We found ourselves knee-deep in water, feeling for the solid caress of the boardwalk beneath our feet. Apparently, the heavy summer rains in Southeast Alaska during June and July had left the trails of Point Bridget State Park flooded and unrecognizable. I already felt my fingers shriveling into raisins and my toes starting to grow … Continue reading
Summers were spent in the alternate reality that was Beach Haven. The small strip of beach between the YMCA camp and the harbor on Orcas Island, divided by large rocks that jutted out into the sound. A natural barrier against reality. Sometimes civilization would weedle its way in, in the form of yogurt containers and … Continue reading
I touch the Earth because there are so many things I do not see. -Alex Caldiero- (quoted in Red by Terry Tempest Williams) A few months ago, I wrote about how capturing the essence of a city is best done through snapshots- brief views of a place that each capture its character. At the time, … Continue reading
Take me back to the railroad track and the sounds inside my mind Where rusty wheels and steel rails still whine Where I can hop that 909 and go back in time some time ago Just let the whistle wail and take it in slow -“Train Song” by Mandolin Orange- Just a couple weeks ago, … Continue reading
Somehow, through a combination of seeking out and happenstance, I have found myself walking through the opening to a labyrinth at times of uncertainty and transition in my life. These labyrinths have presented themselves in many unique designs, constructed materials, and locations throughout the years- a labyrinth painted onto canvas at a retreat on spirituality … Continue reading
Previously, I wrote about the important of spaces and places in our lives. How finding comfortable places in our lives is essential for establishing peace of mind, ownership, responsibility, and even self identity. So, for this post, I thought I would share with you a bit of free writing that I recently did while on-the-job … Continue reading
While contemplating some wonderfully visual food and lifestyle blogs I have been looking at frequently for artistic inspiration and my own visual pleasure, I began thinking about the nature of space. How important spaces are to our identities as people. How we express ourselves through decoration. What we display in our spaces as monuments of … Continue reading
I recently received an amazing book for a goodbye gift, a tomb I’d been drooling over at San Francisco bookstores for months. It is called Infinite City, a feat of a project done by Rebecca Solnit. Infinite City turns traditional cartography on its head, presenting 22 unique maps pairing landmarks of San Francisco in unusual … Continue reading
In the midst of packing my possessions in San Francisco and moving back to my hometown of Portland, Oregon, I didn’t find the time to finish my Sacred Places of San Francisco series. Excuse the fact that I am no longer living in the beloved city of San Francisco as I write these last two entries. For my … Continue reading
As is true of each hidden gem of San Francisco that I’ve been writing about, each is unique to its respective part of the city. San Francisco is truly a city of neighborhoods reminiscent of European cities, most prominently the numbered arrendisements of Paris. Each neighborhood is aptly named with its own descriptor: Noe Valley, … Continue reading
in the midst 