Author: Randy

I have finally gotten inspired to start work on Volume 3. It is hard because this was going to be the Volume that followed the adventures of raising of Noah 🙁 But I am sure he would not want me to stop writing. So while I dedicated volume 2, this book will be done in his honor but hopefully dedicated to his little brother or sister. So just to have a positive attitude i have decided to start the volume optimistically that it will end in the birth of our child. I know I may be setting myself up for a heartbreak but here are NO guarantees in life, and anything we put any hope in has the chance of not coming to be, so why not dream.

Not only am I hoping we have a child, but also that lost soles will continue to pop up in the right places at the right times. I also hope my business and economy hold firm so we may have money to travel with. I would like to maybe travel up to Maine or Canada this year, perhaps Niagara Falls would be a fun place to visit. We have friends in both Canada and Quebec. Hmmm…sounds like a road trip in the making. I wonder if there are any dogparks or brewpubs up that way 🙂 It would just be fun to see new places again. I miss waking up in a new area just waiting to be explored.

Sharon was able to get a flight home earlier than we thought which was great. I think the cold and lack of sleep was getting to her. Plus I cannot take care of myself and needed her home as well. But to do that we had to fly her into new orleans airport in order to do it affordably. Now that entailed me to drive 3 hours to pick her up, but that’s okay, I left early so I could drive around the french Quarter in hopes of finding a lost sole on Bourbon Street.

I drove up and down Bourbon twice and down Royal and a few others. No luck. Lots of lost souls, just no soles 🙂 But Jack did enjoy looking out the window at the activity, he seemed to be dying to get out and experience it. He and Jinjer a few years back did get to walk Bourbon St. It was a nightmare for us since they like to put anything and everything into their mouths, and the French Quarter is no place for that, even for dogs.

rewinding a bit, back to my trip into New Orleans traveling down I-10 west after crossing Lake Pontchartrain, I just could not believe sights. The scars from Katrina are still highly visible, maybe even worse than ever like a sore that does not get treatment. It seemed almost 1/3 of the structures, both homes and businesses were detiorating to some degree. It was sad. It felt as if i were in a third world country. It just reeked of dispair 🙁 It was never a pretty area to begin with, but is now a total wreck. I have no idea what it will take to recover that area, maybe never will. It will have to take at least 20 years to revitalize it, especially in this economy.

I also drove out 61 to the airport down Tulane Ave. and things seemed worse there. I barely touched on the ninth ward in the last visit and it looked like what I imagine parts of Beirut and Gaza would resemble after all the wars and violence. That city is in a crisis. I really feel for the people who are trying to make it there. It must be so hard since New Orleans people are very proud of their city, and to have it in the state it is in must break their hearts.

Some day when I have the time and the guts I would like to explore those areas better and find me a lost sole to commemorate all the hardship those people have endured, and are yet to endure. May peace and happiness find them somehow.

Eventually I made my way to the airport and sat in the “Cell Phone Lot” until I got the call from Sharon to meet her at the curb outside baggage claim. I was happy to see her and so were the Puggles. After being together for 4 years in a motorhome, 24/7, it gets hard to be apart. We are just so used to being together.

Well the trip up to baltimore turned out to have a happy ending. Nanny got out of the hospital and was doing really well when I left. Sharon remained up there to help take care of Nanny for a few days after she got home from the hospital. Which I must say, I did like that hospital cafeteria…delicious $1 Maryland Crab Soup!

I headed out to make the 16 hour drive home on a solo mission, well I did take the dogs so I wasn’t really alone. I listened to the book The Brethren by John Grisham which I must say was pretty good and helped pass 6 hours pretty quickly. I never did get tired, I made the entire trip without a nap. And since Nanny was alright, I felt it would be okay to get a lost sole photo, which I could use to commemorate the inauguration of President Obama since I found it just past D.C. on I-95. I do not like the eerie skull on it, hopefully it is not an omen 🙂

A neat occurrence happened to me the night after I got home when driving across 3 mile bridge which spans the Pensacola Bay. I saw a shooting star. I had not seen one in so long. But what really struck me was where it originated from. It appeared to have shot out from the region where Noah’s star is located in the sky. I know it is just me looking into things too much, but so many “coincidences” happen to me any more, can you blame me? And to make my wish come true I am keeping it a secret, however most of you probably know what I wished for anyway…or do you??? Stay tuned on that issue.

It sure does feel good to be back home, although I must admit, and I know I pathetic, but I miss Sharon. i hate waking up in a bed without her beside me, although once again I am not alone, jack and Jinjer are right there in bed with me. Man can they generate a lot of heat content for such little dogs!

