Since my mother passed, life has been mostly recovering and finding my life again.

Was dealing with some health issues, had to have Capral tunnel surgery performed on my right hand. Was unable to hold a heavy camera and lens. So, I finally succumbed to having the surgery. It has been almost a full year of regaining strength and mobility in that hand. It was the old fashion method of cutting open the hand and snipping the ligament. It has taken a long time to get my handwriting back to normal. 

MollyRest in Peace 03/5/2026 We recently lost a furry family member that my daughter inherited after the passing of my mother. Molly crossed rainbow bridge March 5, 2026. Her health took a sudden and unexpected decline, experiencing multiple seizures, that brought on extreme pain. She had been her bouncy, playful self a few days prior, but something neurologically went sideways with her, and life as she knew it became very painful with the loss of physical stability. She lived a long and extremely happy life and is now resting in peace, visiting with my mother in heaven. We all will miss that crazy, happy-go-lucky girl. 

********

I have recently decided to get back to creating some artwork, and work on some pieces that I've had in mind to do for some time. Yes, it's been a very long time since I picked up a brush or pencil to do anything other than a quick doodle or two. It will be therapeutic for me to flex those creative muscles again. I have modified the name of my portfolio to include an art gallery. It's now Images 'N the Lens Photography & Art. 

Back before I got my career started in the energy industry, I would create a lot of different stippling pieces to sell in consignment shops that would sell before they ever had a chance to be hung up for display.

Now that my hand is back to normal, I will be getting out and about exploring places to catch the moment for whatever is inspiring. If I go back to the racetracks, it will be only on a special occasion, by request from a horse owner. It was a battle dealing with contract track photographers and I don't care to do again. 

Stay tuned..... more to come with a new Art gallery. 

It's taken a bit to get my bearings back with a few health issues causing speed bumps from moving forward with anticipated goals. I grappled with the loss of my mother for a while, even though we didn't see eye to eye most of my life, and not having a great mother-daughter relationship; her death was hard to take. The images of her slow death in my home are forever burned in my memory. Watching the morticians wrap her body up in a white cloth, like a mummy, and zipping up the black bag she lay in. It's been 4 years since she's been gone. She's at peace. 

I have worked ever so slowly in downsizing her belongings of which I moved into my home to make her feel like it was her home. The materialistic items activated memory function, and it made her feel more comfortable. It's been a long process, moving through a phase of guilt as I sell and donate so many of her things. You don't really realize how alone you are when you lose your parents. No matter how old you are. But I have to move forward to find my life - find me again - that I shelved for so long. 

I plan to get back into my art skills and paint/illustrate again. I put the camera down for a while just because of dealing with carpal tunnel syndrome in both of my hands. They go numb, and I'm starting to drop things. Apparently, the results of some nerve testing, the situation has become quite severe. I'm looking to have that surgically corrected, one hand at a time. Full recover will take about 3 months to get my strength back and hopefully hold up a heavy lens with rock solid steadiness. 

My career in oil and gas has come full circle through the 30+ years of tenure, due to an acquisition that is placing me back with a company that I worked for when I was starting out as a geotech. Even though I don't make geological maps and create cross sections of well logs, I'm still continuing on in an administrative role supporting engineers in the midstream world of oil and gas. It's been a nice transition. Although, engineers are still quite a nerdy bunch. 

I noticed that the host to my website has archived a few of my galleries... so I'm here to bring them back and bring my followers up-to-date and why I've not posted any new images. As soon as I get my hands back to 100%... I'll be in full swing with the camera again. 

So, stay tuned.... Follow me on Facebook, as I'm usually posting little phone camera photos of my crazy
Pomeranians.

Life sort of turned upside down
beginning 2019 through 2021.

