Category: Still Life
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Flower | East Wenatchee, WA | February 2020 I’ll spare you the flora innuendo (“Is that a sticky pistil?”) and instead marvel at the complex beauty of blooms. To me, not even 130 million years of evolution explains the countless variations — artful curves and colors — of the flower world. Each bloom is a…
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Utility Hook | Twisp, WA | February 2020 How long can a crusty old soul be of service to society? What’s left after you knock off the rust? This weathered hook, now retired and basking in the sun, spoke to me of its decades of usefulness. Keeping the garden hose coiled. Holding the handle-end of…
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Feathers | Twisp, WA | February 2020 Despite his $60 hairdo and preference for grilled salmon, our poodle Joey loves to roll on dead things. He sniffs out deer carcasses, coyote skins and decaying bird bodies even in winter under a foot of snow. Out recently for a midnight pee, he made a beeline for…
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Hotel Lamp | Pacific Beach, WA | January 2020 Sea Visit | Furniture is what gets photographed when it’s too stormy to go outside. Hey, are you rolling your eyes? This is a tried-and-true creativity exercise practiced for decades by professional photographers lounging around in their jammies. Admittedly, it’s not a dramatic nature scene that…
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Sand in Shell | Pacific Beach, WA | January 2020 Sea Visit | At the beach, sand infiltrates crevices I’d hoped were sand-proof. Yesterday I found an abundance of it in my ears (despite a knit cap) and between my toes (laced into snow boots). What the hell? A similar kind of irritant also works…
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Ambrosia | East Wenatchee, WA | December 2019 An apple’s stem connects the one to the whole. The woody conduit channels life until the moment the fruit is plucked. Likewise, we’re also connected to something larger — God, the Tao, the Great Mystery — but tend to forget that notion when burdened by everyday concerns.…
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Decay | East Wenatchee, WA | October 2019 We seniors usually don’t dwell too long on the metaphor of autumn. Shortening of days, dimming of colors, prepping for the long rest — you laughing yet? But it’s healthy once a year to get our bearings in the cycle of life, acknowledge what’s behind us and,…
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Succulent | Conway, AR | September 2019 Flora #1 | A young woman at a nearby table talked on her phone as if I couldn’t hear her. “Oh my God, there’s this old guy, like, he’s right here, right in front of me, taking pictures of a stupid houseplant. Can you, like, imagine? It’s just…
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2nd Place Tomatoes | Cashmere, WA | September 2019 County Fair #2 | “Second place is just the first loser.” — Professional race car driver Dale Earnhardt “Because I came in second place, it makes me want to work harder.” — Diana DeGarmo, first runner-up in the third season of the “American Idol” TV series…
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1st Place Onion | Cashmere, WA | September 2019 County Fair #1 | “Could it be, God forbid, that nationality is only a superficial, insignificant layer of the onion that is your being? What would you think of the man who says
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