My wife Malka and I have been in Benson, Arizona for about a month now.  With all that is going on in the world right now, and the American cities in turmoil, this seems to be a safe and quiet place.  The RV park where we are staying is nearly empty.  

I grew up in the city of Plainfield, New Jersey, a community about an hour west of New York City.  I left Plainfield in June, 1967, after graduating from Plainfield High School.  There were riots soon after my departure and I was told that tanks were rolling past my house.  I missed it. I entered college in Fairfield, Iowa, that June for 3 trimesters and left one year later, and returned to Plainfield where I accepted a job in a plumbing factory putting together plumbing fixtures.  I realized immediately this was not for me and quit a few days later.  I found a job as a water ski instuctor that summer and spent three glorious summers in the country near Scranton-Wilkes Barre.  I met my future wife there, was married in November of 1972, and we spent 30 years together.  We had 4 children, three boys and a girl.

On 2000, it was necessary to leave my family to take a job as a speech language pathologist in Midland, Texas.  Jobs had dried up for speech therapists in our home city of Lakeland, Florida, and I departed from there, alone, with my cameras, computer, and some basic clothing that would be appropriate for hospital work.  That was my first exposure to points due west of Lakeland, Florida. 

Since the work was a “traveling position,” that meant that my job would be for 13 weeks.  It sounded like a good idea as I could not find a position in Lakeland following a significant change in Medicare policy at the conclusion of 1999.  Surprisingly Texas then became my new home.

Fast forward to 10 years in Texas, getting remarried, purchasing a motorhome and being on the road for over 6 years, full time.  Winters in Las Vegs, the Corona Virus, getting out of there and deciding to spend time in the desert of Benson, Arizona.  After a month in Benson we made the decision to stay here for the next six months.  We seem to be far from the hubbub, which has given me the opportunity to continue working as a speech language pathologist, write articles for publication, and recording You Tube Videos about speaking difficulties.  Since staying in place at a rather vacant RV park in Benson, I write new  new books, and see patients privately online.  New webinars to teach family members and therapists how to help those with speaking difficulties are also a new part of the rather routine and mundane exisence here.

My wife Malka and I have some agreements that include a separate hour walk for each of us each day. Videos are made while walking, and also intermittent stops to meet other local people walking and  photographing interesting fauna with my Leica Q2 and Ricoh II.  All images taken on this page were captured with the Leica Q2; the finest camera system I have ever owned.  I am sure that it’s similar to playing a Steinway piano for the pianist or a fine motorcar for the automobile purist.  A recent photographic article by photographers of merit are enamored by the Leica, and the “one camera-one lens approach to image making.

Last night, while deliberating where I would go today, I walked outside just prior to a storm to see the beautiful colors of the desert at sundown. It was quite windy, and a storm was brewing.  The colors in the sky were quite unkike any seen.  I reached for my Crocs and camera and soon standing in the desert breeze and looking 360 degrees.  The temperature was about 85 and it seemed odd that it was quite comfortable.