Artistic Slump...

I am sure that every artist goes through times when they suffer from artistic melancholy. I would have to admit, that has been the case for me for past several months. For me personally, photography started out as way to express myself during a dark time in my life. I was dealing with the deaths of several of my close family members, my mother's diagnosis of cancer and all of the feelings of helplessness and sorrow that accompany times such as these. Photography became my outlet; a way to see the goodness and beauty that surrounds us on a daily basis. It became something that consumed my thoughts, in a good way. Looking back now, maybe it was an escape of sorts.

I was learning how to operate my camera, I was learning about the basic rules of photography, I was learning how to tell a story through an image! I guess it took my mind off of all the hard things I was dealing with in my personal life. It was a great distraction in a lot of ways. I have always tried to be a person that focuses on the positives; photography helped me to do just that. It gave me direction and passion.

Somehow in the past several months it seems that I have lost that passion. I see glimmers of it every now and again. But just as quickly as it came, it seems to fade away. When I put myself out there and shoot something I tend to focus on the flaws of the images I have captured.

I miss that passion that I used to have. I am not quite sure how to get that back. I read somewhere once that when an photographer captures an image he shows a little bit of himself. Well, if I could sum up how I feel right now, I think the image that would represent me is a tree, stark and barren in the winter months. Hopefully, this is just a time of hibernation for me. I am hoping that my Spring will come, my leaves will come back and I will burst forth with new passion and dedication to expressing my little view of the world.

Happy New Year!

Again, it has been far too long since my last post! The holidays were a whirlwind of activity in our household. It was a wonderful season spent with friends and family. One of my favorite parts of the holiday season is getting the holiday cards from those who are near and far. It is such a wonderful time of reconnecting and getting a glimpse into the lives of those we care about. It can make it seem like we don't live so far apart from each other after all. We are blessed to have friends who live all over the country and even have some who live overseas.

Now that the holidays are over and as we start a new year it is hard not to feel a little bit of let down after all of the hubbub of Thanksgiving and Christmas. January can tend to feel like a drab and dreary month after all of the color and festivities of the holidays ~ all the decorations have been put away and the anticipation is over. My understanding is the month of January can typically be a bit dreary and drab here in the Tri Cities weatherwise. As I recall, the month of January last year did fit that description but it was our first year here so I wasn't sure what to expect. Well, so far January is starting out in the typical fashion. I find myself longing for Spring already! I long for the bright lights and color that Spring will bring!

The picture above was taken in Wallowa, Oregon on a beautiful April morning in 2009. When I look at it, I see the promise of Spring. The sun will shine and the grass will be a vibrant green once again. I am already dreaming about the day that the first daffodil will make its appearance in our yard.

Although, if it decided to snow a couple of more times this winter I have some children who would be quite happy with that!

Happy Harvest Time!

October has flown by so fast! The nights are getting colder and the days are getting shorter. I do love this time of year though. I love the crispness in the air and the splendor of autumn colors. It brings about a time of year that has always been close to my heart. I have always loved taking my children to the pumpkin patch every year to pick out their pumpkins. I have some wonderful memories of sipping hot cider, taking hay rides and seeing the pure joy on my children's faces.

As my children get older I am trying to hold onto those memories as we make our yearly visit to the pumpkin patch. Gone are the days when they would go with their preschool teachers, or the kindergarten class and I would get to tag along as a chaperone. This year marked the next season, so to speak, as we ventured out to the pumpkin patch on our own as a family. We have always gone as a family every year anyway but this marked the first time that the kids almost seemed to be getting a little bored with the petting zoo and the hay ride. It almost seemed to be an obligatory part of the pumpkin patch experience. I can't say that I blame them but it does make my heart yearn for the days when their eyes would light up on their small little faces as we took a hay ride and surveyed the land full of shiny, orange pumpkins.

I have to say that I was glad to see that they were still excited to go hunting for the perfect pumpkin out in the patch. They were much more picky this year as they analyzed which ones had the best look and feel for whatever Jack O'Lantern face they had in mind. During past pumpkin patch experiences I always had to remind the kids to be sure that they didn't get a pumpkin that was too big, or too green, too squishy or too whatever. They were so independent picking out their very own pumpkin. I was in store for a special treat this year, low and behold, I didn't have to carry a single one.

I think I will continue our family tradition of visiting the pumpkin patch every Fall. I think we may just have to step it up to the next level and visit the pumpkin launching area and the corn shooter machines. They were also eyeing the haunted house as we left this year. My suspicions that my children are growing up were confirmed when my son wanted his pumpkin to be a barfing pumpkin this year!

