I think in pictures. I've been an artist ever since I could hold a marker, and I've always been fascinated by art and nature. I learn by recognizing patterns and seeing how things are done. 

I decided this blog would be an experiment. I'd like to post some pictures along with my work, since I use pictures while I write to better explain and describe things. Pictures make stories real. Plus, pictures can tell a bigger story without the words. While I talk about the actual events behind a picture, everyone else has their own stories about a picture when they see it. That's why I like using them in my writing so much. Feel free to write your own story about any of the pictures I post here and beyond. 

This was hardly three weeks ago, on the farm in North Dakota. While I didn't have my phone with me for the trip (because I fell into the river with it), I did have a go-pro, which I set up on a mini tripod in several locations in an attempt to get some good riding shots. Unfortunately, it was either too windy for the thing to stand up on higher places, or it was too short to get any good shots, but I eventually got a few good shots of myself using the shallow ditch as a launching ramp. I can only get about 4 feet in the air (max) using that shallow ditch, verses the 10-12 feet I can get on the hills in the pasture. But it was still fun and showed up alright on the go-pro. The dirtbike looks pretty small, but it's not. It's perfect size for me. It's got about 88-92 horses powering it (depending on the day), and it can be heard from miles away on a windless day. Plus, it's a two-stroke, which means it has twice the power of a four-stroke the same size and CCs. 

Back in April, my dad took me up to Rollins Pass in the mountains to go riding. We knew there was probably still some snow up there, but didn't expect there to be much. We were right (and wrong). It was just very cold and wet up until about two miles up the trail, where there was knee-deep snow packed along the shaded side of the mountain, for as far as we could see. So, we turned back, and I met my dad at the Moffat tunnel. It was a much-needed ride, and I really enjoyed it. But, of course, my dirtbike just had to have something wrong with it, further carrying on my little saying, "For every hour I ride, there's at least 20 more hours of maintenance."

Speaking of work, my grandpa sent me this photo via email just as I was working on this writing. This was back in North Dakota while we were moving junk from Delton's shop to the back pasture. Not long after this was taken, I broke the gear stick, which was the beginning of the day's mishaps. 

As time goes on, I'll think about more pictures to post and write about. Hopefully, I'll go on some more notable adventures as well. I like to explore, take pictures, then write about it all later.