Daily Archives: February 9, 2025

 

 

Today is my Birthday, and I’m celebrating 79 trips around the sun!  I just returned from a great week with my wife in Durham North Carolina for the Carolina Nature Photographers Association’s Annual Convention where I was honored to be one of the presenters!  That experience was one of the 4 great birthday gifts I received, please let me elaborate!

 

1. 1.  The great people at CNPA!  Two years ago David Hartfield called  from the club to ask me if I would consider being one of their four main speakers for the annual conference.  My response was,   “Are you sure you’re calling the right guy!?”  My teaching and speaking career has slowed way down and I was a little shocked about the invitation!  He then explained then that the invitation was for February 2025, two years in the future!  I told him I would be happy to sign a contract but they would have to forgive me if I didn’t live that long because on the date of the call I was 77!!!!!  We agreed and a contract was signed and so began a two year period of my regretting that I had a agreed to do the talk.  Since agreeing it got even worse when I  had to have a heart valve replacement last year, then started having AFIB,  week later coded twice in the emergency room and had to get a pacemaker, and started using walker to get around a lot of the time.

The point is that for many years I’ve been asked to do lots of talks to groups of all sizes, and to be honest, I have a reputation of consistently knocking it out of the park, not to be immodest,  but with all these health issue I was concerned that I would not give them what they wanted and to the standard I’ve held myself to!  I prayed, as I always do, Father I pray I will do the best I can and that you will get all the Glory!  As He always does, my prayers were answered and it went very well!  I want to thank the wonderful attendees and staff of the convention, Don who introduced me, David who arranged everything for me, Nicole the president of CNPA and everyone who were very warm and welcoming and treated me so vey well, I can’t thank you all enough!  It was a great experience!

 

2.  My dear friend and former boss at Nikon, Bill Pekala.  Bill was kind enough to come over and attend my two lectures on Friday morning and we had a wonderful visit!  As I told the attendees at the conference, Bill provided me so many wonderful opportunities when we work together at Nikon, He was the best boss I’ve ever had and a true lifelong friend!  On top of everything else after my first talk he said “You haven’t lost a step!”  I needed that!

 

3.  My wife Sherelene knew I was a basket case about wanting to do well for those great folks at the conference and she insisted on going with me and keeping me in good shape!  We had a great week together and enjoyed a rare time alone away from the house.  Sherelene is a world class nurse practitioner and her schedule is brutal so this kind of one on one time was a treat for both of us!  On the 14th we will celebrate 55 years of marriage!  I really knocked out of the park when I asked her to marry me!  She had all her Sunday School class praying for me last week and this morning we were able to give them a good report!

 

4.  Lastly a very nice lady approached me after my last talk and shared that she was so happy that I was open about my faith and that it was a blessing to her!  I so appreciated her sharing that with me and of course I told her so.  Being an out spoken Christian in our world today is not always easy, but with all God has done over my career and life there is no way I would be reluctant to give Him all the credit.  I would not be enjoying all the blessing of this life without Him!

 

So I’m having a great birthday, feeling very blessed to have all of you in my life!

 

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim