Schoolhouse | Coulee City, WA | 2013
The century-old Highland School sits on the crest of a hill along Highway 2 between Waterville and Coulee City in eastern Washington. Morning light flatters it most, although strong sun tends to highlight the vandalism — graffiti, failed arson attempts, theft of windows and wall boards. More than a few times a year, I’ve stood on the road’s shoulder to ponder (more…)
Goose Eggs | Belfast, ME | 2013
Eggs are miracles. As vessels for new life, their complexity is astonishing. Specialized membranes, protective fluids and nutrient sacs work to ensure that the teensy (more…)
Cowboy | Fort Worth, TX | 2013
I wandered away from the hundreds of tourists at the Fort Worth Stockyards, the Texas livestock industry’s historical district, and found myself alone in the quiet offices of the former cattle market. The structure’s high ceilings, wood floors, old photos and artifacts captured a bygone era of cattle drives and cowpokes. I stood there awhile, listening to the building’s bones creak and crack, when I heard a door open behind me followed by the clomp-jangle of boots with spurs. I turned to see (more…)
Short Pier | Pateros, WA | 2013
At first look, the half-sunken pier seemed like a bad situation. In a grand sense, it was failing to fulfill its destiny. More simply, it wasn’t being used as intended. But wait … (more…)
Patio | Pateros, WA | 2013
Lives overlay and intersect to create complex patterns and connections. While dining on the patio of a local restaurant, we discover that the couple next to us (total strangers) is leaving in an hour (same as us) on the 90-mile drive to Twisp (also our destination) to stay in a B&B just down the road from our cabin. They’ll have dinner with the Petersons (whom we’ve known for 35 years) and (more…)
Window | Wenatchee, WA | 2013
The guy who scavenged the parking lot for coins and cigarette butts pointed at the high window and said, “Bad things up there.” But I knew the building was vacant, so I asked him what he meant. “Monsters,” he said. Well, this was getting creepy real quick. “Just wait,” he said, looking up (more…)
Three | East Wenatchee, WA | 2013
Mystery resides in threes, but nobody really knows why. The Musketeers, the Stooges, the Amigos are triangles of brotherhood — sturdy in their support of each other. Writers drive home a point most effectively with three examples, not two. And artists love to align three elements to guide the viewer’s eye and give motion to a composition. But what makes three so satisfying? One theory: (more…)
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