So, this is what it must feel like to be retired. No mandatory meetings, no one to answer to (hope my wife is not reading this) and a wide open daily calendar. Sounds perfect doesn’t it? This radical sabbatical is only a preview of our life once we reach retirement although I have years to go until I reach that milestone. I will say this feels pretty darn good in the short term.
Since I have the gift of time, here are just a few of the things that I have chosen to do since arriving in Florida.
Debbie and I take long morning walks on the beach around sunrise. The air is cooler, a great morning breeze helps to battle the humidity and there’s nearly no one walking on the beach. Thursday, I walked for 3.5 miles on my own since Debbie had early morning meetings and Friday we were up and out for a two hour stroll along the seashore by 7 am. During our walks my wife eventually gets distracted and begins her hunt for unique seashells while I focus on taking photographs. We also return to the beach for golden sunsets.
![Sunrise photographs, sunset photographs, Longboat Key photographs, morning walks, best morning walks longboat key, Florida sunrise, Florida sunset](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F8a65cc8a-3f1c-491a-92ec-2df8427d2181_1200x1600.jpeg)
![Sunrise photographs, sunset photographs, Longboat Key photographs, morning walks, best morning walks longboat key, Florida sunrise, Florida sunset](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa9b00b0a-5480-4f6f-9b4f-56b1b89991e5_1446x1928.jpeg)
![Sunrise photographs, sunset photographs, Longboat Key photographs, morning walks, best morning walks longboat key, Florida sunrise, Florida sunset](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F753f66db-5875-4b34-8b5e-17d8dea0dc4e_1512x2016.jpeg)
![Sunrise photographs, sunset photographs, Longboat Key photographs, morning walks, best morning walks longboat key, Florida sunrise, Florida sunset](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fff0b8237-993b-40f2-9ebb-75829d1e9ab0_702x1280.jpeg)
![Sunrise photographs, sunset photographs, Longboat Key photographs, morning walks, best morning walks longboat key, Florida sunrise, Florida sunset](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Ffb28be39-0ea0-48de-b10f-a7c74a1c253f_540x720.jpeg)
![Sunrise photographs, sunset photographs, Longboat Key photographs, morning walks, best morning walks longboat key, Florida sunrise, Florida sunset](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fd2de855b-0be4-420f-bba6-78e3e8db3c10_960x1280.jpeg)
We are on the West Coast of Florida for the entire month of July and have been on jet skis once and have two more days planned on them before we move on to a new destination. When it has rained we’ve spent time at multiple museums including the Imagine Museum, The Florida Holocaust Museum and the Chihuly Collection exhibition. I must say all are worthy of your time when you are visiting the area.
Click to see my larger gallery
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We even took time to appreciate artists creating glass art during a live demonstration. Below are photos of the process from start until the piece was placed in the kiln.
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In my passion to see baseball games in every stadium, we took time in Tampa to watch the Rays battle the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The opening game of an important four game series was terrific with the O’s coming out on top 4-3 in 10 innings. It also checked off another stadium on my list. In my college days, I was fairly obsessed with seeing Major League baseball games in stadiums around the country. The same year we graduated college, my high school friend Scott and I spent six weeks driving 10,000 miles to watch games in 23 baseball stadiums across the United States and Canada. It was the same year Field of Dreams was published. We will leave those stories for another time.
With this extra gift of time, I have also managed to resume reading books. At the start of this journey, I was devouring another John Grisham novel, Sparring Partners, while Debbie opted James Patterson by James Patterson. I had never read the prolific writer, but as soon as I finished the Grisham novel, Debbie and I swapped and I powered though the stories of his life. I have since moved on to Patterson’s book he published with former president Bill Clinton called The President is Missing.
Most of the time though, you’ll find me chasing my next favorite photograph to capture. The one below I captured at sunset, right after an afternoon summer storm.
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Shameless Plug: I do sell my photographs and have two sites where you can sample some of the photographs including Etsy and my online gallery. If you are interested in any of the photographs published throughout this journey, please contact me directly.
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A few personal shots from our journey thus far…..
![radical sabbatical, my radical sabbatical, Charles Harris, Charles Harris Photography](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F560ea429-4a95-4d58-8ae1-4185f5a42a56_1158x1544.jpeg)
![radical sabbatical, my radical sabbatical, Charles Harris, Charles Harris Photography](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F5f9dd146-fae5-4f8b-805e-2be8d89fc7bf_645x1398.png)
![radical sabbatical, my radical sabbatical, Charles Harris, Charles Harris Photography](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F0d7020e6-4d94-4a0e-aa14-521a2e525347_1158x1544.jpeg)
![radical sabbatical, my radical sabbatical, Charles Harris, Charles Harris Photography](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F62680008-a9e4-4ae6-aa90-bebafbc27a41_1544x1158.jpeg)
![radical sabbatical, my radical sabbatical, Charles Harris, Charles Harris Photography](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_474,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F227a56dd-8809-4194-8031-2195022cfd6b_1512x2016.jpeg)
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My husband John and I are heading out Aug 7 to east coast (New England) then Florida in our motorhome. We'll see if our paths cross
I had no idea what an accomplished photog you are! Truly enjoying the stream of gorgeous images. Of course, it's evident that you have an eye for beauty. All you have to do is look at Debbie ... :)