NYC

When I was in NYC at the beginning of August, a lot of things happened that changed the way I thought about the city. I loved it! I loved it. And it made me think of going back, and it made me want to go back, something I had never thought of doing before.

So I did! And what a light-filled, life-filled time it was.

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Last time while there, on August 2nd, a Thursday, I sat on a stoop in the corner of an enclosed brick patio, humid, smiling, and glowing inside-out. In my journal, after a quick breath in the kitchen, I wrote, “A perfect moment – sitting with old friends, gin in one hand, a slice of warm, late-night barbecue watermelon in the other, a song playing sung from the mouth and borne of the curly, black-haired head next to you; other knees touch yours, because we sit and are all so close and in love here, even if we don’t see each other for months and won’t see each other for years.”

Happy for me, and hopefully happy for the many faces I squeezed and looked into that week, I saw them again last week, too.

I am thankful for fall days, Roy hugs, grillmasters, guitars, sweet voices, photography conversations, mismatched clothes, starched coats, long talks, long walks, whiskey gingers, Roy’s Roy voice, BEAR HUGS (actual ones or tattoo ones), art openings, harmonies, transposing ukulele songs to guitar songs, Murphy beds, sweaters, friends (many old, many new), tree houses, warm cuddles, whispers, tacos and coffee, spooning, great big unfinished breakfasts, babies ready to be born, gargoyles, nicknames, old songs, new songs, ping pong, air hockey, build-a-bike prospects, Dora brains, ice cream flavors, and so many things I could type and type for days.

I barely slept, but boy, howdy! – was it worth it.

Once again, to think of going back into that bustle – on the subway, up the stairs, into arms, on fire escapes, up roofs, into happiness – is so exciting that it literally makes my hands tremble and adrenaline pump deep through my heart at the thought of it.

I might be addicted.

I love you all so, so much. And I miss you vastly.

Be well.

– SAWK

 

Here

Things are mighty quiet back here after the raucous cacophony of horns, voices, laughter, music, life I left in New York City last week.

But here is where the wind lives, the popping of fall grasshoppers into bushes as you go by, the scraping of gravel underfoot, the crack of a raven’s call as it splits the air, the whine of puppies muffled under covers.

And here is where early morning storms roll in – their heavy hats of grey like reverse-umbrellas, dripping at you on the stoop, but not ten feet further once you’ve left their shelter – leaving bright slashes of rainbows to mark where they’ve been once they’ve gone.

New York photos are coming, but their sheer magnitude in effect, quantity, and feeling will mean a wait.

Je vous aime tous.

Be well.

– Coon

 

Sisters, Puppies, Rain, Sunshine

Those four words sum up things around here of late – in the best possible way.

The weather today blew fall towards us by cool breezes that would be cold if not for bright sunshine and patches of yellow leaves. The weather today was so beautiful it made me almost want to cry for the gorgeousness of it. The weather today screamed for everyone to be outside, open all windows, and rush through the present. The weather today makes me nostalgic.

Be well.

Love, Coon

The Sandstone Bluffs

Not far from this lonely, little trailer is another quiet place, high above the black and craggy lava flows below.

The Sandstone Bluffs are a part of the El Malpais National Monument. El Malpais, or the badlands, as the land was called by the Spanish who trekked across it when they first forayed into this part of the desert, are dried lava beds left from when Mt. Taylor and this part of northwestern New Mexico were still active as angry, spurting volcanic hotspots.

They are the high cliffs that run north-south along the eastern side of the park. Because the lava fields below them are dark and flat, the light heights of the faces of the bluffs are easily visible from miles away in many directions – from Grants, from I-40, from the western edge of the Monument, from the southern reaches of NM-117.

Up top, there are nooks and holes that rains fill with water in the monsoon season – opaque pools colored like sea glass from minerals and deposits, home to new families of tadpoles and mosquitoes swimming or flitting here and there.

I have been there countless times throughout my childhood and throughout the three years that I’ve now lived here, and every time, they are beautiful and new. At the end of the day, especially – when the sweet light comes and sunset is about you and nothing is below you – it seems wholesome and nurturing to climb up, take your shoes off, peek over the edge, and cling barefoot to the smooth grit of the orange sandstone. Walking with your skin straight on the earth makes you feel grounded.

In winter, it can be frigid, and in summer, it can be excruciatingly hot – unless you happen to head to the Bluffs with your mother and aunt on an August day of cool, cloudy greyness. Then they are perfect – perfectly silent, perfectly still, perfectly suited to make you think you are thousands of years removed from time, with nothing but rock and air around and below you.

Be well. xoxo.

– SAWK

Jason + Alicia

Ten years ago, I was in high school. And in high school, I knew a great guy named Jason. Jason was kind, he was funny, he was very smart, and he wanted to be in the Army.

Three months ago, I was in Delaware. And in Delaware, I saw a great guy named Jason and met his great fiancée, Alicia, and I took pictures at their gorgeous wedding.

We’ve come a long way from the trumpet and the clarinet. Jason made it to the Army, and he’s still a great guy. Even though I didn’t need convincing, the fact that every single person I spoke to at the wedding attested to his greatness would have been plenty enough proof.

Congratulations, Alicia and Jason! I’m so grateful I got to photograph your wedding, and I hope you will be so, so happy.

Be well.

– SAWK

 

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