Mighty Willamette!

Mar 14, 05
Lunchtime at the river


Still sunny and warm but high clouds are drifting in. Why is talk of the weather considered trivial?


Farther down along the river, trees in bloom, inscribed in a stone alongside them
"Mighty Willamette!
Beautiful friend
I am learning
I am practicing
To say your name."


Lots of joggers, walkers, bikers on the river front path - and then moments of quiet, which is really what many are seeking.


A blackbird calls in a sweet whistle high in a tree, then another answers not far off - low roar of a train in the background.


Light is dimming as clouds get just a little more dense - fewer people out now, noon hour is past, many must get back to work.

afternoon break

Mar 13, 05
afternoon break from Photolucida
Portland


Walking around outside to take a break from all the reviews and networking, great as it may be -

Wonderful warm sunny day - the sun on my shoulders relaxes me, energizes me at the same time.


First shot felt crooked - this one feels off-center, will decide later what I like better.


"The Park Blocks"


Something about needing to take a break in the city - "In the woods we return to reason and faith."


the other end of the park


Only two blocks from the Bensen, but I had to walk much farther to see it.

at school

Mar 2, 05
afternoon recess - between 2nd grade classes
out front at Kohler School
mostly cloudy, sun has been trying to get through, cool

sounds of kids at play, Terry's rolling garbage cans, then quiet and a tiny chirp

sparrow type bird hops around in the bare tree branches

mulberry trees have buds that soon will burst into leaves

grass is green, ground is muddy

recess bell rings


cloudy setting on Izone overexposed even though not in direct sunlight


sun setting on Izone

Feb 23, 05

Feb 23, 05
4:15 p.m.
Gibson Ranch - Deidre & I go back to a spot on Dry Creek
warm, sunny, with some clouds, sun is beginning to get low

The creek has risen and come back down, but not quite as low as it was last time. Still, our spot is dry and we can both take photos we couldn't take then. My first attempt at the triptich was less than satisfatory but then the second try is well worth six sheets of film (plus the one I jammed at first because I had forgotten to clean my rollers.) The air around the creek smells wet, a little like algae, and mosquitoes are all over. Lots of tiny birds chirp and chatter in the low bushes and trees all around.

We tromp around the creek, up onto the bridle path and down around the creek some more - we see a couple tiny grey birds with darker heads, about the size of the goldfinches in our backyard. They make a little "tit tit" noise as they hop around on naked bush branches.

Fresh green grass is everywhere, a testament to all the recent rainfall and slowly rising temperatures.

sunny with clouds

Feb 18, 2005
late afternoon
family outing to Gibson Ranch
sunny with clouds, breezy cool to warmer, depending on whether we're in shadow or not

Start out by the pond, not too long before mallards come to check us out, Scott pretends he has food and we've got geese interested soon, too. One big white gander comes up hissing and we give him plenty of space


Cattle graze in a pasture across the road, look up at me, then get back to the business at hoof. Scott and the kids check out a pair of oaks - I want to call them live oaks because they're evergreen - Scott climbs one and is attacked by ants.


We drive around to the creek side of the park and are promptly stomping around the creek.


Suddenly a set of soccer goals catch my eye. The park is mostly empty now and the goals are giant frames around the landscape with a second far away goal echoing in the distance.

I like the second set of the three sets I find best and the thought that I am not the first to see this relationship haunts me.

Still I like this idea and later realize I missed three more landscapes seen through the opposite side - I wonder what I missed?


Next to the soccer field I find a more pastural scene - quite literally a horse pasture. I like the clouds that echo the shape of the tree. Dee has joined me while the guys bird watch - they find a couple kinds of woodpeckers along the creek.


Dee leads me along tiny little creekside trails while the sunlight comes and goes behind the clouds.


I run out of film before I get all the shots I like, so Dee & I decide to come back Monday, weather permitting. Storms have been passing through and more are forecast these next couple days...

bike ride

Feb 6, 05
partly cloudy, breeze picking up
most of January was cold and foggy, now our week of sun seems to be ending - out on a bike ride with the kids - we take a gravel road around a creek
where the road peters out and hits open land we find a platform treehouse in what seems to be too small of a tree, complete with a garden hose for a ladder.

The kids poke around in the muddy creek while wating for me.

break in the storm

Sat. Jan 8, 05
12:15
clouds over Quinones' house
break in the storm

clouds gathering

1.1.05
4:15 p.m.
cold
clouds gathering

school day

Dec 17, 04
9 a.m. cold, sunny, fog clearing



Pulling out of the driveway, to take the kids to school - I liked the way the light was hitting and the tree and fallen leaves framed the garage of Lois' house. First exposure wasn't enough to catch what I saw - my mental light meter is still learning.

noonish
Gibson Ranch
sunny - cold - slight breeze



Out with Ramona - dead tree catches my eye right away - first shot overexposed, come in closer to try again - cloud filter pulls the sky down nicely. Takes the coated prints so long to dry in the cold.


