Yellow Bus in Yellowstone

I Wish I Was In Mexico

It's 8 degrees outside right now. I need a break. So much going on. I feel like I need two weeks away from everyone, everything.

Chew Your Ball Slowly

Oslo's favorite thing in the world is chewing on tennis balls. For Christmas, we wrapped up a few dozen and put them under the tree. It only takes a few minutes before his sniffer goes into high gear and he sniffs out the tennis balls, rips open the paper and starts chewing. He'll chew the ball until it pops, usually about 20 minutes. This was taken about 10 days ago. Today, he doesn't have much energy. His appetite is disappearing. Not good.

Last Christmas

Last year for Christmas, Krista gave me a weekend trip to Lochsa Lodge where I made this image of Oslo and Hedgie after spending the day hiking through the snow. Oslo's health is slowly getting worse but he's doing better than expected. At first we didn't think we would be together on Christmas but it's looking good. I've been posting images of Oslo as I work on a small book about him. Life just won't be the same without him.

Snow Pants

Oslo trying to get past Krista but won't go in the snow that's over his head. I don't blame him. He's hanging in there. Each day you can tell he's getting a little worse. His breathing is so heavy. He coughs more and more and his energy level gets less and less each day.

Let Sleeping Dogs

I tried to write this yesterday but I couldn't. It just hurt way too much... We found out last week that Oslo is very sick. He has cancer in his lungs and probably only has a few weeks. Devastating.

Krista, Hedgie and Oslo

In our house back home.

Fresh Snow Fall

I woke up this morning to a fresh snow fall, about a foot. The neighborhood was silent, comfortably sleeping on a blanket of snow. I love it when it snows. I love how quiet the town becomes and how slow life appears when it snows.

Crack and Grown

Took a walk along the river this afternoon. The ice is slowly taking over. In some parts ice completely covers the river. I stood on the banks for a few minutes listening to the ice crack and grown. The sound of the water turning to ice made me feel a little lonely. Cold. Isolated.

Minus 10

Woke up this morning to negative 10 degrees. It's so cold Oslo doesn't want to go outside. It's so cold the river has frozen over completely. I'm thinking about maybe taking a walk by the river today to make a few pictures. We'll see. I don't have a good winter coat.

Snappy Snap

I picked out my new snappy snap, a Canon G11. I'll order it in a few weeks. Maybe sooner. Depends. I once had a Canon G5 but Krista dropped it at the Monroe Fair outside the rabbit barn. Things happen. It's 7 degrees outside right now. Going to snow tonight. Krista leaves for L.A. tomorrow. I think I'll begin my new photo project this weekend. I'm going to make photographs in and around Missoula that remind me of a Raymond Carver story. Beer. Trailers. Poverty. Heartbreak.

Winter Cold

The temperature was 4 degrees this morning when I woke up. NOAA is calling for snow Friday night and all day Saturday. I hope they're wrong. Krista is supposed to fly to L.A. Saturday evening. She's been looking forward to this trip for months. Fingers crossed.

New Camera

I think it's time to buy a new camera.

Five Year Plan

About seven years ago, I sat in bed in my small Washington DC studio apartment writing in my journal. I wrote down all the things I wanted to accomplish in the next five years. I did it in three. Now, today, seven years later I feel like I have found a little peace, some unexpected joy like running into your best friend on the street. I'm looking forward to my next Five Year Plan.

By Way The Turkey Flies

I kind of don't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone already. Christmas will be the same way.

Police Search For Murder Suspect

Police are searching for a murder suspect in my old neighborhood. The suspect murdered four police offices on Sunday. Heartbreaking. Very Scary. I feel such a strong connection to my old neighborhood. Hearing about such a tragedy makes me want to go home to help any way possible. Hearing the suspect is perhaps hiding in my old neighborhood, perhaps hiding in the park that I have done many stories about, freaks me out.

Breakfast Sliders

We've had turkey in every meal since last Thursday. This morning we made turkey breakfast sliders. For some reason I started thinking about the elk outside the window of the restaurant we had breakfast in one morning at Yellowstone. "There's an elk outside," I said to Krista. "Think he's hungry?" she said. "Nope. Probably not. Not here."

All Along The River

Walking along the Clark Fork River is one of my favorite things. Random. I know.

Pull The Car Over, We Have A Secret

We took a walk along Rock Creek this afternoon after seeing the movie 2012. We have a secret place where we pull the car over along the side of the road allowing Oslo the chance to roam through the head high grass beside a dry creek bed. In four months the field will begin to flood from the spring runoff.

