Hey Everyone!  I hope everyone is safe and healthy.  This will be my last blog about the Coronavirus.  But this one is about what to do after the virus has subsided and the Stay at Home orders have lifted.  If you're like me, the virus and everything associated with it did disrupt my plans.  Staying at home has made many people very bored, me included.  As you know, I like to get out on the weekends and get into nature in some way or another.  Camping, backpacking, and of course photography is what I love to do. Swansboro Pier Reflection The virus has put a halt to this, and I've been compensating by putting my hammocks and tarps up in the backyard and taking naps on the weekend.  I've also been getting my truck ready for travel.  Once the order has lifted to stay at home, I will be traveling again.  But what can we do to be ready to explore once the order has lifted?

First of all, get ready.  Get all of the things that will be keeping you from doing your hobbies done while you're at home.  For me it's clean out the garage.  It has accumulated all kinds of things over the year, and it is overgrown.  I will be cleaning and getting rid of all of the things that we don't need, downsizing if you will.  I have lots of boxes of old things that I haven't or will never use, old clothes that I will never fit into, and old books and electronics that are never going to be used again. So I'm going to get rid of them. So mainly get all of those honey do's done! 

Next Plan!  For me it's getting back to my personal project of visiting, camping, and photographing in all of the State Parks in North Carolina.  I had 13 of them completed when the Stay at Home order went into effect.  For now the project is at a halt because all of the parks are either partially closed or completely closed, and of course non-essential travel is prohibited. So what I can do is plan for when the order is lifted.  I can plan where I go and how I will stay if I do stay overnight. Will I be backpacking, or will I be car camping if I do stay overnight?  Will I try to visit two parks in one weekend if they are close to each other?  I can figure out what kind of photographs have been taken there before by other photographers by looking at Google, Flickr, and 500Px, doing the same research that I would normally do the day or so before but doing it now so when the time comes I can just pack and go.

I know that there is a lot going on now, and who knows what the future will bring?  Hopefully this will pass soon and we can get back to normal.  But will it ever be normal again?  Will social distancing become the new normal?  Will handshakes be something of the past?  Will working from home become the new normal and working in a brick-and-mortar store the exception?  We are living in a strange time, and we can only do what we can to get through it.  And we will get through it.  So this is the last of my Coronavirus series unless something really strange comes up.  I hope everyone stays safe and healthy, and until next time keep shooting!