L.A.

hollywood-palms

EARTHLY STARS

LOS ANGELES

14 May 2018


A few thoughts after a long, hot, weary day walking around L.A. …

Sometimes I am just a total goofball.

I cried in front of Judy Garland’s tomb, and again in front of Audrey Hepburn’s star on the walk of fame. Tears of love for these two souls and their incredible creations.

I cry a lot.
In the movie theatre, or when I am too excited, or even when I am simply so in love with everything that it spills over.

I am human, in a beautifully imperfect world. L.A. is a strange place, in my eyes - wholly imperfect, yet still holy.

I don’t need to go to a temple to find a sense of reverence; this world, just as it is, is a special place.

I don’t need to always be calm, or collected;
sweet, or perfectly practiced.
To be human is to feel,
to live in a body.

The sacred nature of this world lies not in all that is transcendent, I think, but in the vast mix of all experience, all wonder, all chaos. Somewhere in that mix is the magic that enchants us.


audrey-hepburn-star-hollywood
stage-9-hollywood
judy-garland-pavilion
hollywood-sign
nasturtium
hollywood-hill-hike
hollywood-hill-view-sunset

SALVATION MOUNTAIN

salvation-mountain-fashion-portrait

FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD

SALVATION MOUNTAIN

9 May 2018


Here are some of the small wonders we came across
in this strange land…

🌻🌻🌻

a small, friendly tabby cat, who was intent on accompanying us around.

a soft glow, as the sun appeared over the painted mountain.

pockets of silence, in the morning, when nobody else was around.

a surreal dreamscape of paint and colour!

an array of divine messages, written out in technicolour,
and painted onto old junkyard cars.

”God is Love”

small signs placed at random, telling us to
“follow the yellow brick road”…

painted-mountain-california
yellow-brick-road-sign
god-is-love-mailbox
salvation-mountain-fashion-portrait
painted-mountain-california
salvation-mountain-artwork
salvation-mountain-fashion-photoshoot
yellow-brick-road-salvation-mountain
follow-the-yellow-brick-road
oz-photoshoot-salvation-mountain

JOSHUA TREE

goddess-portrait-desert-cacti

HOT DAYS, STARRY NIGHTS

JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK

7 May 2018


12:00 noon…

It was hot. So hot it was almost unbearable. With no shade in sight, we sat in the car, making lunch and watching the flies swim through the windows. The car next to us had turned into a rusty black oven. The pasta water boiled in an instant, and evaporated from the dusty sidewalk just as quickly.

small wonders of the day:
halos of light caught around everything, and watching Ollie play the dare-devil with a stick, poking the dangerous jumping cholla cacti.

9:00 pm…

After lunch we retired from the sun, and waited till nightfall to return to the desert. The sunset was purple, then inky jet black, bruised and spotted. I waited for the stars, wondering what animals move in the darkness here. I must admit I was nervous about the scorpions.

small wonders of the night:
an owl on the wing, a silent darkness swooping between the stars…

in-the-cactus-garden
cholla-cactus-flower
cholla-garden-joshua-tree
joshua-tree-national-park
cholla-cactus
goddess-portrait-photography-joshua-tree
joshua-tree-starry-sky
cholla-cactus-flower
desert-goddess-cactus-garden
joshua-tree-sunset
walking-in-joshua-tree
ocotilla-flowers
ocotillo-patch-joshua-tree
joshua-tree-stars-night-sky
cholla-cactus-garden
joshua-tree-night-sky