29 October- 08 November 2018: Protest

29 October 2018

29 October 2018

08 November 2018

08 November 2018

29 October 2018

29 October 2018

29 October 2018

29 October 2018

Protests have been vibrant these season as the political atmosphere grows ever more tense. On 29 October demonstrators gathered outside the Wayne Morse Federal District Courthouse in support of the plaintiffs, many local to Eugene, of Juliana, et al v. U.S.

Days later, after Jeff Sessions resigned, protestors again gathered to support the Russia Investigation, in particular Robert Mueller’s position as Special Counsel.

18 April 2018

“At my feet lay the Great Central Valley of California, level and flowery, like a lake of pure sunshine...And from the eastern boundary of this vast golden flower-bed rose the mighty Sierra, miles in height, and so gloriously colored and so radiant,…

“At my feet lay the Great Central Valley of California, level and flowery, like a lake of pure sunshine...And from the eastern boundary of this vast golden flower-bed rose the mighty Sierra, miles in height, and so gloriously colored and so radiant, it seemed not clothed with light but wholly composed of it, like the wall of some celestial city...Then it seemed to me that the Sierra should be called, not the Nevada or Snowy Range, but the Range of Light. And after ten years of wandering and wondering in the heart of it, rejoicing in its glorious floods of light, the white beams of the morning streaming through the passes, the noonday radiance on the crystal rocks, the flush of the alpenglow, and the irised spray of countless waterfalls, it still seems above all others the Range of Light." John Muir, The Yosemite, 1912. 

I posted this quote earlier on instagram with a different picture but I wanted to also use it with this specific photograph. Kim bought me The Yosemite on our first day in the park when we went to the Ansel Adams Gallery and it was not a disappointment. I need to spend more time in this place. It is inspirational and leaves me awestruck at every turn.

This photograph really wasn't anything special. It was taken from Tunnel View—an incredibly popular spot for anyone with a camera—there are likely 50+ photos from this exact moment. The view from here is so oft photographed some consider it cliche. But long before it was cliche this view was accessible known as Artist's Point and was a source of inspiration for artists of all sorts, painters, photographers, poets, etc., in the days of the park when Muir still roamed the woods. It's a view that is so frequently photographed not because of it's accessibility but because of its power. Granite faces extending miles into the distance tower thousands of feet above the valley floor painted with trees which might easily be mistaken for grass at a moment's glance.

Our first day in the park looked a lot like this. Clouds of cotton above us cast beautiful shadows on the landscape in every direction. The same day I first read Muir describing the "Range of Light" was the same day I saw this view. When I read those words this was what came to mind and in that instant I understood completely. 

Keep places like this accessible. Protect them with everything. They are finite resources. 

"It is horrifying that we have to fight our own government to save our environment."-Ansel Adams

3 January 2018

Eugene Pioneer Cemetery, University of Oregon, Eugene, ORThinking about the President's wanton tweeting and the ever more troubling thought that our President may fails to appreciate the enormous toll any war incurs I found myself wandering through …

Eugene Pioneer Cemetery, University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

Thinking about the President's wanton tweeting and the ever more troubling thought that our President may fails to appreciate the enormous toll any war incurs I found myself wandering through the cemetery on campus.

We've become more removed from war as a society than previous generations. Today only a small fraction of people ever serve in the armed forces. It is not inconceivable to think there are people in America who have no close friends or family members who have served. Assuredly, this is because we are in a time of unprecedented peace. Violence seems to strike fear into our hearts in a way that is new yet on the whole violence is a far cry from what it was in the lives of our parents and theirs before them. A walk through any American cemetery will quickly remind us of that. Among the pioneers yearning for opportunity in the frontier, their families following the tales of abundance that lay west, are scores of dead veterans. From the Civil War on, head stones can be found denoting various infantry units, cavalry units, dates of service, etc. It was once impossible to separate one's self from the horrors of warfare. Yet today we fly sorties in the Middle East from air-conditioned office buildings in the Southwest, our combat needn't our presence nor our casualties; to many this means war comes without cost but the reality is that we're simply incurring debt we haven't even begun to pay off.