  In Memory of my Mom......................
June 30, 2021In Memory of my Mother.
In 2019 my mother developed vascular dementia that apparently started to wain on her years prior, and kept it to herself until we started noticing that she was making poor decisions and forgetting common things. Thereafter, she experienced a debilitating stroke. We placed her in a restorative and therapeutic recovery program to regain the use of her hand and to walk again. By 2020 she was moved into my home where my daughter and I could care for her, along with caregivers that would tend to her, fix her meals, and help be her companion while we were away at our jobs. My mother's health and mind continued to deteriorate, as she soon stopped walking and was back in a wheelchair, with complaints of leg pain. I quickly placed her in hospice care so that she could receive morphine for her leg pain which atrophy was setting in. The following day, on June 30, 2021, she passed away from a fatal stroke and GI rupture during her sleep. The hospice nurses were so caring as they tended to my mother while she was at her sudden end-of-life moment. I never thought I would be saying goodbye to her, holding her good hand, and watching her struggle to breathe, even though she had an oxygen tube in her nose. The feeling of helplessness was unbearable. The nurses closed my mother's eyes as she had no physical response to them any longer, while life was slowly leaving her body. Her brain was so damaged. On her last breath, I squeezed her hand and told her we loved her. She quickly, lightly squeezed my hand back and departed her earthly body. To this day, the vision of my mother dying still haunts my memories.  Mom is now back with my Dad resting in peace in God's hands.

Now, I'm faced with going through all of her cherished belongings, while I fight off the uncomfortable guilt of making decisions as to whether to keep or dispose of her things. 

One month later, my daughter had to send her beloved Sheltie, Jazzy across the rainbow bridge. Jazzy's health had deteriorated and the Vet told us that she had dementia, even though she was mostly blind and deaf, she had moments of not knowing where she was or what she was doing. She lived a long and very happy life of 16 years.

Then the next month after Jazzy passed away, my little Anna stopped eating. She gave up on life with her half-sister gone. I was forced to make that decision as I watched her waste away regardless of how much I tried to get her to eat. No amount of people's food was even interesting to her. It broke my heart!

I was already reeling from death that crossed my life in such a short amount of time and was now faced with saying goodbye to her as well. She didn't want to go, trying to get up while she was sedated for the last shot. The sadness was so profound in her eyes! I still feel horrible, and I miss her so much! She passed with a broken heart at the age of 15 years old. I do hope she's with Jazzy again, barking and chasing with so much happiness and freedom! 

Soon after, my 28-year-old daughter fell in love with a young man, not long after my mother's death. She had been dating him for a little over a year and decided to live with him at the beginning of this year.

She and I were not agreeing with each other on many things at this point, which didn't help either of us with recovering from my mother's death, and our beloved Shelties!

I know she's very happy and eager to move on with a wonderful life of her own.

Life had changed for both of us, dramatically over the past few years.

So now, I'm a full-fledged empty-nester! My daughter is a beautiful grown woman, business successful with many aspirations and goals to accomplish in her life.

A very difficult adjustment for me as a single mom. However, like everything that is troubling in my life, I give it to God and go on.

It looks like the year 2023 will be the year I discover how to live for me and not for other people that I've taken care of for the majority of my life.

Find the hobbies I used to enjoy, and discover new ones as well. It's also the year I focus on improving my health, as old man time has taken its toll on me over the years! I haven't picked up my camera much due to having issues with numbness in my hands. Hopefully, the doctors will figure out the source and be able to fix it! 

Although there has been a lot of darkness surrounding me over the past few years, there is one little bitty ray of joyful light that has come into my life. 

Her name is Roxie!

Today, she's a one-year-old Pomeranian, with a rambunctious attitude! I brought her home when she was not more than 8 weeks old. It's amazing how fast she's grown up.

A little bitty fuzz ball with a wiggly, wagging tail, and bright, round button eyes, full of play, and happiness! 

She's pretty darn smart, and a very good listener, with lots of kisses!

So, here's to 2023, a year of changes,

a different way of life,

and happiness! 

Only God knows how the future will be.

It is interesting how life has its ups and downs! Being that I also work in the oil and gas industry alongside my photography sideline, my world started to turn upside down in 2015 with a job loss so great that it even took me by surprise. I didn't see the so-called "red flags" of pending doom as I had seen in the past from other layoffs. Even my Director of Geology didn't see it coming. I was at American Energy Partners in Oklahoma City, OK, at the top of my career as a lead Geological Technical Analyst. Then the industry went into a tail-spin downturn like a roller-coaster
about to plunge over the top of a steep drop. Silently, cuts were made, folks lost their jobs, as did I. Then the death of Aubrey McClendon, founder, and CEO of American Energy Partners, came unexpectedly, which sent a shock through all that knew and worked with him. A great loss to the oil and gas industry.

