A late summer day –
a bit of rain here and there,
and sun.
It was cool
in the mountains.
Perfect
for a walk among giants.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
Trail’s end:
the distant view –
heaps of cloudmountain.
Photos taken in the North Cascade Mountains on the trail to Boardman Lake.
***
This is the eastern edge of the Stillwater Unit of the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. It’s about 450 acres of river valley habitat, bordered by farms, woods and a small town or two. Thirty miles from Seattle, this pretty lowland area is often flooded by the Snoqualmie River, which runs through it. The morning fog may not burn off until after noon.
Decades ago the Fish and Wildlife folks planted fields here, maintaining the land to attract wildlife. Pheasants bred on game farms are released every fall for a two month hunting season. Other wild birds and animals are hunted too, so I don’t venture too far from the road this time of year – hunting season could still be on for one bird or another. This week when I took these photos, I heard a pheasant in the field – a survivor! A flock of ducks rose from a pond out in the field and a kinglet flitted through the branches under mossy trees.
I appreciate the preservation of habitat that happens as a consequence of hunting but personally, I wouldn’t hunt unless I needed the food. The day job keeps enough money coming is so that I can buy all my food at stores. Once a vegetarian, these days I do eat meat, so you can call me a hypocrite, since I pay others to kill for me. In the “wisdom” that inheres in our times and keeps us separate from the land and our food sources, there is hunger for a stronger connection to the life force. So I go out stalking the wild photograph…
“Always even-tempered, he spent most of his time out of doors, going on long expeditions
even in the worst of weather, or when it was fine sitting on a camp stool
somewhere near the house in his white smock, a straw hat on this head
painting watercolors. When he was thus engaged
he generally wore glasses with gray silk tissue in the lenses in the frames
so that the landscape appeared through a fine veil that muted its colours,
and the weight of the world dissolved before your eyes.”
From Austerlitz by W.G. Sebold
***
Hovering between polarities, I am attracted to both the highly detailed, intimate close-up and the blurred, indistinct image with no focal point.
The quote seems to dwell at the fog-drenched end of the spectrum, but maybe not – those tissue-covered lenses may allow a few details to be picked out of the veil.
***
***
When the grayness of winter leaves me uninspired or there’s not enough time to get outside, there’s always the “backyard” – a patch of woods thick with native plants just outside the windows.
And if that’s not enough on its own, then it’s time to play with the camera and see what happens.
Dwelling in.
(the world)
Indwelling.
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
**
Photos taken with a 20mm prime lens, wide aperture, and hand-held movement.
On a mostly cloudy December day with sun breaks – a common weather occurrence around here – I went for a drive and found myself zipping down a lonely two lane road, 56 miles from Seattle…
A pretty waterfall tumbled down a steep hill and passed underneath the road. I pulled over, parked and got out to take a closer look.
On the concrete barrier at the side of the road was a plastic glass, full to the brim with cold rainwater,
as if set down mid-gaze by the last person who stopped to admire the pounding creek.
I never know what I’ll find when I explore back roads around here.
The road clung to the roiling Skykomish River at one point, opening up a view to Mt. Index in the distance.
Around a few curves and over a hill, “Dr. Seuss trees” gently swayed in the wind, their trunks and limbs laden with soft, wet moss.
Further on in the small town of Index (population 184 in 2012) I stopped to get coffee and look around. An old railway bridge crosses the Skykomish River there, and when you step back, there’s Mt. Index, rising to a precipitous peak.
With its crazy-steep slopes, this mountain is a well known landmark here in the Cascades. The tiny town of Index is a picturesque spot too, with its river and mountain views. Europeans began coming to the area in the late 1800’s – gold had been discovered farther east and there was plenty of logging everywhere. Nowadays river sports and the Index Town Walls draw people – Index is a rock-climber’s minor mecca. A tiny museum in town is open on summer weekends. We went in once and found it fascinating but the old gentleman who was minding the museum and wanted an audience smelled terrible. Oh well.
You can get a decent espresso or a beer and snacks at the Outdoor Adventure Center, open all year for kayaking and rafting. The last time I visited, in August a couple enjoyed a picnic behind the OAC building:
Also from the summer, the tiny Index Town Hall:
Reflecting the local penchant for idiosyncratic expression, a yard in town displayed glorious lilies set against polka dotted posts holding an old box-spring which supported vines. One aspect of the Pacific Northwest that delighted me when I first came here is local people’s freedom of artistic expression in their yards, along the streets, in parks – just about anywhere.
Before too long, those lilies will be back!
bluebrightly 