While going about the usual things on a typical wednesday we got a call from Sharon’s aunt Glenda that they had to take Nanny to the hospital because she was bleeding from somewhere into her stomach and had to get emergency surgery to repair some blood vessels that burst. Panic set in quickly, we were so upset, we thought we might lose Nanny. We began to figure out how we could get on the road to Baltimore. We just had some things we HAD to do before leaving. As some may know the start of my collaborative exhibition with Linda Bills Shirley, The Hand and Foot Show was to open in less than a week and I had not even gotten my artwork together yet. Thanks goodness I had it pretty much ready from all the other shows I have done and threw it all together rather quickly. And Linda, bless her heart, toted everything up there and volunteered to hang it for me. But by the time we got everything together and over to her it was too late to get on the road and we decided it would be best to get a good night’s sleep then head out in the morning.

The next morning came and we were pretty tired, it is easier said than done to sleep well with some much on one’s mind 🙁 We were on the road by 7. We rolled into Baltimore around 1 a.m. after driving around 17 hours straight. But being quite experienced at being on the road that was not too hard for us. Throughout the drive I saw many shoes on the road, but due to the recent rash of deaths connected to lost sole photos I refused to accidently be the grim reaper and cause Nanny’s passing by stopping to photographing a shoe. There was not going to be another dedication any time soon. I asked Noah to help Nanny out, to do whatever he could do so she would make it. I told him it was too much on his mommy, and she needed a break. ‘Don’t let her Nanny be taken from her yet.” I pleaded.

Well maybe the praying worked, or just Nanny’s will to stay with us, but when we got to Baltimore and went to see her I felt a miracle had happened. The theorized her liver was shutting down causing blood flow to be stopped up and causing too much pressure on the veins, causing them to burst. The doctor gave her a 50/50 chance, and she has so far beaten the odds. I hope that by writing about this I do not jinx her. I would be devastated. When we first visited her I expected to see her attached to a bunch of tubes and machines since she lost so much blood. But when we entered the room, she woke up and sat up with a big Nanny smile. She was in good spirits and looked really good. She was able to walk even. We spent a few hours with her and felt really good about her condition.

However I am going to head back on Monday and Sharon will remain to help Glenda out with taking care of Nanny for a few weeks. We are not sure how we are going to get Sharon back to Pensacola at this point 🙁 but this is something that has to be done. Her Nanny needs her Shabby (Sharon). The rest will work out somewhere, it always does.

It has been a pretty neat time to be here despite the bitter cold because it is just before the inauguration of Barack and his train made a stop in Baltimore and the energy in the town was incredible. I will be driving by D.C. monday just wishing I had the time to stay through the inauguration celebration as it is history in the making.

another nice thing was going to Sharon’s uncle Lenny’s for a small party to watch and listen to Lenny, his friend Michael, and aunt Glenda sit around and play guitars and sing. They are amazing to be around like that. And every is so welcoming, I truly feel I am part of the family with them.

I am deciding whether or not to photograph any shoes on the drive back as well, don’t want to be greedy and mess with what worked on the way here 🙂

Today Sharon and I were on our way to a “Liquidation Sale” at a local fairgrounds, and on the way I saw a lost sole, but decided I was not going to photograph it due to the precarious spot where it was on the highway. A few miles down the road when going from I-100N to I-10W we saw a black plume of smoke coming from what looked to be just off the highway. I noticed it was a big rig that was on fire and thought about using my phone to video the blaze, but Sharon did not think it was right, and it was just when she said that I got a horrible feeling in my gut. I closed the phone and proceeded slowly past a few cars that were off the road and a gentlemen directing traffic. Up ahead I could see a firetruck coming down the wrong way. I just knew it was bad.

As we drove on I began to think, was that lost sole I saw an omen? Was I supposed to photograph it? But the thought left my head as I began thinking about how horrible it would be if the driver was killed. We figured the driver most likely got out, or so we hoped.

Upon arriving at the fairgrounds and just about to enter we saw it was $7 a person, and screw that. I do not want to pay money to go look at a bunch of junk I don’t even have the money to buy so we left to get lunch. It is beyond me how in this day and age they think people will pay money like that for just the privilege to shop there? So many people were doing the same as us, once they saw it cost money they turned around and left, disgusted.

Soup was on our mind so we went to a little soup place to eat. We had to actually drive back past the fire scene to get to the restaurant. By this time the flames were out and scopes of police officers and firemen on the scene. But just as we were going by the scene, there was a Lost Sole, now #274. A large hip boot just lying there. I was curious also, was this another sign to tell me to get a shot. But it was raining and a lot of traffic so I opted not to stop since I was not sure if the driver has passed away. So went went on. When we got there and sat down Sharon and I’s thoughts returned to the truck fire. “How can we find out if anyone was hurt?” I tried my internet on my phone to no avail, so I called my friend Jason to see if he could go on PNJ.com to look. He told us that the driver WAS killed in the accident. Our stomachs dropped. Oh my god, we just witnessed a fire that had consumed a man. Possibly someone’s father or husband, at the very least someone’s son. Another tragedy. Just a few weeks back I came across an accident scene where a woman lost her life. All this tragedy. Why do I keep finding it? We both knew what we had to do. We had to go photograph that boot.