Three years passed, I moved to Fort Worth, TX, for a contract job, it soon folded due to cash flow issues. Landed another contract job that brought me to Tyler, TX. Beautiful country - the land of Pines and roses! It too soon came to an end within a year and had me moving back to Fort Worth. 

Zoom forward to today... again the job has taken me to Plano, TX, along with caring for my elder mother who has been dealt with vascular dementia disease and debilitated by a major stroke. Although I'm still in the oil and gas industry, I'm here in a different capacity, and outside of my occupational career. I had decided that after a nearly 30-year career as a Geological Technician, it was time to gravitate towards retirement and to find a job where I can transition the experience and knowledge from working in Exploration and Well development, towards a more administrative level position, shelving my technical skills, as it was evident that chapter of my life was closed with no hint of return. 

Thoughts... Life. It's weird.

It sometimes has you scratching your head, saying WTF?! People come and go in your life. Jobs do the same too. Getting old... well that totally sucks. Why the stabbing pain in a joint, for no particular reason at all, that just comes along and hits ya out of the blue! Ouch!

Well, then there's politics... I'm just leaving that there without any further comment. The year 2020 comes along and some insane coronavirus pandemic strikes with vengeance to all living souls in the world! Just have to wonder if this isn't a divine intervention of a wake-up call for all of us! Better take heed, for there is always a reason for why things happen... and you will find that we tiny, insignificant souls on this planet are not in control as we may like to think. Many often have tunnel-vision to recognize that. I've always felt that God has a plan for all of us. It's for our poor choices and sins that seem to be the reason for our own demise.

Everyone couldn't wait for the year 2021 with hopes for things to be better and the end of the pandemic, but yet, it continues to ravage on while a vaccine is created and implemented for all to take with the belief that it will keep everyone safe, all the while the government keeps up the fear-mongering with words of new strain variants that will keep all of us in a world of wearing masks and 6' distancing for who knows how long. It's a faceless, hug-less society in which we live in.

Looking back at my time building a career for myself, I poured my soul into learning and growing a strong skill set, supporting Geos, and wrapping my arms around many complex technical applications that were needed for Exploration and Well development. However, with the job loss and the financial grievances that came with it, I found that I also lost my self-worth and value as an individual. I was lost, asking myself, "now what?" I had turned away from my talent as an artist and the joy of being creative with an open mind of imagination, only to focus on a career that brought great success with achievement, managing complex geological mapping technology. In return, those achievements provided the rewards of a comfortable living without ever wondering if I would have enough funds to put food on the table or be without a home to live in. Word of advice. Don't take blessings for granted. Appreciate what you have and not what you don't have. As all things in life, other than death, are temporary. What is now, will soon change, come and go, for better or worse. 

That being said, I'm now in a position where I'm going back to my artistic roots. Picking up a brush and or pen and create an image worthy of hanging to admire and cherish. This also includes my photography work too, and perhaps even a little story, blogging writing. I took a long sabbatical from enjoying just doing a sort of walkabout anywhere, seeing something that might be worthy of catching the moment. I still love the equine races too, and will occasionally pop in at the track for a few shots. However, I have some ideas to explore along the way... and if I'm successful with achieving them... I will definitely share with all of you! 

So for now.........................stay tuned for what this way may come.  :) 

My time with a little oil and gas startup company in Tyler, Tx, came to a close in February 2019. Even though I enjoyed helping these folks with their mapping needs and anything geological data related; they elected to close that door of opportunity where they no longer needed my skills and experience. There wasn't much more to do but to pick up and moved back to Fort Worth, Texas, to be closer to family and to begin a new journey where ever it may lead me. 

I've got some time to figure out what I want to do, and what direction I want to go, as I have a few ideas that may open a new and exciting adventure off the beaten path of which my career has had me tethered to for so many years. It's just taking that "leap of faith" ... (I'm peering over the edge, contemplating)... It just might be what I needed to do for myself for a long while... I just haven't jumped! Being a very analytical person... those "what if's" haunt me, which has kept me in a very successful career. However, now it's time to have some real fun! 

Until next time... Take a look at the new Session offer! I think a lot of folks will like it. 

Stay tuned!

Life threw me a curve ball.... again!