Many Glaciers

I had a yearning to see some live shots of Glacier National Park today. I went to the Glacier National Park website and checked out the web cams that have placed throughout the park. (Check it out at http://www.nps.gov/glac/photosmultimedia/webcams.htm) You can click on an active web cam image that updates every 60 seconds. It was fun to go check out all of the web cams and see how the the effects of Autumn are changing the look and feel of GNP. If I am not mistaken there was a trace of snow on some of the mountains! You should go check it out!

The image above is one of my favorites from our hike around Swiftcurrent Lake which was taken on our trip to Many Glaciers. Many Glaciers is yet another gem in the crown of Glacier. We saw some gorgeous scenery, as well as a black bear, on our way up to Many Glaciers from Two Medicine. We were not disappointed with this view of Mt. Wilbur that you can see along the trail as you hike around the lake.

Good Medicine

We decided to spend the first half of our summer vacation this year visiting my aunt and uncle in Missoula, Montana (what a great time!) and then head to Glacier National Park for the remainder of the week.  Glacier National Park is a place that Kendall and I have always wanted to take the kids.  Years ago we had gone through part of the park on our way by Amtrak as we headed out to Green Bay, Wisconsin.  If I am not mistaken we had a stop over in East Glacier.  My uncle has been to Glacier many times so we asked him what he thought should be on our agenda for the week. One of his favorites spots is Two Medicine (pictured above) which is located on the East side of the park.  Kendall and I planned out our camping/sight seeing route, bought all of the supplies we thought we might need, and read up on what to do if you encounter a bear (seriously!).  It was a gorgeous drive up there and I was quite impressed with Flathead Lake which we saw along the way.  It reminded me a lot of Lake Coeur D'Alene in Idaho! 

Montana has to be one of the most beautiful states I have ever seen. Some of the scenery is quite breath taking.  Between the winding rivers, stands of ponderosa and lodge pole pines, and the mountains, there is plenty to feast your eyes upon.  The mountains are enormous, standing stately and proud, jutting up magnificently into the sky.  The nickname Big Sky Country is very appropriate for Montana...there would have to be an enormous amount of  sky to contain the Rocky Mountains as they run through the Western part of the state. 

Our visit to Glacier National Park was something that truly touched my soul.  It was an experience that proved to be good medicine for my soul.  I thought it was quite appropriate that we stayed at Two Medicine the first couple nights of our stay in the park.  Right away, Two Medicine seemed to have a calming effect on all of us.  It was a special place where we could get away from our cell phones, the quick and hurried pace of life and (gasp!) even our laptops and email. 

The beauty of our surroundings from the sheer cliffs, sweeping valleys and the soothing turquoise lake should be enough to quiet anyone's soul.  It is great place to visit, whether you're hiking along the shore of the lake with gravel crunching beneath your feet or resting on a rustic bench contemplating the wonder of it all as you breathe in the scent of mountains around you.  The quietness I encountered was astounding.  It made me realize that sometimes we need to seek that stillness, take the time to watch the quiet dance of nature and appreciate the interconnectedness of everything around us.   

It was  wonderful  for us to spend time as a family together, no distractions.  I think we all got a lot out of our time spent together in the woods.  We were able to talk, laugh and hike together.  A great way to make memories that I hope our kids will treasure forever.  It was a time that  we were able to stop the world outside for just a little while and and enjoy our children and each other.  There weren't any schedules that we had to adhere to, no place that we had to be.  I am so grateful for this time that we had to reconnect.  

(A favorite time of mine was to sneak away early in the morning just as the sun was about to rise and walk over to the lake.  The picture above doesn't even begin to capture the beauty of the sun's rays as they started to bathe the mountains with the first light of the day. Truly stunning to see in person I must say!)

I want to thank the Park Ranger, Pat Hagan, who led us on a nature hike at Two Medicine.  He helped me to put into words this wonderful feeling I had, as he talked about what really is "Good Medicine".  As a whole, my experience in Glacier Park brought a calmness and sense of restoration to my inner self.  That's powerful medicine!  I think the following quote sums it all up for me, "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." ~ John Muir  

(I will probably do a couple of more posts about our adventures in Glacier. It is such a special place that I think it may deserve more than one entry.) 

Multnomah Falls...

On my way over to the coast to take my kids to summer camp a couple of weeks ago,  I decided to stop off at Multnomah Falls.  The Falls has a special place in my heart and I think it has become a special place for our kids as well. (Maybe it is the fabulous ice cream they have at the snack shop at the Lodge that is the real ticket for them!).  We were all so excited to stop and take in the sheer beauty that is Multnomah Falls.  I did notice that we have become accustomed to the drier air over in the Tri Cities though. The first thing we all noticed was how humid the air seemed to be.  On our hike up to the bridge my son, Thomas, declared that the air was "hot and sticky!". 

