Hiking in Oregon

This year I've spent the holidays in central Oregon, and it is WAY too gorgeous here to keep it all to myself so I wanted to share a few pictures. Yesterday I went on a hike with Peter and his sister up to Black Butte, a mountain that peaks at 6,400'. I've never seen such vivid colors in my whole life! Here are a few of the highlights:

Summer 2014 Film Montage

I've had terrible writer's block lately. I mean seriously, I've started and stopped about half a dozen posts since my last one, and just can't seem to find the words to say what I want to say. So instead, I ventured into my other creative outlet, and finished editing together my film montage of footage from this summer. I hope you like it.

Huge shout-out to Charlie Jones for letting me use her music in the background!

My last week, mostly in photos

Caution: This post is mostly going to be a HUGE dump of photos from the last week and a half, so if you're looking for deep reflective writings, give me a few days. Otherwise, if you're content with pictures, carry on. You have been forewarned.

Small wins

This week has been SO good, for once! On Wednesday, I finished my last night working at the pub, which was a huge relief mainly because it's been getting VERY dark at night and I hated the walk home. It's so dark on my street that even a flashlight barely cuts through the blackness, and because it's almost always raining, the dripping noises in the woods always made me think there was a bear lurking nearby. That, and the fact that I would be so exhausted from working two jobs, I'd collapse into bed at midnight with my body sore from running around for so long, and then wake up again at 6:30 or 7 to do it all over again. It was a great learning experience, though. It toughened me up, kicked my butt, and helped me earn a little extra cash this summer that I wouldn't  have had otherwise. :-)

Life from death

I want to say there is nothing serene or comforting about the Sitka woods right now. The air reeks of dead salmon, seagull feces, fungus, mushrooms, and the rotting substrate of the forest floor. The soundscape is not the usual quiet whispers of the woods, but now a cacophony of screeching, whining gulls and eagles piercing the air with their bombastic cries. Every sense is filled with the rawness and harshness of nature's less-romantic side, the side we don't want to see, the side we often choose to pretend doesn't exist.

The DSLR Saga

When I first took this job in Sitka back in mid-April, my goal was to buy a DSLR camera with my second paycheck. My savings had dwindled to a frightening level after 3 months of winter travel. But I had my mind set on purchasing my first professional quality camera after having fallen so deeply in love with photography from my last job in Nome. It was like learning to paint with oils, and then moving away and only having crayons to use.

Well, my second paycheck came. Then my third. Then my fourth. Unexpected expenses arose, student loans nagged to be paid, the cost of living out here was more than I anticipated. I realized I couldn't just spare an entire paycheck to throw to my frivolous dream of owning a nice camera. So I got a second job.

Picturing Sitka

It's been a long 3 weeks. We had something like 6 inches of rain in one weekend and it rained almost nonstop for 2 weeks straight. And I hate to think that something as simple as the weather can affect my mood, but I have to be completely honest and admit that that much rain definitely put a damper on my attitude for a while. That's part of the reason I haven't felt like blogging, but I am so far behind I thought I would throw these pictures up anyhow from our last sunny day, whenever that was.

The sea walk, with Mt. Verstovia in the distance