YOSEMITE

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GAZING INTO THE GLACIAL VALLEY

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK

28 - 29 May 2018

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{ diary entry: glacier point : sunset }

We waited for sunset, eating big bowls of pasta, and stringing together stories of a woodland bear that would come and cherrypick our honey from the van while we were out frolicking.

I looked up at the clouds, and you said “it is time,” and we scrambled up the rocky hillside, breathing deep breaths of pine pitch and alpine winds.

I stopped. Breathless.
Weightless.

Spread out below: a scene of such wonder, it caught in the back of my throat; unable to swallow the sound, I yipped and howled, then danced down the hillside, arms open to capture the fleeting moment in my bare hands, to swoop it up and fill every part of me with this…
this world,
this fantastic, incredible, splendiferous landscape!

We watched the sun sink beyond the distant mountains, holding hands, climbing all over the place, leading each other to each little viewpoint, like chipmunks chasing a runaway pine nut.

And slowly, slowly the moon rose and the stars came out, and still we sat and watched the waters pouring into the great valley below us.

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I SPY:

spires

domes

walls

peaks

glacial “exfoliation” marks

stellar’s jays

& western scrub jays

dragonflies

an acorn woodpecker

a deer’s hoof-print

incense cedar

pink mountain pride flowers

sugar pine

manzanita

live oak

chapparral

purple lupine

wild iris

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CHARIS

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. DRUIDS & DRYADS .

at Los Osos Oak Groves

with

CHARIS MELINA

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🌟

she is a fallen star
an angel earthed
the universal force embodied
- radiant -
light shining between
soft velvet shadows
mysterious
she is.

On a summer evening we met, by an old oak grove, to share space for a few precious days.

Wandering and a little lost, we walked under trailing moss and bearded forests, pointing out gnarled faces in the bark, and following fairy paths that lead round-about-and-nowhere.

These were days filled with laughter, strawberries soaked in champagne, whispers in the movie theatre, stolen lemons, and silent conversations with her green-eyed black cat.

These were nights of cosy companionship, snuggled into the nest of our van, legs tangled, her hands gently weaving my hair up into cotton cloth strips.

We spoke of and experienced a subtle magic that exists upon the edges of our feeling bodies, but I believe also in a magic that lives within the most ordinary of things… it is all around us, woven between us like sparkling threads, connecting me to you. These moments spent with the goddesses I meet and photograph are pure magic!

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The Vampire Reprised

nox, nacht, night

an inky darkness,

to swaddle and huddle the light

round circle, deep cycle

there is a motion to everything

a root to everything

a place for everything

and what of you, then?

crea-tura

you know that there is

no creation without destruction

no brimming life without void

no weaving without snipping

…

and it is you who would

come to take that which is no longer needed

~ to swallow clots, to bring movement again

to life force that is stuck.

🌹

Charis has a natural way of looking at everything with love - she reminds me to continually renew my compassion for all creatures + all beings and energies, even those we fear…

… Besides, when two mystics come together, both carrying some serious vampire stories, you best believe they will incorporate those energues and experiences into a photoshoot!

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SEQUOIA + KINGS CANYON

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THE LIFE ENCIRCLED WITHIN

SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK

23 - 24 May 2018

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Everything in nature called destruction must be creation
- a change from beauty to beauty.

~ John Muir

DIARY ENTRY {24 May} ::
I stood in a cavern of a tall tree, it smelled like fire and burnt sap and charcoal. I could hear the forest breathing, a fly buzzing, branches creaking. I left my worries behind, to walk in the forest.

Fire is a vital element in the sequoias life-cycle - their small egg-sized cones will stay closed for up to 20 years, waiting for the warmth of a forest fire to tempt them open so they can drop their seeds, en mass, on a newly bare and fertile soil. A roaring forest fire also helps the chances of a sequoia sapling by killing many of the insects that would feast on the young plants, and by clearing the forest - cleaning out the deep leaf litter, and allowing sunlight to pierce through the canopy. The much older sequoias, the monarchs of the forest, have evolved to survive through fire and flames by growing a thick layer of fibrous, fire-resistant bark, like a shield of armour. Fire has long been a living spark in these forests. Thus, from destruction comes a new act of creation.

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I SPY:

pacific dogwood - in flower

miner’s lettuce

strawberry blooms

purple lupine

sugar pine - with HUGE cones!

squirrels, deer and finches

yellow flowers like violets

TANTALISING SCIENCE-Y BITS
& SMALL WONDERS:

Sequoias are the largest living organisms on our planet, by sheer volume. And yet, they grow from a seed the size of an oat flake!

Standing in the heart of the Hart Tree, hugging with my tiny arms around the huge body of that living being, feeling a heart beat, an energy of life pulsing within.

The surprise I felt, upon seeing the lush pockets of greenery tucked away deep in the forest - meadows flowing with wide shallow waters, almost like wetlands!

A feeling of being watched, seeing bear-shapes in every tree stump. A strange thought: perhaps they are nearby, sending out their spirit to tell us they are here?

A tiny sapling will grow into an old monarch over many thousands of years.

Sequoias, the largest of trees, are closely related to the tallest of trees - the Redwood. Yet, varying environments have entirely shaped the separate lives of these beautiful behemoths; whereas the Redwood gets most of its water from the low lying fogs of the coast, the Sequoia relies on the snowmelt of the mountains for its moisture.

The main dangers to these gentle giants of the forest are often caused by human interference in the delicate balance of nature: air pollution, diversions of water sources, and the long lack of forest fires due to forest mis-management. Yet science is catching up, seeing now that these dynamic processes work in a holistic sense to keep the whole forest alive… Restoration is happening, and we are learning to be in balance again with Mama Earth, who is our greatest teacher.

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