40. Slightly late on the annual birthday post, which has become a tradition of being the only post each year. Here is a photo of a G5 solar storm taken while flying 32,000 feet over southeast Alaska. The second, less-impressive photo of a less-impressive solar storm was taken just after sunset while departing JFK. Hopefully aircraft windows block radiation.
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#northernlights #aurora #alaskaairlines #sitka #newyork
39. Older than I ever wanted to be. Initially. Also over a month late. Cheers from Norway - the Northern Lights, and enjoying a $18 dollar beer with a Danish Military counterpart, upholding freedom and all since 2020.
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#forsvaret #bodø #norway #auroraborealis #northernlights #denmark
38. A welcome lull in the constant onslaught of work and high-priority urgencies allowed me to spend a quiet day at home…for once. I was greeted with a warm, “OMG! You’re So Old” donut, payed bills, and ultimately rounded out the day by smashing @mistermars in Smash (somewhat, not really). Cheers to being old!
36. While eating a fried chicken sandwich along a Qatari roadside, I watched these guys struggle to the top of a sand dune, jump out of their car, dance around wildly, and promptly drive back down. Thanks for the awesome photo opportunity, guys.
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#doha #qatar #sealineqatar #sealinebeach
The Sharq, a well-known hotel with its’ own private beach and impressive, desert pool area. Not pictured is the massive stadium next door that lies unfinished as Doha prepares for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The city has vowed to plant 16,000 trees ahead of the games, an impressive feat by one of only four countries where none grow naturally.
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#qatar #doha #sharqvillage #worldcup2022 #beige #sand #poortrees
Back in May of this year I had the opportunity to visit the Town of Spectre, a highly metaphorical location from one of my favorite movies - Big Fish. This day, the buildings that were not CGI sat beneath pine trees draped in Reindeer Moss, quietly basking in the fading, late-afternoon sunlight. Although the fictional residents are long gone, a family of goats now watches over what remains of Spectre.
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#townofspectre #bigfish #alabama #montgomeryalabama #bigfishlittlepond
Drove south from Miami along U.S. Route 1 to watch the 2019 Key West Airshow at Naval Air Station Key West. I was able to see some strange and incredible things: the world’s fastest truck (a semi truck powered by 3 jet engines) racing two inverted stunt planes down the runway, a husband-wife, stunt-pilot duo performing aerobatics with the wife strapped to the top of the plane, and of course the Blue Angels screaming through the Southern Florida skies at several hundred miles per hour just inches apart.
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#airshowkeywest #blueangels #gregshelton #shockwavejettruck #keywest
Spent the weekend-off from flight training by exploring the Everglades situated just beyond Miami’s city limits. This is the third-largest National Park in the country and one of the most difficult to traverse unless you can drive on swampland and water. My Nissan Versa rental could not. At sunset I stopped beside one of the hundreds of roadside bogs littered with Pond Cypress to capture the sunset and reflect on the day.
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#evergladesnationalpark #pondcypress #baldcypress
34. Ten years ago I imagined what 30 would feel like...but I never bothered to fathom how anything would feel after that. And honestly, I’m the most surprised with how quickly time passes and how little a numerical age seems to matter to me now. So in keeping with my annual birthday posting tradition, thank you to my family, my great friends, and for all of our shared experiences that continuously help me survive longer and longer. And in the words of one much older than me (20 Days), “Sucks to be old, you guys make me feel less so!"
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Photo Credit: @sarah.swirls Quote Credit: @krisimpossible #34 #saltlakecity #interstate80 #arrowsacrossamerica #optoutside
A deserted Matsumoto Castle as the evening mist was enveloping the town. This is one of the oldest non-renovated castles left in Japan, complete with original, Japanese Cedar planks and technologically-advanced holes from which castle-goers dropped stones on invaders. On a different note, the citizens of Matsumoto have been some of the kindest and strangest people I have ever met in Japan...to the point that I began wondering if I should be wary or if I’m actually the one who’s being strange. 🤷♂️
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#matsumotocastle #matsumotojun #yasuoiswatching
Decided to take a day trip and get away from the LA smog for a few hours. Just two hours away out in the dry, dry Lucerne Valley desert sits the Creosote Rings. These formations stretch for miles, but one in particular, the King Clone, is the disputed oldest living organism on Earth - roughly 11,700 years old. And I must be getting old when I enjoy driving for hours to stare at a ring of bushes...but not 11,700 years old. Yet.
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#creosote #lucernevalley #johnsonvalley #soggydrylake #worthit
Spent the afternoon hiking in the Olympic National Forest. The three hours struggling up and down a mountain were a peaceful reminder that the weather up here can change instantly. And wearing cotton absolutely sucks when it gets wet.
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#olympicnationalpark #mtellinor #pnwhiking #freakingcold #optoutside
