my heart.  OMG!  My dad would be proud.

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