Tracy Ruckman

I'm thrilled to announce the release of the #LeapFrogs travelogue, Go West, His Momma Said . The book is in full color, and has almost 400 photos of our cross country, tent-camping road trip. Here's the back cover blurb: “Only one question remained: Do we stay or do we go?” Faced with life-changing decisions, Tim and Tracy made the only choice they could—they went! Go West, His Momma Said chronicles the Ruckmans on their 189-day cross country road trip as they tent-camped their way from state to state. Piling into their SUV, loaded down with camping equipment and electronic gadgets, they determined to see as much of this land as they could. No set destination, no prepared plans, no schedule, but with a limited budget—the seniors explored and discovered as they went. They pulled out their bucket lists, then discovered they were adding just as many new dreams as they were checking off. Come join them during the first half of their journey as they explore parts of the...

Good Morning on this Cyber Monday! Did you survive Thanksgiving and Black Friday and all the college football rivalries? Today, my photo and pattern stories are rather random but fun. The first isn't yet a pattern, although eventually, one of the throw-away photos from this same photo shoot might just become one. We have a Japanese maple tree in our front yard. I love that tree. Every year, I watch it as the seasons change, noting the different colors of its leaves and how it changes so gracefully, yet - just like life - sometimes at lightning speed. A couple of years ago, I took a photo that I eventually turned into a paint-like print. That year, the leaves were large. Available on  Zazzle (also available as a jigsaw puzzle ) This year, however, the leaves were tiny. I wanted a different kind of image, but never could get a good one. The wind took away leaves one by one, until there were only a few left. Most of those were already shriveling up, but I looked at...