Driving back to the scene made me sick, I hated to get out and photograph that boot, but knew I had to do it. I got the shot and headed home. And so here I am blogging once again about a lost sole, to lost soul connection.

I hereby dedicate Lost Sole #274 to Jeffrey Pierce Rodgers of Trenton, Florida, the truck driver who lost his life on I-110 on January 10th, 2009. May he find peace and most of all, I hope his family can find strength to get through the tough times ahead.

Well the Hand and Foot show this month has snuck up on me fast. I just hope I can find the funds to get my images printed and framed halfway decently. This is a small venue in a small town at a small college, but has BIG implications. This is the first ever Hand and Foot show and I hope it can be a springboard to more if it goes over well. I am currently looking for other venues and cities, so if anyone has an idea or a contact to help us get into a gallery it would be much appreciated.

My counterpart, the hand portion, is Linda Bills Shirley and has been collecting lost gloves for over 20 years totally over 400 FOUND GLOVES! We met while I was doing a photo shoot for a client and Linda, her mother and daughter were my models for the day. I had already been told of a lady known as “The Glove Lady” by a friend of mine, but did not realize it was here until after the shoot and we started talking. It was right then the idea of the Hand and Foot Show first got mentioned.

Linda has some really cool gloves and great stories behind many of them, much like my shoes. But instead of photographing them, she picks them up and displays the actual gloves. It is a PERFECT compliment to the One Shoe Diaries!

I can only hope this will be something the media will pick up on and we can get our project exhibited all over the place. But for now I want to make the inaugural show the best I can, who knows who will notice it. Check out the official website for the Hand and Foot Show >>

As some of you may know my Volume 2 is titled Friends, Family and Lost Soles. I chose the title because I write a lot of stories about my friends and family and also pay tribute to several people who have left this world, hence the play on Lost Soles. I really liked the idea of dedicating shoes to people as a way to commemorate their passing in an artistic way. Latley though it seems many of the shoes I have been finding coincide with a death too often for my liking.

Just the other day when Jason was in town he and I found a shoe, #272 just shortly after coming across a tragic car accident in which a woman lost her life. So I dedicated Shoe #272 to her. That got me thinking about other times when I have crossed paths with the death of someone. Take for instance Shoe #198, I found that shoe in Denver, where two days later while driving down through Loveland, CO along the Big Thompson River there were search teams trying to locate a kayaker that crashed into the rocks and disappeared in the rapids. We do not know if they recovered the body, but we are almost certain he died that day.

One of the early experiences I had with discovering a lost sole connecting with a death was one morning driving home from South Florida. It was a very stormy morning and just outside Ocala on I-75 we hit a wall of rain, hail and violent wind gusts. I remembering thinking Wow, that could have been part of a tornado”. Sure enough, shortly after passing over us, that cell developed into a deadly tornado killing 19 people in Lady Lake. We had no idea that had happened until a few hours later when Sharon’s parents called to make sure we were alright after seeing on CNN the news of the deadly tornado. Before that call, just after the storm passed us we had found a lost sole sitting at the exit ramp to the very town which was devastated by the tornado. It was a very eerie to look back at the image due to the fact it was still wet and dirt was blasted on one side from the winds of the very that storm that killed that devastated that community.

So it seems the Lost Soles theme is taking on a commemorative role, which is cool, but then again I do not like being associated with so much tragedy. Seems the deaths are always something unexpected, or tragic. And I do not like that. It hits home so hard. But I am going to keep photographing the lost soles and commemorating lost souls wit them as long as it happens, just seems like something I should be doing as an artist and a person who wants people to live on through stories because sometimes a person is still alive to friends and family as long as he or she’s memory lives on if only in a small obscure art project.

It has been a bit since I last blogged. Traveling through the holidays to Ohio and Maryland really was chaotic! I had a wonderful time visiting everyone. I actually had a lot of stories to write about but let them slip out of my head. Probably left them somewhere with all the keys I lost on the trip.

I am in the mood to look back on the past year and I must say, 2008 will go down as one of the most tumultuous years of my life. It was an emotional and financial struggle that I thought would be the death of me. It was full of extreme highs and extreme lows. So many life-altering events, not only for us, but for so many of our friends. We watched so many people struggle through. It was an awful year when I look back on it, however I would not erase it if I had the chance. I would change events, but not erase them. It left me with the unanswered question of “why?” 2008 shook the foundation of my soul. Being blessed with the joy of having a baby, to having it taken away will haunt me forever. I don’t think I will ever shake the feeling of being cheated somehow.

One bright spot was that 2008 was a breakout year for my One Shoe Diaries project, it got so much media attention and it brought us a lot of pride and connected us with so many people we would have never met. We are still desperate to find a publisher, but if we don’t it will not be the end of the world. We are still proud of the project.

So here is to 2009 ushering in a new season of prosperity and good fortune to everyone! May the world actually be a better place this time next year!! Happy New Year to all!