One Last Dance...One Last Chance

Farewell Tucson
View from Catalina Foothills
Tucson, AZ

Been trying to say goodbye to my mountains. It's been difficult. So I waited to the very last dance and took one more chance last night to photograph the romance of this place. Tucson provided me an opportunity to grow as a person. The mountains provided me with both refuge and solace.

As the sun sets on this aspect of my journey, I look forward to the smiles of three newborn grandchildren and the embraces of my family and friends. I am coming home refreshed by my mountain top and desert experiences and ready for new adventures.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Chasing Clouds

Monsoon and Funnel Cloud
Sonoita, AZ

Just the other day, we were kids staring at and chasing clouds. Years have passed and I still find myself chasing clouds and the dreams they cary. Its not a bad thing.

You if you don't dream, have a vision, or a blueprint you can never attain those ideas. You have to formulate them so at some point down the road you can execute and accomplish your purpose. Time waits for no one. Get up and do something. Become a cloud chaser.

As I drove through the grasslands of Sonoita to watch the effects of the monsoon, I happen to glance to my right and to the skies. I noticed what appeared to be a finger dropping from the clouds as if it was being pursued by the sheets of rain behind it. There before my eyes was the formation of a funnel cloud want to touch the ground but harnessed by the lack of energy.

Keep your eyes open, chase those clouds, follow your dreams and make them come true. Live your life not someone else's. Time is short. Time is precious.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Closing Scenes

The San Rafael Valley
Near Patagonia, AZ

My journey to Tucson and southeast Arizona is about to draw to a close. Originally, I anticipated a job and a paycheck and the hardship of being away from my family and friends. Instead, I found a new artistic voice via the landscapes of the Catalina Mountains and it's foothills and to the south east of the city the splendid Santa Rita's, Huachuca's and Mustang mountains.

Frequently, I found myself going to the grasslands of Sonoita and nearby Patagonia and its San Rafael Valley. It was there that I found myself, my happy place, my own heaven. So every opportunity I had, I spent traveling with my camera allowing the mountains and grasslands to speak to me. And they did and they told me what I had been missing by simply working and not taking time to listen to the quiet found in nature.

Time was meant to measure enjoyment not simply work. How we divide the clock is our problem, the hours are the same for everyone. We must choose to live and to enjoy, not merely survive. Each of us is afforded this choice. Yes, I choose to work but I also choose to live.

Fate has been kind to me.  What appeared to be a travesty an injustice of fortune has turned out to be my most creative period of my life. In addition, I've made all kinds of new friends and have discovered a life that has nothing to do with acquisition or suburbs but the quiet enjoyment of nature.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com

Closing Chapter

Prickly Pears and Finger Rock
Tucson, AZ

Suppose you thought I vanished. In the last few weeks there've been a lot of life courses on my plate, among them the declining health of my father, the amazing birth of triplet grandchildren (Annie, Brennan, and Carter), several trips to Dallas and one to St. Louis to interview for a new position in Dallas. Now after, nearly nine months in Tucson, a place where I found my photographic voice, its time to close this chapter and move on to the next.

What truly amazes me is how the universe poured so many blessings on this unwitting sojourner. The pain of losing a job and a parent within two years and the financial struggles which accompanied both were overwhelming. So overwhelming that I could not see any good coming out of my situation.

Yet those who know me quickly saw how at each turn, I made something of the situation. It was my creativity which sustained me throughout this ordeal. When shrouds of darkness clouded my mind and the borders of my images, hope and light emanated  through them.

As I already prepared to live in Tucson without my family and friends for at least two years, at the very moment my grandchildren were being born, I was on my way to finding another job in Texas. This was no mere coincidence; in fact it was a result of a cold call on June 18th after reading a brief press release in an scrap industry journal. Incredibly things were turning around for me.

So we can't lose hope even when no light appears in sight. We forge ahead with our dreams intact. Thats what sustains us: hopes and dreams. The next time you see a peak in front of you, don't avoid it, climb it.

www.photographybyalhernandez.com