moonlighting

Right after work last night I hiked down to the far northern end of the Pearl District to shoot the magical tents of a touring show still setting up. The moon was full, the grounds fairly deserted but the tents were all alight, and the moon shined through sheer, high clouds transcending the view into a purity and simplicity that was just hypnotic. I lost all track of time.

oh, pioneers

It's the cemetery again. My friend, Pat and I loaded gear into her car and bombed through the vacant, rain-swept streets of North Portland to arrive at the old pioneer cemetery again very early this morning. Slow, heavy drip-drip-drip so familiar and even comforting to natives here, a little rain won't prevent your intrepid photo-geeks from catching the early light and tonal mood for a Halloween-ish shoot. The gates were open and we were entirely alone, as is usual in this quiet and humble place. 

Can you see the faces? This tree had sustained pretty dramatic damage to the trunk with a large portion split away, leaving this symmetrical gash exposed.

There are many graves of children and infants, and this one particularly touched me this morning, just seven years old when he died. His mother, Alice, was placed here with him sometime later. I know Halloween invites the opportunity to create some creepy images, but this small grave is just so sweet and sad.

I am now feeling sufficiently in touch with my mortality, so maybe will try for a lighter subject next post!

october means cemetery

I love this rather neglected old cemetery and have shot here fairly frequently over the past several years. Last weekend I found two willing accomplices models to participate in a small project that I've been contemplating for awhile. Here are a few sample shots. Would love some feedback if you are so inclined!  

the taste of apples

My first visit ever to the annual Apple Tasting at Portland Nursery last week sealed the season for me. FINALLY, evidence that summer is really over and we're moving again toward the seasons we're known for here. And I'm such a typically romantic northwesterner. Even the discomfort of standing on a wet, windy street corner, chilled to the bone while waiting interminably for a bus that never seems to arrive, can't dispel the excited anticipation that charges my soul this time every year. Also? I confess that I enjoy being amused by, and feeling slightly superior (okay, maybe not so slightly) to the recent transplants from sunnier climates consistently complaining about the long, dark drench that starts about now and doesn't really end until about the middle of July.  Heh, heh. Lightweights.

And then there are the apples and pears piled over my kitchen counter this morning. Thinking that a tart would be a lovely project today. Yup.

a little gratitude

A Saturday morning after nine hours of solid sleep means I wake up with a sense of possibility again. A little ambitious. A little looser of joint. A little softer in my approach. A little prettier, somehow (isn’t the mind a miraculous thing?). A little peaceful. A very little bit happier.

What happens to us asleep? How does the unconscious bring us through the nightly fire of our terrors and failings to a quiet morning’s optimism? I am so grateful. The sun is out. And there is coffee. Thank you.

Doc and I walked through the gorgeously anachronistic Irvington neighborhood where I live on the less gorgeous edge. I brought the camera and found small indications that it is October at last. 

Griffin James Hyland

I was going to wait to post these until later in the week--not sure why now. I just love these shots of Griffin! He is an adorable, sweet-natured little guy, and we had a great time together on Friday while I babysat. He wasn't too sure about the camera at first, but eventually he figured out it was still me behind that big one-eyed thing in my hands.

the local boys

Grayson stayed with me overnight last weekend and arrived with his little brother, Griffin, for a visit as well. It was Griffin's first half-birthday! Yup. Six months old already. And you can probably tell that they are a pretty tight team.

And since Griffin's recently acquired 2 bottom teeth, just about everything has become a chewy treat.

bird by bird, flower by flower, shot by shot, day by day

"Bird by bird" is a reference to Annie Lamott's book. But you already knew that. I'm slowly adding extra pages of various photo themes to this blog. I'm still trying to find a different path or walk some new ground in the creative side of my mind. It's so easy to get stuck in a single track or preoccupation, self-absorption, fear and worry, or just simple habit. Someday this blog will be a part of an actual website. Not motivated to make that change just yet, but it's coming, along with other changes as well.

I'm sure I posted this shot of an old porch in late afternoon several years ago, but I just stumbled across it again this morning in an old file and still think it's a good one. The heat this weekend has been pretty intense and somehow to my mind at least, this shot seems to capture an essence of that. I know it was a hot afternoon when I shot it, so maybe I'm just projecting that memory into my perceptions. So typically human...

Everywhere I go to check news updates today references the 10th anniversary and memorial observations of the crushing loss of life in New York City on this date. I don't have anything to add. I wish that it had never happened. I wish that our foreign policies were more constructive rather than destructive so it might never have happened. I wish our voices in protest and opposition to the subsequent war-mongering of political and financial interests had been heard and heeded. And I wish now we would stop the killing and the violent rhetoric, stop destroying ourselves and our once noble aspiration to honor the lives of our citizens and global neighbors. I have always thought we could do so much better. You, too? Maybe my memory is just clouding my perceptions, but it seems as though we all thought so once.

what's next?

Not sure when I lost the impetus to maintain this blog, but somehow over the summer I completely lost interest and motivation to return. I am still struggling with what I'd like this blog to become; struggling with a sense of purpose elsewhere in my life as well. And trying to plan for inevitable changes while not being able to forecast the future is challenging, but I do feel the need for renewed purpose and momentum forward with my own creative projects.

I've added a page for my photos of flowers and will add additional pages for other subjects as I think more about what this blog could become.

Anyway, here are some shots from a few of the things I did this summer:

The 4th of July with Doc on my little balcony:

Not exactly on a par with the fireworks display the city puts on every year, but roughly equivalent to the level of patriotism that this holiday inspires in me lately...

A poetry reading in early August was at least an interesting diversion for a couple of hours with friends Fumi and Wayne. Have you ever been to a Kava bar? Me neither.

'Nuff said, I guess...

Far and away the best part of the summer was three little boys whom I can't ever seem to get enough of, and their parents, of course:

Grayson & Griffin playing "Angry Birds" (I seriously love this shot!)

Oscar having a pretty fun time at a backyard barbeque. (Full disclosure: I photoshopped the mustard off his cheek):

We all had a pretty fun time that night!

Griffin smilin' and Grayson chillin':

And on the last morning of the Philly Family's visit, we sat outside on the little balcony for a few minutes of calm before the long, long day ahead:

(Pointing to a little, tiny spider in its web) It's always hard to say goodbye until next visit. I just miss them always.