Out With the Old

I love this time of year. Long nights, crisp, cold air, lights everywhere – I take this time to reflect on the outgoing year and set intentions for the new year coming in.

2015 has been seriously up and down. The downs included six dear family members and friends lost, as well as discovering and dealing with both my father’s illness and my own.

But the ups! Wow, this year has been a great one for travel and photography. I was on the road more than ever, documenting all of it along the way, and my photographs were featured in print and juried shows. Plus I’ve got exciting new projects on the way in 2016, which I’ll share more about as they come on-line.

I hope you’re feeling optimistic about the new year. One thing I like to do in late December is clear the clutter, creating a clean mental and physical slate. I just donated 70+ books to the library, took bags of clothes and unused stuff to the thrift store (that benefits our local women and children’s shelter), consolidated and organized a seeming mountain of scribbled-on scraps of paper into one notebook, and even cleaned lingering but unnecessary files off the laptop.

It feels great.

Speaking of that, I’ve had a few photographs hanging around that didn’t make it into blog posts, so I’ll share them now.

I got to photograph a lot of water this year, which I find endlessly fascinating. This is Putah Creek in the Berryessa National Recreation Area, California.

And more! This is Whiskeytown Creek in the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area, California.

Sunrise through the trees in Whiskeytown.

My first image taken with the new camera, a Pentax 645Z, which I’ve dubbed The Beast. (It’s heavy!) This is at the Rio Grande Gorge in Taos.

I’ll leave you with this one, taken at my house a few weeks ago. It seems appropriate in this time of transition from night to day, from the old year to the new. Go to the light.

Happy holidays, everyone. Thanks for sharing the journey with me.

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