Gomer Pyles

First breath….March 11, 1952 in Los Angeles California…Attempted a predictable path but hated following a script…Played well with peers, but not authority. Met elders who shared the gift of feelings and encouraged the simple notion that I could be anything I wanted to be…including myself. The term “Life Teachers” became known.

Nudges and serendipity have been my guides through this journey. In 1969, after barely eking out of high school I became a carpenter and college student while volunteering as a counselor and youth organizer at the local YMCA.  Saw a need to challenge that “cozy” familiar comfort zone so went on the road in 1973 to be forced into random encounters with folks of all ilk’s. This was when photography became a part of my world. Sensed that a photograph was a captured moment in time where the eyes meet the landscape with a grin or scowl… a historical document that can be savored or discarded.

In 1980, began a walk across the country with my partner  and about 50 other folks, pushing my 6.5 month old daughter in a cart beginning in San Francisco California and arriving, 13.5 months later, in Lewes Delaware, in an event referred to as Hike-A—Nation.

I came to The Plains, Virginia as a carpenter in June of 1981. Got a yen to learn about computers in 1982, became the company’s full time computer guy in 1983, and then started my own computer company in 1987.

On August 13, 2009 my body survived the ultimate “Brain Fart” commonly referred to as a stroke. It wasn’t a knock down kick your ass laid out horizontal event, but rather a partial maiming, where for the first time in my life had I been a member of an aborigine tribe I would have been dumped.  “Well, he can’t hunt or ride a horse so let’s leave him as bait.”

The stroke gave me a child’s set of eyes…One of awe and curiosity…It rekindled my passion for photography, where I savor each moment while roaming the greater Piedmont Region with an ease of spirit while observing the unique painting of our landscape with its ever changing colors.

I love the movie I’m in right now…

“Last seen prowling Fauquier County seeking sand dollars for monetary gain…Approach with caution.”…