The first weeks of a new year are an interesting time; full of promise… a time to reflect back on what went right (or wrong) with the previous year, and attempt to make revisions to the script. To steer the story in an exciting new direction.

Melissa and I are doing just that, sometimes consciously discussing what we hope to achieve – other times in more subtle ways.

After a few low ball bids on our condo, which we put on the market back in July, changes to our lifestyle – including the consideration of full-timing in our new Airstream – may take a bit longer than we anticipate. Still, seeing the snow pile up out our window reminds us that there’s still beauty and fun to be had right where we are. You can never remind yourself too often to be grateful for what is, rather than always looking for what might be.

As the temperatures hovered around 60 this afternoon in Evanston, we stopped at the beach on the way home after taking the dogs for a bath (we usually do this ourselves at home in the tub, but the proceeds went to Greyhounds Only).

Melis pointed over my shoulder as I stood on the boulders shooting Lake Michigan, and I turned to see a broken formation of snow geese passing overhead.

Lots of backstory on this one, folks. Here’s the short version.

After seeing photos of the long distance trucks bringing 50 greys at a time up from the panhandle (where a pair of tracks are shutting down for an extended period this winter) I was intensely curious about how these “hauls” are put together. How many people are involved? What kind of planning does it take? What it’s like for a greyhound to step off the track, climb inside a dark truck for nearly 24 hours, and emerge as somebody’s potential pet?

And just like that, within a couple of days Melissa and I were in the car headed to Pensacola; a five day trip capped off by a marathon ride north from Florida to Wisconsin, in 17 hours straight.

Armed with this goal of telling these dogs’ story, I was able to get several hours of footage (with Melissa providing her typical, essential support behind the scenes). By the time we arrived home after shooting the unloading in Wisconsin this past Sunday, word had spread about our trip. By the following morning, clips were already being requested by our ABC station in Chicago for an interview on their morning news broadcast.

So here you go; a few seconds of footage interwoven with a beautifully done interview. Hopefully the tv spot will increase the number of applications coming into Greyhounds Only, and hopefully my clips will eventually become part of a full length documentary.

This whole escapade may have begun without much planning, but as with many worthwhile endeavors, good ideas often don’t fit nicely into a calendar, or wait around while you spend months on the phone planning every last detail. Sometimes you need to just “shoot” first… and ask questions later.