What should the relationship between one's personal and professional lives be?  No right answer, of course.  For me, I've never been able to, or wanted to, separate them very much.  One of the problems of such an approach is that it can lead to feeling that you are always working.  Conversely, it can make you feel that you always living your own life.  Many, perhaps most, photographers in the nature, outdoor, landscape, wildlife, and adventure genres have a lifestyle that requires a lot of travel. As a homesteader, my lifestyle keeps me at home most of the time.  Consequently, I have a Homestead Gallery to paint a picture of a modern north woods homestead.  My personal life is a frequent source of subject matter for my professional work as a photographer.  It's all connected in an annual cycle of growing, harvesting, making, fixing, and photographing amongst it all.  Soon it will be maple syrup season, superimposed on apple pruning season, followed quickly by shiitake mushroom spawning, and on...  This week, the homestead action has been about horses.  Our Haflinger mare, Meadow Rue, is just back from weaning a colt at another location.  And Rowan, our elderly mini-horse, had his last run at Big Creek, as we call the homestead.  He is now at his new homestead with some happy children.  The photos are admittedly a bit fuzzy, but they capture Rowan's mischievous spirit well.  I think the black and white version shows the action a little better. You? 

Rowan Plowing Snow in ColorMini-horse Rowan's last run at Big Creek (in color & monochrome)

Rowan Plowing Snow in MonochromeMini-horse Rowan's last run at Big Creek (in monochrome)