I spent Thanksgiving in Kansas City, Missouri, visiting my brother, his family, and my mother and stepfather. It’s my favorite holiday of the year—partly because it features dishes I rarely eat outside this one meal. I went in with high expectations for pumpkin pie, and, as always, my brother delivered.
He also organized a game of Dungeons & Dragons so I could join him and his friends. (For the record, I play a level 3 satyr bard named Lyrican Shadowstrum—a wandering urchin with trust issues and a staff that magically grows flowers.) I’m not great at the quick arithmetic of ability scores, but I love the storytelling, and Lyrican’s floral staff is hard not to like.
After Thanksgiving, I hosted Marce for a few days. She’s vegetarian, so she skipped the turkey dinner, but she enjoyed exploring Kansas City—a place most visitors to the U.S. tend to overlook. Autumn made it even cozier, and it was a treat to share it with her and the family.
Sadly, my beloved Fujifilm X100T camera—my constant travel companion since 2015—died just before I arrived. I’ve taken over 50,000 photos with it, many of which are on this site. That camera fit my right hand the way a well-worn baseball mitt fits a player, and losing it felt like saying goodbye to an old travel partner. But when you are a lone wolf, you have to learn to say goodbye.
The good news: I’ve replaced my old camera with a Fujifilm XT-5. Unlike the fixed 23mm lens on my X100T, this one has interchangeable lenses. I started with a 16mm and a 33mm, and I’ve been bouncing between them — too often, actually! The camera has far more settings and toggles than my old one, and I often forget to use—or reset—them. Photography now feels a bit like a memory game, but it’s a challenge I’m enjoying. I’ve even picked up a detailed guidebook to help me learn the ins and outs.
I’m still getting used to my new gear, but like any good quest, the learning curve is part of the adventure.
