upside down glass ceiling

wellington botanical gardens, new zealand. april 2011.

a cool fall delta crossing

 

abel tasman coast, new zealand. april 2011. 

i want to take my shoes off again. i'm ready to wade across.

bike me home, oakland

old oakland. may 2011.

street night life. swing dancing with my dad to a lucinda cover. that perfect balance of color, as if the light is running down the edges of the sky and into the street lamps. hay bales for sitting, carnival rides for laughing. el taco bike.

oh, oakland. i love you.

is this a self portrait? or: how many layers can there be?

sleepy hollow cemetery. may 2011, but barely.

beautiful utility

sleepy hollow cemetery. may 2011.

how would you like to be remembered?

sleepy hollow, new york. may 2011.

i was walking around this famous cemetery the day after my friend got married, taking pictures and looking at gravestones (and noticing how many had my last name) when i decided to call my mom and ask where my grandma was buried, as i knew it was somewhere in new york state. turns out she was five miles away. so my friend agreed to drive me over there in the morning, on the way to the train station.

we got lost twice, thanks to my crappy phone map app. as we were driving towards our last turn, we saw an entrance into the cemetery and turned in. once we found the office, i scoured the log book (because their computer system was down) but found nothing. turns out we were in the wrong cemetery--there are two next door to each other. time was tight but we tried to get to the other one, except that the road we needed to turn on was closed. it's like i wasn't meant to see her.

after a day of thinking i would get to visit, i suddenly realized how sad i was to miss her. so close! so many things i wanted to say, so many minutes i wanted to sit and simply remember her. so i looked out the window, said hello and goodbye and blew a kiss, and then we drove on to the train station. where i saved a two foot long snapping turtle from likely-death by jumping down on the tracks and moving it off, then getting some helpful ladies and my friend to help lift me back onto the platform. so maybe that was my purpose for the day.

grandma, maybe you were that turtle, or maybe i was just given the chance to do something for which i know you'd be proud of me. either way, i remember you, and i miss you.

sand, sea, silhouette

 

 abel tasman. april 2011. 

dawn on the beach. a swim in the cool, clear water. quiet.

shadows and sand

abel tasman trail, new zealand. april 2011.

we started our hike at 5.30 pm and hiked into the falling dusk, watching the clouds change color over the water. by the time we got to our deserted campground, we had headlamps on and were ready for layers. after dinner, linda took a swim in the ocean and i took pictures of the rising full moon.

piles of rock

 

nelson lakes, new zealand. april 2011. 

footprint

 

nelson lakes, new zealand. april 2011. 

i miss hiking. it's one of the only times when i can be alone without being inside my head. instead of thinking, i look--at mountains, at rocks, at moss, at rivers, at dragonflies, at bright new pine needles. i fill my head with images of nature and growth and unnoticed, unmourned death, of the great rushings of wind that push trees too and fro with a sound that stirs and centers me, that welcomes me home. 

left by the sea

moeraki beach, new zealand. april 2011.

follow

milford. april 2011.

the "concourse" along the pedestrian path leading to the milford sound "port" where all the cruises load up. tiny little town with a few matching low slung apartment buildings for all the cruise workers, one info/cafe/restaurant stop, and not much else.

clinging clouds

milford sound, new zealand. april 2011.

both sides now

milford, new zealand. april 2011.

a swamp-like pond that smelled of rot and had thoroughly black water. an early dusk, a mountain-caused twilight.

dark green, with a thin layer of light

lake macenzie, new zealand. april 2011.

stairway of light

queenstown, new zealand. april 2011.

that way

routeburn track. april 2011.

on the trail

on the way to macenzie lake hut. april 2011.

we went swimming when we got there.

yellow-green

up the valley and toward harris saddle. april 2011.

cold and windy, alternating with humid and sweaty. oh, the colors.

stripes and shadow

routeburn falls hut. april 2011.

we got to the hut in mid-afternoon, and so went for a walk after changing out of our sweaty clothes. a strong wind kept things cold, but the views were magnifique! here's a picture of linda looking out, with a really straight tree line on the ridge behind her.