(Originally posted on the website Heron Flight)

From April 1, 2004 until today, I worked on a daily photo project which I titled “A Year in One Place.” There is a field about 100 feet from my house. On the opposite side of the field is a stream. My goal was to take a photo of this end of the field every day for a year. The photo to the left is a reminder that I put in my car. It now has such character that everyone in the family has agreed that I need to leave the reminder there for good. Yes, I sometimes eat bananas in the car.

Here are some highlights from a year of taking daily photos in this place:

• April 12 – garbage appears (maybe a cardboard box) and is visible until May 17
  
• April 21 – new leaves are noticeable on the trees
  
• April 29 – first wildflowers appear
  
• May 12 – trees are noticeably full
  
• May 18 – the stream is no longer visible
  
• June ? – the first time someone asked me why the hell I was taking pictures there every day
  
• June 18 – wheat begins to turn brown
  
• July 1 – first photo taken by someone other than myself (guest photographers included Hannah, Maddy, Tim, Kayla, Arissa)
  
• July 6 – wheat is harvasted
  
• July 6 – first two of three vehicles appear
  
• September 4 – first photo missed because someone forgot while I was out of town
  
• September 15 – third vehicle
  
• September 18 – field is flooded
  
• September 21 – trees begin to appear noticeably thinner
  
• October 13 – leaves begin to change colors
  
• October 19 – first time I forgot
  
• Total number of days missed – 9
  
• Total out of the 9 that are on a misplaced disk somewhere – 3
  
• November 4 – first frost
  
• November 10 – leaves nearly gone
  
• November 28 – stream is visible again
  
• December 27 – first snow
  
• January 22 – first photo taken during a snow storm
  
• February 1 – first footprints in the snow
  
• February 18 – first (and only) dog appears bringing the first (and only) human along with her
  
• March 5 – my shadow is in the picture
  
• March 24 – last time it snowed
  
• March 31 (day 365) – first time a police officer stopped and asked what I was doing. I told him, “Nothing now. I’m finished.”
  

CLICK HERE to see the Year in One Place photo project.