It’s been a while since I’ve created a blog, for that matter it’s been a while since I even picked up my camera. However, I took a bit of a sabbatical away from my camera and any sort of photography goals for the last three years or so. My time photographing the races at the tracks has even dissipated as well. Additional to my photography business which has been highlighted around the action shots of many Appaloosa horses racing to the finish line, I also had an occupational career that exceeded over 26 years in the oil and gas industry. My energy career seemed to come to an abrupt halt when the industry crashed in a downturn in 2014 thru 2017. My job position closed in 2015, and I was sent out the door with heart felt apologies and immense gratitude for my time spent there. It was sudden and unexpected. My district manager was even taken back by the upper management’s decision to make cuts within his unit. It was an awesome place to work, and I had so many opportunities to look forward to for growth within my discipline. It was even discussed that I could come back when oil prices were better. However, a year or two later after my departure, the owner passed away and the company dissolved.

So, I was out the door, living in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, faced with finding another job within an industry that was in a spiraling downturn. I read that there were over 440,000 layoffs worldwide, and of those 440,000, it was estimated that 178,466 layoffs were in the US. This estimate amount doesn’t include the many private companies that played a major role in the oil and gas industry who generally do not announce layoffs. From 2014 to 2017, the layoffs were coming in droves and throughout those years, many companies resorted to filing for bankruptcy and many service and drilling companies folded. Who would have thought that it would take three years for the industry to turn around to become profitable once again? Even today there are lots of mergers and asset sales taking place.

My career journey eventually brought me to live in Fort Worth, Texas. However, that opportunity quickly dissolved due to the industry downturn. Once again, I was sent out the door with sincere apologies. The stress mounted now that I had less savings to live on. I reached out to my connections, headhunters, staffing companies to only find that I was up a creek without a paddle to save my soul. A continual, resounding message of “nothing is available” was all I heard. I was turned down many times for office type work because my skills, experience and tenure were considered over qualified for administrative work. Being that I spent over 26 years of my career as a geological technical analyst, recruiters wouldn’t place me in a lower salary office position. It was so frustrating to say the least. Although, I was very thankful that my daughter moved with me to Texas. Without her support and compassion, I would not have been able to push through to survive such a horrible, deprived state of mind that brings doubt and thousands of other negative thoughts of failure and misgivings.

Three years passed, and during that time, I landed a few intermittent temp jobs that brought in a little income to help put food on the table. However, the money earned wasn’t enough to cover all my expenses, which added more stress to the situation. I had difficulty eating humble pie as I had always been the head of household taking care of my daughter. Now the roles were reversed. She was taking care of me! Even through the struggles of trying to survive, I soon had to succumb to the realization that bankruptcy was enviable.

By January of 2018, a beam of hope began to glimmer when I stumbled across an opportunity in Bullard, Texas. It was another startup company that had an interest in some of my skill sets to do some work for them. I agreed to be their contractor for as long as they needed, and I drove back and forth from north Fort Worth to Bullard, almost every day for three months. It took a heavy toll on my vehicle that soon resulted in replacing a transmission and a throttle body, a broken engine mount and a new set of tires. They soon made an offer and I moved to Tyler, living for the first time as an empty-nester. I came to the realization that over the 26 some odd years, of owning a home, to renting and moving four times, that becoming a minimalist isn’t such a bad idea! It’s amazing how much stuff one can accumulate over the years!

My “reset button” so-to-speak, has been pushed, in order to put my life back together again with new aspiring goals to reach. It will be a slow process as some of my hardship still resides with me from the job loss, and it will trickle through a few more years before I can close this chapter in my life book. Part of it is adjusting to a new way of living. Another part is realizing a career isn’t your life. Let me repeat that…. A career isn’t your life! Pouring your soul, blood, sweat and tears into your career to serve someone else to live a wealthy lifestyle is not living. Jobs that support your career fail for one reason or another. More often than not, a job loss can rip apart everything you have worked for in building a lifestyle that has brought you peace and prosperity for the time being. Jobs are a means to an end in a money driven world. However, having your family, and friends around you, and fulfilling your passions in life is really living. I was driven to succeed in my career, pulling feathers of innovation out of my hat, and mastering software/programs to expedite the work that was expected. It has been grueling and yet rewarding at the same time … until you get that pink slip.

