Goldenrod

Well, would you look at that… Its the end of June. How the Hell did that happen?! Actually, no. I know exactly how that happened. I spent most of June (and the end of May)  on the road. Here, there, over there, way way over there and back again. I bought a new car at the end of March. It occurred to me today that I have put over 12,000 miles on the poor thing since then. I’ve been to Colorado, Montana and all-the-hell over South Dakota. To be quite honest, all I know for sure is that I have barely seen anything yet. Each trip I’ve taken has been lightning fast-cram-as-much-in-as-you-can trips. They’ve been just enough to wet my … Read More

Baby Seed Song

Baby Seed Song By: Edith Nesbit Little brown brother, oh! little brown brother, Are you awake in the dark? Here we lie cosily, close to each other: Hark to the song of the lark “Waken!” the lark says, “waken and dress you; Put on your green coats and gay, Blue sky will shine on you, sunshine caress you Waken! ’tis morning ’tis May!” Little brown brother, oh! little brown brother, What kind of a flower will you be? I’ll be a poppy all white, like my mother; Do be a poppy like me. What! You’re a sunflower! How I shall miss you When you’re grown golden and high! But I shall send all the bees up to kiss you; Little brown … Read More

Both Sides Now

Tonight I had every intention of laying on my house, letting the storm come and go, and sleeping. I was restless though and as the storm passed and the sun came back out, the clouds almost started mocking me. They taunted me to the point I could no longer sit idle and I grabbed the gear and hit the road. I didn’t go far out of town but it was far enough and the show did not disappoint.  The thing is, I will always miss stuff, I cant get it all, its impossible. But sometimes the urge to shoot is so strong I feel like I’d be letting everyone down if I don’t at least try…. Rows and flows of … Read More

dad

Dad and I celebrated Dad’s day a day early… we drove all over the damn place and saw all sorts of things. We talked lovely talks and listened to great tunes we even ate some rattlesnake and rabbit sausage… like you do. At any rate, I love that guy. He’s simply the coolest. I’m a lucky girl.

Sometimes… when you shoot the moon

You find an elk instead. Last night, I was fickle. With June in full swing, I was torn between spending time downtown at your weekly street festival (Summer Nights) and chasing the almost full moon. I decided there was time for both, but just barley. Our hunt lead us into Custer State Park and I found myself much more enamored with a magnificent elk then the moon. Not to say that didnt stop me from taking photos of both.

The Moon is the North Wind’s Cookie

The Moon’s the North Wind’s cooky. He bites it, day by day, Until there’s but a rim of scraps That crumble all away. The South Wind is a baker. He kneads clouds in his den, And bakes a crisp new moon that . . . greedy North . . . Wind . . . eats . . . again! ~ Vachel Lindsay (1879 – 1931) Many of the moments in my life are played over a track of poems from a book read to me as a kid. The book was called Silver Pennies and my mom would read the poems to us at bed time. Her mother did the same for here and I in turn, read the poems … Read More

with wings

There’s so much to say, and at the same time so little to say about our trip East this weekend. We clocked over 700 miles across our beautiful state and saw a lot. Anna and I spent the quality time together I was hoping for.

we all fall down

Kabe and I drove down to the badlands tonight. It was predictably unpredictable and continued its reputation to always be spectacular. There was a time when Kabe looked around the sky and said, “Every part of this is incredible” and he was right.

Well now, well now, well now

Whether or not you find your way, you’re bound to find some way. If you happen to find my way, you will return it, will you? You did say it was going to rain – didn’t you? ~Whether Man, The Phantom Tollbooth

When what goes wrong goes right

Tonight we set off with a shot in mind. I wanted to return to the heron rookery and line the rising full moon up with a bird… of course, it didnt go according to plan, but at the very last minute Anna decided to join me and we had a blast together out there. The shooting was minimal but the time together was worth far more. We came across a flock of little water birds They flew in very tight formation and seemed to really enjoy each other’s close company. They acted more like a school of fish than a flock of birds. According to Dan O’Brien they are called Wilson Phalaropes.

It rolls along, doesn’t it

Sometimes I get going so fast I forget to stop and breath. This weekend I was gifted the chance to do just that. A wonderful human being invited me and friends to spend an evening at his cabin up at Terry Peak. It was exactly what the doctor ordered. A chance to stop. A chance to laugh. And a chance to just be present for a little bit. As we drove away I realized there weren’t words and how I felt that I couldn’t possibly show enough appreciation for the time we spent together. I concluded I was just going to have to trust that he knew.

I lost my mind… I mean my phone

I had things to do. Commitments, events, a house to clean etc… But none of that mattered. My week was long and I needed the prairie to clear my head. I’m not sure that I cleared my head as much as I crawled outside of it.

From time to time….