Pair of young trees along the bridle path - I think of them as two sisters. Funny how often I think of trees as feminine, something nurturing about them. Later Ramona says this shot reminds her of the Wizard of Oz, we are certainly not in Kansas anymore... but maybe I found two sisters in the Land of Oz.


Dry Creek, running swift and deep. We see a big snowy egret fly down the creek, land on a beach, but he's too skittish to let us get close enough for a shot and he flies down the creek, then doubles back again.


The path before us, looking into the low winter sun, well above the creek bed.

A road not taken -

tree hunting

Dec 11, 04
midday
Carlson Ridge Evergreens Christmas Tree Farm
sunny, clear, warm - above the fog of the valley




Great day to find a tree - plenty of people have peeled off outer layers until only t-shirts are left.

Dec 9, 2004

Dec 9, 2004
9 a.m.
at home
Sunny and bright, almost warm, quite a change from the past few days that have been blustery, cold and wet.

Coming back to the house after dropping off the kids for school, I notice how nice the light hits my unkempt garden. So I start my day with art.

After noon, Antelope Community Park -

The joys of an over-exposed image! I can't believe how much all of my camera paranoia has gripped me, maybe I can begin to shake it off now.

Now I'm sitting on a log in the sun - better than the bench in the shade - off the path to the far right of the photo above.

Birds chirp, chick, tweet, whistle, squeak in the trees around me yet remain largley unseen. Searching with my eyes I've spotted a magpie, scrub jay, a couple blackbirds and plenty of unidentified movement among the oak leaves. I hope they all stick around once the park is "developed." A bond measure for the desperately-needed new high school finally passed, and is slated for the adjacent property. There are plans for ball fields and skateparks and parking lots on this land, I pray they do it wisely.

Lovely little toadstools I came across - nearly stood on my head to get this shot, or so it felt.

The little toadstools make a contrast with the oaks -

Now a tiny beetle lands on my page, tries to take back off, flops back onto the page several times, then finally succeeds in flying away. Sometimes I feel like the toadstool in the shadow of mighty oaks or like a tiny beetle that can't manage to even take flight. At least I know that as long as I'm on God's page, I'm in the right place - (oh Lord, that sounds so corny!)



Meandering around, I come on this oak - the image I saw so much grander than this and if I were so inclined I could work it again to show you - but as I came closer there was a little ladder that caught my eye. I had been thinking that I didn't need to hide the fact that this lovely tree lives in suburbia, like I'd done in images before, and then I truly saw the heart of the matter.

This tree had been the source of dreams and great adventures. What youngsters, maybe aided by an elder, had been lured into the arms of this lovely giant? What secrets have been shared here? What hopes - what dreams - or naughty schemes? No matter, this tree would not have lived such a social life out far in untouched wilderness, and we would not have enjoyed it so.

Then, up farther, more obscure among the branches and golden leaves, a newer home of a different creature, a large nest made of twigs. Whose nest exactly, I'm not sure, but it doesn't really matter. This is nearly a magical place where people and animals have come together.

I hear too much about the evils of suburbia and sprawl and our car culture but it isn't all that bad. Some of us enjoy more space and less urban living where we can breathe a little easier. And just sit and listen to the birds.

clear skies

Dec 1, 04
1:30 p.m. - between 2nd grade classes
Kohler School
sunny, clear skies, cool, light breeze

Earlier several crows and a couple seagulls were feasting on lunch leftovers, as well were a couple magpies. Now a small sparrow chirps and flits between branches in the trees.

The ground is damp but not soggy, leaves that have fallen are nearly everywhere but on the trees. The branches overhead are nearly bare and a magpie comes to visit briefly then flies off again.

late november

Nov 29, 04
11:15 a.m.
Sunny, clear, cold - out in backyard

Just wanted to see if I could get a good exposure in full sunlight and the old 180 seems to oblige just fine, guess I'm just being paranoid.

Late November finds that the garden is weedy and the pool is dirty...

dark

nov 27, 04
nearly 4 p.m.
It's been too long - I've let other things keep me away while the camera calls. Busy with teaching, show and just life.
very windy outside
blew away the clouds that rained all night
The dark wet garden is in desperate need of weeding.

I'm longing to get away, escape into the landscape for just an hour even. Today a couple quick shots will have to do.

Darker than it seems it should be & I have a hard time trusting my camera - maybe it's me - this image certainly conveys a feeling, though.

Sunlit tops of trees and jay in the top of plum tree - again darker than it should be -