All this has taught me to rethink what is important in life. I had three years to chew on it! In conjunction with pushing my “reset button,” I hope to have a new look to my website, renewing my passion for art and creativity through photography working toward building a successful and profitable business, while still continuing to help my colleagues in the oil & gas industry, as long as a job position exists, for a senior geological technical analyst.

Here’s looking at 2019 with a new outlook, living in Tyler, Texas - the Rose Capital of the United States!

We moved due to my other career causing me to relocate. However, we still come to Tulsa quite often and we'll be available to do photo sessions there and in Oklahoma City or Edmond. However, scheduling sessions for the Tulsa area would require more advanced notice.

Other than that, it's just a matter of getting "temporarily" settled into a rental home until my place is sold. I'm so anxious and excited to find a new place to call home. I'll be out and about with camera in hand exploring new things and new places. Hopefully, I'll even get to do a little traveling soon and will be able to share some awesome photography with everyone.

So in the meantime... I'll be at Remington Park "catching the moment" with all the races, people and horses, and all the cool events in the area.  

So stay tuned. I'm anticipating to add more cool images to my existing photo galleries, and future new galleries too. 

He Will SmokeAppaloosa - He Will Smoke - Owner Michael Moss. At Remington Park in OKC, OK (image is a stylized black and white)

Sun Valley Magazine Publication- Summer 2013 issue

I am delighted that Sun Valley Magazine chose one of the photos I shot of Allies Apollo for this wonderful article about the Appaloosa, written by Jodie Orr.

In case you don't know who Allies Apollo is, she is a beautiful Appaloosa mare, owned by Ronna Lively, of which I was given the honor to photograph Allie in a race at the Tulsa Fair Meadows track. Her photo has graced the front cover of a monthly issue publication of Appaloosa Journal, as well as on Appaloosa Journal's company banners, and brochures.

Allie is becoming quiet an Appy star!

This article is a great read. You should check it out.

Thank you to Julie Galbos Molema for choosing Allie's photo and publishing it in The Summer 2013 issue of Sun Valley Magazine.  Thank you to Ronna Lively for giving me the opportunity to capture Allie in action on the tracks! 

Deb.

http://www.sunvalleymag.com/Sun-Valley-Magazine/Summer-2013/The-Appaloosa/

In March of 2013, I was diagnosed with fast growing cataracts and I was losing my sight. These cataracts developed from the use of oral steroids.

Some many years ago, I became allergic to artificial sweeteners that caused me to have hives, and my body swelled to where I had trouble breathing. I even had patches of hives on my palms and the bottom of my feet, and it spread all over my body. It was the worse case anyone could have. The only way to combat it was to be injected with steroid shots and to take Benadryl along with a prescription antihistamine. I was put on a breathing machine for a short while as well.

Then years later, I had a eye doctor prescribe me a combined antibiotic/steroid drop that I used for a year... all this in-turn cause the cataracts to develop rapidly. I was losing my sight in my right eye. I stopped photographing as it was difficult to see. I think I was at my lowest at that point, not being able to enjoy my passion for photography.

So the only way to regain my vision was to go through the cataract surgery. However, I selected to have the Cyrstalens HD implants which requires a skilled surgeon to place these in the eyes after removing the natural lens that has been destroyed from the cataracts. The Cyrstalens are what is considered "accommodating" lens implants. This means the eyes will see at all distances seamlessly. 

Since the surgery, my vision has improved. Today my world is much brighter, literally. Colors are bright and vivid. I see 20/15 which is better than 20/20 at the farthest distance. My reading range is still improving with practice in strengthening the eye muscles to make the implant lens bow to read without using reading glasses. The doctors say that it will take at least 6 months before I can see the full optimum use of the lenses. 

Now that my vision is better, my photography is becoming more fined tuned. I anticipate my work will be much better than it ever has been in the past. I've removed most of the older photo images from my albums on my website, and replacing them with new images. So keep checking back and see what new images I've added. 

To all those that have liked my work... Thank you for your support and encouragement! It is so greatly appreciated! 

Visitors are welcome to sign my guestbook too. 

Thank you!

Deb.

I'm so delighted that the editor, Dana Russell of Appaloosa Journal liked my work so well that she put it on the front cover of her magazine publication. These are the May & June issues.

Thank you so much Dana!

I look forward to catching more awesome shots of Appaloosa's racing and in shows this summer.

So keep checking back as more photo images will be uploaded.