Looking Back, I Would Have Done It Differently

I've been reading my journals from the past few years and looking back, I would have done some things differently. There are no quick solutions to life's complexities and the myriad of challenges we face. I did the best I could under the circumstances. The best thing about life is that you can make changes. You can correct your direction if you find yourself drifting off course. Corrections. I like that.

Great Horned Condiment Owl

Thanksgiving is a holiday that often leaves me feeling a little sad at the end of the day. So much time and energy is dedicated to cooking, making the table perfect and then eating, eating, eating, that after all is said and done I feel a little empty despite being overly full. After all the food is consumed and the table cleared all that remain are the condiments. They stand perfectly aligned, ready for their next assignment but looking as if they might feel a little left out. That's often how Thanksgiving leaves me feeling, left out.

Minnie's Cafe in Thompson Falls, MT

I will eventually get over the loss of my old blog. Until then, I'm trying to re-post some of the images and other news from the past year. This is my favorite image from this year. It's from a small cafe in Thompson Falls called Minnies. I saw this cluster of condiments just as I was leaving. The image reminds me of a family portrait. The different sizes of bottles, like various shapes of people, appear to be arranged as if there's portrait photographer choreographing their movement.

Ouch, This Hurts

I've spent the past few hours trying to see if there is a way for me to recover the contents of my old blog. So far, no luck. I'm frustrated but that's alright. I kind of like starting over. Reinventing myself is something that I love. Being a student of life and giving myself permission to change is something I have worked very hard at embracing. What I don't like is the idea that three years worth of writing and photography (I still have all the images) is gone. Losing the content of my previous blog is like the time my ex-girlfriend insisted I throw away my journals. That hurts a lot more than this...

Happy Thanksgiving: I'm Starting Over

I deleted my blog this morning so I'm starting over. I didn't do it on purpose. I just made a mistake, misread the instructions and now it's gone. Poof. The past three years worth of photos and writing disappears into the ether, abandoned on some unknown server in a cloud. I'm saddened by the loss but I view this as a new beginning. Good will come of this. I just wish I could recover what I lost.

Vision Magazine Feature

I received the layout from Lina at Vision Magazine this morning with the upcoming retrospective of my work on Krista.






Vision is a leading art and fashion magazine showcasing the international visual art, fashion and culture scenes to Chinese readers with its unique visual expression. With a circulation of 265,000 per month throughout China, VISION actively appears in various public events, giving support to the growing industry in China of visual culture, while more importantly, inspiring a mentality toward a creative lifestyle to the Chinese readers. I should receive the print edition later this month. Needless to say, we're both Krista very excited.

Last Spring

Another image that I was able to salvage from my previous blog.

Antlers in Headwall Magzine

I recently had an image published in Headwall magazine - a magazine covering outdoor adventure in Western Montana. They used an image from the National Bison Range as part of a vinette on antlers. I think the image and story go together perfectly.

Bison in the Missoula Independent

One of my images from our recent trip to Yellowstone National Park was published in this week's edition of the Missoula Independent. The image is a little difficult to see because of the print quality but it's a herd of Bison at Old Faithful geyser just before sunrise. A beautiful sight.



The original image:

It's not N1H1, It's a Cold

I've been sick. It's not N1H1 but it's a cold that has been hanging around for weeks and my energy level is at about 50%. I'm slowly starting to feel better. Slowly. Feeling better means I can get back to my photography and finish up the Yellowstone images. This is one of my favorites. There were ravens everywhere and this one was very friendly...

...I've been doing a lot of writing these past few weeks while I've been sick. Writing has been the one thing that has kept my mind from falling into any kind of serious depression because when I'm sick I beat myself up because I'm not doing anything except sleeping and giving my body the necessary energy to get well. Writing keeps my head from filling up with all those "you should be doing this" or "you should be doing that" type of thoughts. It can be a challenge some times...

The New Yorker emailed yesterday requesting I submit images for an upcoming issue. That's pretty exciting. I heart the New Yorker...

Home From Yellowstone

We're home from our Yellowstone National Park. What a trip. Despite only being gone for four days, I'm exhausted. Yellowstone is awe inspiring. There's just too much to see and explore in four days. We saw more wildlife than I had ever expected including a black bear and three wolves from the Agate Wolf Pack. I could see myself spending a few weeks living there in one of the cabins. I would hang out, write, photograph. I can't help but think about Cody and how he never saw Yellowstone while he was alive...