the music of this mist is such
that what can’t be seen,
can be felt and most certainly
will not be forgotten.
a snow day
Making the most of a modest amount of accumulation, our youngest still maintains the can-do spirit around the cold, excited for even the lighter of dustings. Plus, she didn’t have school today. Nothing to be mad about here.
I’m trying to be better about catching family moments, instead of just creating artful representations around our goings on.
My, how the turn tables… years ago my goal was to see things differently, share things differently. The big hope was to create art, less personal to our family, but more universal, around nature, life, and belonging. This goal has been firmly accomplished and solidified.. I’m proud of the work, happy to convey the mystical around this world of ours. BUT.. in a striving for balance, I do hope I can also photograph moments for what they are this year.
And, so, this is our almost nine year old, on the cusp of adolescence, seen from the porch, working the hill with a vintage Radio Flyer. She’s loving every minute of it, despite the lack of detail and monochrome edit.
CYH No. 5, in memory of my aunt
My aunt couldn’t be held down. She was a person who, no matter what life threw at her, met it with an honest smile, and unwavering strength.
She was the kind of person who could get away with laughing at a funeral. In fact, one of my favorite memories of her is just that. Sitting with her, witnessing her soft jokes, her good nature cut through the despair in the room. She could do it. Not everyone can.
She had her share of misfortune. She buried a child, buried her husband. She never made loads of money, or experienced massive critical acclaim for accomplishments. Yet somehow, I think of her as one of the happiest people I knew. A consistent force of warmth, a renewable resource of encouragement. Always ready to pick herself up, and lift those around her too. Unflappable. Genuine. Optimistic.
I’m going to miss her sweet southern draw, her ability to bust a move, her lack of concern for what anyone thought about her, her hugs.. the way she called everyone “baby.” I’m going to miss her laugh. It accompanied her everywhere. Things will be too quiet now.
My heart goes out to the many currently experiencing loss.
reflections in the lake, in Bellingham, WA.
CYH No.4
…Fallen pines to shape the skyline
Take me there
Beneath the barren colored moonQuit all that looking back
I quit all of that..- Gregory Alan Isakov, Berth
Trees at Lake Padden, Bellingham WA
CYH No. 3
It was as if I beheld Queens,
in robes of dappled sunlight
through the January clouds.
Taylor Dock, Bellingham WA
CYH No. 2
I can’t help but want to cue all the Dave Matthews Band music with this iPhone snap. Especially an oldie but a goodie: Where Are You Going?
His music can be divisive. I’ve never understood why, other than lots of people wait in line to Yuck the Yum of others. So don’t do that, friends.
We don’t need our energy going to those useless pursuits.
Lake Padden, Washington, via iPhone 15
CYH No. 1
The blue heron makes a sound like the world is ending.
Ripping like doomsday through the air.
a regal beak, a torrential sound.
I thought life might be over, if you’d heard it too, you’d know.
Don’t be spending winters staring at ghosts.
Get out and talk to the living.
Winter Morning
Softly, softly.
a walk
The last few years, I’ve been pretty heavy in artistic elements when it comes to my photography. When my family took a long walk this weekend, I wanted to do more of a documentary style. Meaning, shooting so that things look a bit more like what you would see ( with the exception of that black and white above, unless you see in black and white) on the street, looking around. So, these images might feel a bit boring, but I like ‘em.
your mind, ready
“What is one to do with such moments, such memories, but cherish them? Who knows what is beyond the known? And if you think that any day the secret of light might come, would you not keep the house of your mind ready? Would you not cleanse your study of all that is cheap, or trivial? Would you not live in continual hope, and pleasure, and excitement?”
― Mary Oliver, Winter Hours
Full
Feeling sentimental for the mountains this Monday, in the United States. No reason, just a place to land.
It’s Inauguration Day and Martin Luther King Jr Day. Many things for many people, all at once. Isn’t this the way life is, the ugly/beauty of fullness, both/and? I’m not too worried or caught up in what may or may not happen in the next four years. There are going to be so many distractions. Some of them well meaning others most definitely not. Both, keeping us from being effective in our discourse with each other..
The biggest thing any of us can hold to is this—that many people in the US are struggling, that kindness and conversation are key, and that this too will pass, just like it has before. Acknowledge change and hope simultaneously. Easy peasy, right? I wish. But when we’re at the bottom of a big bucket of feelings, we should seek out logic, seek out information. And, let’s remember these well known words:
“Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
― Martin Luther King Jr
🕸️
Webs on a trail in Washington State
in memory
Don’t lose it. This feeling. This enchantment of the heart.
In honor of the weird, original, and legendary David Lynch, who passed this week.
Be in Peace.
Quiet & Alive
I’m learning something about the trees in January,
So quiet, yet so alive.
a million tiny movements, imperceptible but important.
Acceptance in all stages,
Purpose, no matter how small.
partner, confidant, friend
We act in our own best interests when we…let them guide us, because in the eyes of those reflective, open hearted creatures, we can never be too joyful, too beautiful, too free.
-Linda Kohanov
Sessions like this are at the heart of why I love photography. Connection, nature, camaraderie, and golden light. All of it good for the soul of both the photographer and the subject, no matter what either is going through. Beyond grateful to have spent this evening with these two.
quest
Yellow & Blue
and misty days till 2…
Is there a living in art?
together
what is forward? who knows! there is only forward, and together
Putting It Out There
I don’t know why it feels so scary sometimes,
to have an opinion, creation, thought,
shared.
Not knowing what will happen
to that opinion, creation, thought,
once it leaves your body.
Who will use it and how,
or will it even be given the most precious thing,
external attention.
Self awareness is awareness of the finite,
a call to opinion, creation, and thought.
And maybe that awareness calls for acceptance and courage,
if any opinion, creation, or thought
is to become something more than fears and reasons to stay hidden and finite.
🖤
Completely distracted today by the news coming out of LA, with so many acres burning around the city. Be safe friends, hearts are going out to you.