Happy Fall!
The weather is beautiful, and there's a batch of other good news to relate
Sometimes everything in life seems to come together, if only for one peaceful, happy moment. Fall is my favorite season, and this fall in western Oregon has been crisp, cool, slightly damp, and beautiful — giving us relief from the fire, smoke and 100-degree days of the summer just ended.
The opening reception for the 35th anniversary show now up at the Mindpower Gallery in Reedsport — with a couple framed photos by me — was a kick. Lots of people showed up, giving me an opportunity to say hello to old friends and to make new ones, including Jon Hoffman, the new director of the Umpqua Community College art gallery, where I’ll be showing work in the spring. Here’s a not-brilliant shot of art lovers at the opening checking out a gallery full of photos — including a couple of mine, one on the left wall and one on the right. The Mindpower show runs through Oct. 31.
Other good news in my life: We’re almost done cleaning up the damage at home from January’s ice storm. OK, it’s taken us nine months to get on top of it, and I nearly got myself killed cutting a downed log that suddenly snapped and very painfully walloped my left knee.
After weeks of limping around, and some patient exercises, the knee has nearly healed. And I got my revenge on the killer tree a couple weeks ago when I finally managed to cut it up and remove it from the trail it fell across.
The final chapter on tree removal at our place happened when Dave, a neighbor with a bigger saw and more skill and experience than I have with salvage logging, came over to cut up a tangle of a dozen or so big trees that were piled up like pickup sticks on our lower trail. He put them all safely on the ground and off the trail, so at last we can get back to the usual schedule of maintaining house and garden in the country.
And, at last, I have more time for photography and art.
More good news: Taylor Perse’s excellent story on Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge — one of the most beautiful spots in Oregon — ran in yesterday’s Eugene Weekly, along with a handful of photos by me. She and I headed to the desert for a few days in July and enjoyed meeting the remote refuge’s new manager, Josh Lowe, a 25-year-old transplant from New Jersey, along with his young family.
This morning, while driving to my office at EW, I saw — for the first time in 38 years of living in the Oregon woods — a big black bear sitting quietly on the shoulder of the aptly named Bear Creek Road, thoroughly enjoying the morning sun. I stopped the car and was reaching down for my camera, in a bag on the floor, when the bear snapped out of its reverie, took a good look at me, and turned and ran into the woods. Otherwise, of course, there would be at least one more photo in this newsletter.
Finally, Eugene readers, mark your calendars: I’ll be showing hand colored photographs at the popular WhitPrint Holiday Sale, which returns Dec. 6-8 after a pandemic hiatus. See you there!
I really enjoy your hand-colored photos—like those enormous trees you showed at the Jacob one year. I’d love to take a lesson from you.