It’s a big, beautiful world out there. Please enjoy it responsibly. Well.This has been an interesting month, hasn't it? Coronavirus, COVID-19, and I will smack you if you call it "The 'Rona" around me, it's really been a total, no-holds-barred, full contact bitch, hasn't it? Since we're all stuck inside, or advised to only go to essential businesses only for essential purposes, or can go outside but FOR THE LOVE OF GOT DON'T CONGREGATE...it seems like as good a time as any to remind us that despite the current global pandemic, this is, indeed, a Big. Beautiful. World. The other day my husband George--who I am allowed to see since we live together--and I went to RB Winter State Park. It's a beautiful park, complete with a waterfall, and a beach, and...well, there would be picnic facilities if COVID-19 didn't shut them down. The good news is, the park was relatively empty except for small family clusters, who maintained distance between other groups. Thus people in PA, or at least in my part of PA, are taking this seriously. As a photographer, that meant I got the opportunity to shoot landscapes without people. I don't hike much because I am a bug magnet and they will come steaming out of their hideyholes to munch on me. But it was still too cold for most bugs, even with my enticing presence, and it was GORGEOUS out that day. Here's one more, of the dam and the lake. If I'm going to be forced out of work and live under the threat of a killer virus, at least I get to do it near places that look like this. Two things: Photographers, heed my warning. I made the rookiest rookie mistake this day. I'd taken pictures earlier at my house, uploaded them into my computer and...forgot to put the memory card back in my camera. And I didn't have a backup card in my bag. Lesson learned, and a trip to Wal-Mart fixed that problem. All photos taken with my phone and I'm not unhappy with them, but I would have been happier with my DSLR. And: People, please. Pay attention to this virus. It's real, and it's killing people. I just saw some numbers about its impact that are horrifying. Stay home, socially distance, and if you have to go out (which I get, hence the above photos), go somewhere empty. DON'T sneak over to your neighbor's house for coffee, just drop in on your mom for 20 minutes, let your kids run around on play dates. I hope to see you all out in the sun, on the other side of this. XOXO