The Devil in My Pocket

The Dolemite Mountain on the Horizon

I’ve been on what seems like a two month vacation, and it isn’t getting old one bit. I’ve been taking advantage of my new found freedom from more traditional ideas of work, and spending a lot more time hanging out with my family. I’ve been working hard too, but I love what I do so that just feels like part of the fun. The huge bonus is I can work from where ever I am, and that has changed everything. I finally got the bavaphone so that I can be more present and online for Reclaim Hosting, and that’s working out well.

Albergo “3 Cima”

But the other reason I got it was to start capturing all those little moments I missed without it. I always wanted to be like Tom Woodward; his camera has literally been a part of his body for years, and as a result he takes awesome photos. But I’m not him. I’m a producer of convenience, and lugging a big camera around is not convenient, which made not having a small device in my pocket at all times more and more of a drag. And once I came to Italy in October it was impossible to resist the mobile siren’s call, there were just too many awesome things I needed to capture. What’s more, I could almost immediately bombard my social media accounts with them to make bragging about living abroad even easier—it was a done deal in my mind.

Panorama from Mezzolomardo

All the images above are shots I took today while visiting the upper half of Mezzocorona, a small town 1800 feet up in the Italian alps that you can only reach by foot, cable car, or helicopter. We took the cable car, and the panorama directly above is a look out over the valley, the one above that is a shot of the hotel/restaurant “3 Cimas” (or 3 peaks) that we ate at, and the first is a shot of the Dolemite mountain range you can hike to from Mezzocorona. It’s a stunning environment, and I had my camera with me to capture it all. What’s more, I’ve started playing with the video on my phone, and the following two videos capture the cable car ride up the mountain, as well as the return trip using the time-lapse filter. So awesome.

Funivia up to Mezzocorona from Jim Groom on Vimeo.

Funivia down from Mezzocorona from Jim Groom on Vimeo.

While we were walking around Mezzocorona our friends Claudia and Giorgio’s son Ruggiero—and avid basketball player (it’s HUGE in Italy!)—had brought along his ball and he, Miles and Tommaso were playing around with it. We ultimately landed on a big old tree that had fallen, and we started taking slow-motion videos of the kids jumping off of it. But as luck would have it there was an empty trash can nearby that was about the size of a hoop, and the rest is slow motion history. Quickly the game “Who could sink the ball in the garbage can from the dead tree” was established and captured in beautiful slow motion on high definition video thanks to the devil in my pocket!

Ruggiero for 3 from Jim Groom on Vimeo.

An Italian Pickup Game from Jim Groom on Vimeo.

Tommaso takes a shot from Jim Groom on Vimeo.

This stuff never gets old for me. I love the idea of these tiny, compact moments captured and shared on the spot and beyond. It’s what I have always loved about blogging, and it’s what got me started with Planet Miles. I missed having this possibility for the last ten years or so, but I’m a stubborn man. That said, I promise I’ll make up for it now that I have changed my evil ways 🙂