water, when faced with the mechanical, formulaic nature of the camera, slows down just long enough to verify: always in transit, whether indolent or squeezed within the embrace of gravity, water is motion, motion is energy, and energy is light.  carved rocks, exposed earth and tree roots the size of small cars, this falling sliver of paris creek has, in recent weeks, often served as a window into something that i will probably never understand, let alone be capable enough with words to explain, but the sounds and the crystal water say plenty to my ears, picking up speed as it carries on.  light in motion, stopped and examined, every single time i go up there, headed into those clouds, such wonderful ironic metaphor, as i consider the brightly burning days allotted each of us to walk where we may walk and to see what we choose to see.  paris creek, douglas island, alaska.  2011

“Oh, these vast, calm, measureless mountain days, inciting at once to work and rest!  Days in whose light everything seems equally divine, opening a thousand windows to show us God.  Nevermore, however weary, should one faint by the way who gains the blessings of one mountain day; whatever his fate, long life, short life, stormy or calm, he is rich forever.”  –John Muir, “My First Summer in The Sierra”

indeed, john.  indeed.  rest, incited, at the summit of gastineau peak, juneau, alaska.  2011

focus. soapbox derby, douglas, alaska.  2011

the annual 4th of july celebration here on douglas is a big, big deal.  an awesome parade, dog frisbee on the beach, bbq’s and bonfires everywhere, and the coolest of all is the soapbox derby held on a steeply graded sidestreet, with hundreds cheering on the competitors.  if there is a single image that can convey the pure, unmitigated joy of this day, this one has to be it, launching off the starting ramp, ready and willing for whatever may come, totally focused and consumed within the moment, how is it that the youngest among us always find such creative ways to remind us of the beauty of this life and this place.  douglas, alaska.  2011

in the late 1800′s the treadwell mine was the largest gold mine in the world, extracting more than 3 million ounces of gold from shafts that extended as far as 2,400 feet below the island, employing 2,000 people, with more than 900 stamps in continuous operation, shutting down for only two days every year: christmas and the 4th of july.  it was said that the noise from the stamps was so loud that patrons of the local eateries, here in douglas, had to shout to each other to be heard but, on the two days of the year when operations, and the attendant clamor,  briefly ceased, the residents had a hard time sleeping.  an early morning 4th of july walk along this shoreline, the rotting pilings, shards of pottery, decaying iron and concrete everywhere – remnants of people and aspirations long since vanished –  my thoughts turn to those that, thousands of miles from their families and those they loved, walked here as well, each of them searching for their own individual versions of alaskan gold, and i think just how little things have really changed, how those miners, then, and everyone here, now, truly have so much in common.  douglas island, alaska.  2011

infinite complexity, self-similarity at all scales and resolutions, the patterns of the natural world defy all numeric constraint, suspended in the ink-blackness of cold waters, here at the terminus of the mendenhall glacier.  juneau, alaska. 2011

words simply fail, totally and completely, so it is enough to just listen, watch, and wait, and in the process, perhaps, learn something more eternal than anything to do with the human race .  mt. jumbo, douglas island, alaska.  2011

sweat-soaked and absolutely spent from the ascent, the tedious and cautious return back down, making my way, along the boardwalk, northeast to the trailhead below, shedding layers of warmer capilene donned at much higher elevations, along with everything that used to be such a worry.  mt. jumbo, douglas island, alaska.  2011

out across paris creek, climbing the lower flanks of the mountain, suddenly i break into a spectacular muskeg wonderland of emerging early summer beauty beyond anything my mind can conceive.  my pace slows, my mouth agape, spellbound, transfixed, the color and glow is overwhelming, to me, as i stoop and gently crawl on my knees, giddy with laughter, camera in hand, a beautiful, timely, surprise gift.  mt. jumbo, douglas island, alaska.  2011

strategically tucked away within a clump of deadfall, shielded from the wind, low to the ground to conserve precious energy, the tiniest blooms in this limitless snow-bound place in the sky, always gently reminding me to slow down and notice.  sitting with my thoughts and my lunch, all considerations and concerns turn transitory.  mt. jumbo, douglas island, alaska.  2011