 We truly had a wonderful time taking in the view of the Falls, eating that delicious ice cream and learning about the local flora (if it has leaves of three, let it be!) and  fauna from the park ranger, even if the place was crawling with tourists.  In the past we have generally stayed away during this time of year due to that very reason. But in a way, it was a delight to hear people's observations of what they saw and felt as some of them were viewing this place for the very first time.  It was also fascinating to learn some of the history of this area as I had never really taken the time to find out about that before. 

Multnomah Falls is definitely a place that is worthy of a visit, even if it is during the height of the tourist season.  It really is an amazing sight to see.  It plummets 620 feet from its origins on Larch mountain,  falling down the face of a basalt rock cliff, to make this the second highest year-round waterfall in the United States.  Underground springs on Larch Mountain feed the falls with highest flow being during the winter and spring.  Almost two million visitors come every year to behold this ancient waterfall.  This makes Multnomah Falls,  Oregon's number one public destination. 

The Benson Bridge and the beautiful Multnomah Falls Lodge architecture only add beauty to the Falls.  The Benson Bridge was built in 1914, by Italian stone masons, to replace an existing log bridge (if you can imagine!).  This allowed visitors to cross the falls between the lower and upper sections of the falls.  The Benson Bridge was named after Simon Benson, the owner of the falls at the time and a prominent businessman.  The 300 acre site was given to the City of Portland by Benson but the final ownership was given to US Forest Service in 1943.  

The Multnomah Falls Lodge was built in 1925 by A.E. Doyle.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  Inside the lower level of the Lodge there is a USDA Forest Service Information Center, a gift shop and snack bar.  The ice cream is delicious and there is a wonderful coffee bar located just outside the Lodge. The upper level of the lodge has a restaurant that serves delicious northwest cuisine for breakfast, lunch and dinner complete with a view of the Falls.   The Lodge does not have overnight accommodations and is only a day lodge. 

The Falls are located about twenty minutes east of Troutdale, OR in the scenic Columbia River Gorge National Scenic area.  There are only two ways to get to the Falls by either using Interstate 84 or the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway.  If you have the time to spare, I would highly recommend taking the Columbia River Gorge Scenic Highway if you are coming from Portland.  The drive is simply breathtaking in the Fall as you wind your way through the trees in their full autumn glory.  Along the way to the Falls you can stop at the Vista House at Crown Point as well as other viewpoints to take in the majestic views of the Columbia River Gorge. 

A truly beautiful site to witness for yourself!

Finding My Light Again...

Lately I have been trying to focus on the true blessings that I have in my life.  How truly blessed I am to have such a caring and wonderful family and some fantastic friends!  Sometimes, I think it can be all too easy to get caught up in the daily humdrum of life and forget how truly fortunate I am.  

The last year has been quite an adjustment for me to be honest.  I heard recently that it can take up to two years to adjust to a move.  I can see how that can be true.  Trying to figure out where to shop, adjusting to new jobs and just meeting new people can be hard.  You can feel like an outsider for a while.  I have known people that thrive on moving and exploring new places.  In ways, I wish I could be more like them.  I have discovered that I tend to be a creature of habit, whether I like to admit it or not.   

I have focused most of my energy in the last year in selling our old house, buying a new one, getting kids adjusted to new surroundings and to new schools, saying good bye to my old job and learning a new one all while trying to learn the ways of a  new town.  One of the hardest parts of leaving Vancouver was saying goodbye to all of our friends.  (Thank goodness for facebook!). There have definitely been some times along this path that haven't been easy.  So what do I think a year out from making a decision to make a big move? 

Honestly, I can say that I don't regret the decision to move.  Sure, there are lots of things that I miss about Vancouver.  But I think our experiences here have been some wonderful gifts to us.  Kendall and I have learned a lot about ourselves and each other (i.e. how much I MISS Burgerville! ).  We have met some wonderful people here in the Tri Cities who have made us feel very welcome. I think it has helped our kids to grow as well. They have had to adjust to making new friends and going to new schools.  They just finished their first year at their new schools and as hard as it was in the beginning, truly, I have seen many more smiles than tears.  They have come out on the other side excited about going back next year and they seem to feel good about their experience.  

On a personal note, I think that I have had the hardest time adjusting. That was a hard one for me to admit. Photography which has been a huge passion of mine has been set aside more than I would have liked. Sometimes, photography takes energy that I felt I didn't have to give.  My friend nailed it on the head the other day when she told me that I "needed to find my light again". I haven't been out searching for my "light" like I should have been. It is time to find that energy again and not let the excuses get in the way. Photography is a great form of expression for me.  I need to be expressing myself more!