I host couch surfers. They come and they go but they are always fun. I have kept in touch with most of them as they live on beyond the red couch and to say its been a blast would be an understatement. Many times I am not afforded the time to give them the tour, but sometimes I am fortunate enough and off we go. This time I happened to be hosting the lovely Reba. She was a very interesting gal who had been traveling the better part of the past year. She entertained me with her stories and told me of magical places she had visited. As we neared Sylvan Lake we encountered some of the best Black Hills … Read More

11th Hour

Easter Sunday left us with enough time in the afternoon for a quick jaunt up Spearfish Canyon and a (very) quick stop off at 11th Hour Gulch. It was unusually popular and it was tough to squeeze in the time to snap off photos between groups of folks doing their best to remain vertical. (The rocks were a little slippery) Equipped with only flip-flops, it became rapidly apparent that we weren’t going to get far. The waterfalls were flowing particular hard with the spring melt off and the usual ways of passage resembled more of a cold shower than a route upstream. We weren’t sad when we turned back at the first waterfall. I was trying out a new tripod … Read More

The Long Way Home

Because I seem to lack the ability to journal at with any consistency and because my trips out in the land-beyond have been so frequent lately lets just call this post “the long way home” and have the photos speak for themselves.

Sun Kissed

We hatched the plan on Monday. “Lets go to the Badlands on Thursday!” we said. It wasn’t until the actual Day-of-Thurs that we realized it was both the Spring Equinox and the International Day of Happiness. Its not like we were looking for a reason to go, but should we have needed one, we were presented with two superior options. At any rate, we headed out of town and really, I’ll just let the photos tell the rest of the story because it was amazing.  

Old Friends and New Friends

  My dearest oldest best friend Rachel returned to the Black Hills over the weekend after way to many years away. We had a blast touring the progress that is Rapid City, for better or worse. By Far the most fun though was spent out on those dusty back roads of Custer State Park and Wind Cave; country I have grown very familiar with over the last few years. We re-visited the valley where my favorite old bull buffalo lives and I’m certain we saw him again. He gave me the same long looks I’ve grown to expect from the old boy and in my mind, he remembers me too. The time spent out there wasn’t really about sight seeing … Read More

Part of the Whole

  I believe it was the summer of 1999, a year out of high school, I lived at this questionably dysfunctional house we lovingly referred to as “The White House”. Lots and lots of things happened there, most of which its best to never speak of again, but I had also experienced one of the first surges of uninhibited and uncontrollable creativity. I was constantly making art at that house, one of my favorite projects was handing a length of wire to each person who entered my room, I instructed them to “Make a dude” and they would bend the wire into what ever character that oozed out of them at the time. I would collect their figure, spray paint … Read More

Hoar Frost

I’d like to publicly state something. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it when people tell me that they saw something beautiful, different or odd and they say they thought of me. What greater honor than to be tied to moments that are truly exceptional. What I love only slightly more is when people call and tell me about such things and I have time to get there to see and capture it for myself. Such was the case yesterday when my step-sister informed me of the remarkable frost phenomena happening at her place. I was fortunate enough to convince the boss lady that the journey to explore said phenomena was worthy of the afternoon away from the office. So off I … Read More

Is it the End, or just the Beginning?

I had that uncontrollable urge to get out of town with a specific destination in mind. A few weeks ago I found this spot. It’s one of those spots that calls to the pit of your soul. A spot you crave. A place where just sitting, looking and listening makes you feel more full than any feast.  I wanted to share this space with one of my new favorite exploration companions… my Dad. I called him up, we found a mutual window of time and set out. Our timing was impeccable and the light was perfect. We sat and bathed in the view an sunshine as long as it lingered.

BirdzEye for BonzEye

An afternoon buzz about the Black Hills with my cousin Kabe who recently got his pilots license. The event was in honor of Kabe’s older brother (and coincidentally  also my cousin). We were celebrating his birth in style from 9,000 feet. We all chipped in for gas and the plane and had a blast flying around in circles above the great hills. It was truly a unique perspective I can’t wait to experience again… and again… and again. Hey Kabe, can we go flying? … like now?

A shot before dark

A series of funny circumstances lead me to Pactola tonight. It was a beautiful evening, punctuated by a lovely sunset. I was able to stitch together this vertical panorama. The summer is coming to an end. I can feel the gift of luxury of evening dips in the lake are fleeting. All the more reason though to hold moments like this deep inside and let them expand into eternity. If you are interested in purchasing this piece please email me, because of the special size its easier to just work out price privately.  

Catch Up

Summer… apparently it is all consuming. It was a blur filled with great fun and adventures. Unfortunately, the whirlwind of activity meant I wasn’t so good about updates. Here’s a very abbreviated recap    

De-express yourself

So, the thing I love about Art Alley and Summer Nights is that it has given Rapid City the ability to be okay with creativity. People in every nook and cranny are finding their own ways to express themselves. To cut loose from what is normal and cross the line from audience member to center stage, and I think that’s pretty great.