Seeking a quiet frame to get lost in.
Fear of Spiders
I didn’t understand, and because of that I couldn’t see you.
All I knew was the current of fear, a choice to be swept up in this lack of rationality.
Missing the complexity, my large body terrified of your small one,
your entire existence gone in one decisive moment.
How powerful I was. How afraid.
Clouds & Cream
Unbeknownst to him, my internet friend named this photo “Clouds & Cream”. Thank you Om! An excellent photographer and artist, who I continue to be inspired by.
Emergent Agency
Wild emerges with no permission.. this recklessness makes the season. I can’t help but be in awe.
She
There are some conservationists who are opposed to fishing and hunting, but I’m sorry, they are not thinking it through. In order to transpose mere interest into passionate love requires proactive behavior. The road is an uphill one because today’s youth of the digital world are raised with offers of passive, instant gratification. Can a person raised in that environment ever fish all day without a bite? Maybe it should be mandatory for schools to provide environmental study from grade one in which there is no computer involved, or any other electronic visual aide, only calm, analytical conversation mixed in with visits to if not wild places at least rural ones.
― Yvon Chouinard
Food for thought, from the quietly-provoking Chouinard.
Spark Vignettes
A few weeks ago we took our kiddos to a museum in Bellingham, Spark Museum of Electrical Invention. I couldn’t help but shoot a few frames in this wonderful little museum. Electricity, this invisible force all around us, is pretty incredible. The fact we humans found a way to harness it (through diligence, bravery, and at times, stupidity) is certainly awe-inducing. If you struggle to agree, maybe visit this place. It’ll cure you of your ignorant apathy. ;-) Make sure to go on a weekend for the cherry on your trip’s sunday.
This certainly was the cherry on my trip’s Sunday:
Wanderlust # 5- 1 Palm 1 Year
A palm tree in Florida, on our 1 year wedding anniversary.
Ending with this one because I see glimpses of my current photography style just making their debut. At the time, I didn’t feel super creative, but we all have to learn where to tell our inner critics to go, don’t we?
Hope you’ve enjoyed the visual archive this week, thanks for traveling with me🫶🏻
Somewhere in North Carolina, 2011
Wanderlust #4- A Single Serving of Mountain
Appalachia.
Will there be bugs?
Will there be humidity?
Will there be gorgeous views, lines, curves predating us humans?
You betcha.
Wanderlust #3- New Year, New York
Dear Reader,
There’s nothing quite like NYC at New Years. Add staying at a friend’s empty apartment in the East Village, your partner gifting you Phantom of the Opera tickets, listening, nay, feeling, music at the Vanguard, plus a sprinkling of interesting subway rides, and you’ve got yourself a great way to ring in 2012. This post is practically oozing with nostalgia for me..
the sounds,
the smells (maybe not),
the protests!
Yours truly,
Insufferable in 4:6 😉
Was it even New York, did you even go, if you didn’t take this picture?
Wanderlust #2- A Road Trip to Colorado
The year was 2009. Two crazy kids decided to drive to Colorado from Alabama in under 24 hours, because everyone said it couldn’t be done.
It can be done, but not recommended.
We stayed in a place with no heat, made friends with a pothead, sledded down an icy hill at midnight while a young eastern European gentleman remarked how awesome everything was, but with more colorful language… our car broke down, our snow shoes didn’t work, and our minds were blown an the x-games. There was food poisoning, frozen laundry, a blizzard on the interstate at 3am.
The entire thing makes me look back and smile. Enjoy these snaps at 4:3.
Wanderlust #1- SF in Squares
San Francisco, 2010. I walked the streets of Mission, watched a man dangle mid air in front of the ferry building, attempted a vegetarian diet, and met many a dapper French bulldog.
She’s out of focus, but I love her.
Hoping I get back this decade…
Portland Japanse Garden, 2022
Gardens
Gardens don’t just happen. They come about as a product of intention, tending, time, and a little bit of biological luck. One might say they’re a lot of work. Maybe even too much work. But the soul of a place, the enrichment from the fruits, or harvests, or even just being there with all senses, these are rewards worth any of the perceived toil. A garden can be a messy wild place, a dormant place, a manicured place, a thriving place. All of it a part of the seasons, all of it pointing to the balance of what it means to be a garden. I’m so grateful for these spaces.
To Bryan, Happiest 16th Anniversary. I love you.
Pardon
Washington State has tulips on the brain this month. I know, I know. "Florals? For Spring? Groundbreaking." BUT to keep things interesting, I’ll also leave you with a snippet of Emerson’s Hamatraya. One particular line is pulled out of context and printed on many a mass-produced garden sign, while the rest of the poem is, in fact, quite dark. I recommend you read the entire thing!
“..Where are these men? Asleep beneath their grounds:
And strangers, fond as they, their furrows plough.
Earth laughs in flowers, to see her boastful boys
Earth-proud, proud of the earth which is not theirs;
Who steer the plough, but cannot steer their feet
Clear of the grave..”
the AM
Before the eruption of day,
Quietly but persistently,
We begin our search for peace.
What is meant by an iron will?
Maybe a thing forged anew each morning
Broken by sundown?
Pieces scattered waiting
Till light and warmth readies them for another breaking.
Home
This past week was our spring break, and while we had plans to get out of town, sickness kept us home. Luckily the adults in our house were spared! We tackled several much needed projects, like finishing up a room remodel, planting out more of the garden, hanging mirrors/curtains, building a treehouse (they’re only young once), etc.
Exciting tasks, but ones that have zero to do with photography. It also means I didn’t shoot many photos, like I had originally intended. I’m alright with that. It was a different but just as important focus.
This week here is going to be a doozy. I’m shooting a bunch of school portraits, plus extra activities start up for our kiddos. Fingers crossed for some art time, but it might be a slow few days on the blog.
🌬️
“..to slip again over my faculties the viewless fetters of an uniform and too still existence..”
-Charlotte Brontë
Mornings
One of those gloriously messy weekday mornings where we managed to get out the door early, good attitudes still in tact. I also had the wherewithal to grab my camera, given the conditions seemed conducive to drama over the lake. It’s a beautiful thing when plans work, and we get a nice little break from perpetual adaptation.
Coming On but Slowly
Things taking time
to be what they will,
Ideas forming along
state change lines.
Does this death feel more illusionary
Since feeling and love and promise
spring forth from what’s left of it?