Well, the primal instincts are starting to stir. Sitting in my office today with the sun shining in from the south and noticing the steady daily increase in how high it is getting. The official start of the severe weather season is rapidly approaching on March 1st. As I spend some time browsing through 1000's of photos from last season, I do the annual reflection on the previous seasons and my expectations of 2008.
The old: After living a very quiet chaser life for years, the steady increase in exposure starting in 2001 culminated in 2007. I think everything I wanted to experience has been accomplished. I was disgusted at some of the things I saw along the path paved by those 7 seasons. Many times I thought about just slipping back into total reclusion but I had met some great people along the way. I saw politics make a lot of good people turn bad. Myself included at times. Was it for personal gain or ???? I still question some of my decisions but the memories and experiences were worth the price for the most part.
The new: Going into this season, I feel comfortable on whom I have chosen to align myself with. Namely myself. Yep, I have friends on both sides of the proverbial fence but that is too damn bad. I like a person for a reason and not because of who they are. What they are is far more important. There are still some real idiots who need to be run out of the chaser culture but I'm not going to be the one to do it. I'm not talking about people who get too close (who the hell is measuring anyways?), consistently get cored, etc. It's the people who pass themselves off as knowing what they are doing and people believe it. Pay your dues in the miles driven. No one is going to hold your hand and train you into being a super chaser so quit whining about it. At this point, I think I'm done sharing my experiences on the front page of the internet for the most part. Stormtrack has become a joke in many ways though the most serious seems to be through repeated failures at defining it's identity, no longer does it serve chasers. It has become nothing more than another weather enthusiast form...much like the old SCOA group. Stormchasers.org has done the right thing IMO by locking down the membership and booting inactive/lurking members. It's for seasoned chasers and not wannabes or enthusiasts looking for a chasing 101 class. I resigned from all the "elite chaser groups" last year out of sheer despise of continued politically motivated personal agendas. We have a family meeting coming up shortly where I think I'm going to pull the plug on Cullen and I participating in any more media productions. We will still string video and photos as independents and for FOX in the DMA here and that is about it (to help offset expenses). Time to get back to the basics and look at the sky for the plain old fun of seeing a storm. I think Melinda is looking forward to having the opportunity to regain her photography hobby also and there is no better time to do it.
Love me or hate me for my past. I couldn't care less. Bring on the 2008 season. I'm ready.
