The Melancholy of a Czech Spring

Spring inspires. Her enthusiasm reflects the warmth of sunshine and I cannot take my eyes off her. A flash of her wry smile and I’m slowly lured in… For me, the season of spring is the innocent version of Eris, the Greek goddess of strife. When the weather turns warm and life becomes comfortable, she arrives with one goal: to weave a web of…

Absinthe ~ Sojourn with the Green Goddess

My glass of absinthe arrives accompanied by an Oscar Wilde quote: “A glass of absinthe is as poetical as anything in the world. What difference is there between a glass of absinthe and a sunset?” The hues reflecting into the window, while a sunrise instead of a sunset, agree with this claim: beauty, wrapped within inspiration. I make a silent toast and close my eyes….

The Abyss and a New Year Renaissance

The long and winding road of this past year has finally reached its end. I feel broken. Exhausted. Started the year as a kid, climbing mountains ready to attack the world, and now I’m an old goat with barely the energy to take another step. Standing here on the precipice of the Lunar New Year, staring across the dark chasm leading into the Year of…

The Fishermen’s Lore: What Lies Beneath?

As with the morning sun, slowly I rise out of bed and slip on a new day without a sound. The scents of algae, spices and humidity rise above the fading dreams of last night and I savor the moment.  Looking out at the pre-dawn sky I prepare my coffee, anxious for the day to begin. Wandering down a path, I climb into a thin,…

Don’t Die Wondering…

Sitting along the shore of Elliott Bay, I often wonder what it would have been like centuries ago when Native Americans spent the summertime in Seattle.  The Seattle summer with its perfect weather is special, so I imagine it would have been heaven on earth to see the sun setting on this land so long ago when the wilderness ruled. Back in those days, getting outside and…

Dreams Between Dusk and Dawn

 “There is a road…between the dawn and the dark of night and if you go, no one may follow, as that path is for your steps alone.”  ~ Jerry Garcia The wisdom of Jerry Garcia resonates with me as the wrathful fingers of winter turn into the chilly, wet hands of spring.  I search for my path.  A place to watch and dream from afar; to…

The Beautiful Silence of a Seattle Sunset

There is a special connection that exists between nature and man, and amid all the incessant din we create, stepping out along the shores of Elliott Bay in Seattle, Washington such a connection can be made. There is an intricate dance between the Olympic National Forest and the Puget Sound waterway, a dance that makes the Pacific Northwest a little slice of heaven in the…

The Golden Bewitching Hour of Photography

In my previous post on the ‘Blue Hour’, I insinuated shooting the blue hour provided more of a challenge to achieve a great exposure than one could get in the golden hour.  Quite a few people disagreed with me, with the complaint that shooting into the sun (and handling the glare of the sun) was much more difficult to manage.   Granted, these two…

A Holy Time in San Miguel de Allende

There are angels who walk on Earth, and they can be found in the sleepy town of San Miguel de Allende of the central Mexican state of Guanajuato…which I suppose is not so sleepy any more, as it has become an art & culture center for much of Central Mexico.  The people of San Miguel de Allende have become well-known for their great artistic skill as…