A couple pictures from late summer

France.  Hiking across the Pyrenees.

Orisson, August 26/L Herlevi 2019

Dawn in Orisson.  I spent the night in a room underneath the deck.  We each got a coin that ensured 5-minutes of shower time; there's limited water availability.  I hadn't been sure I would be coming this way when I left home, but I put in a reservation request just the same.  When I was able to access email, 2 days before my request date, I found I had an invoice to pay and a reservation.  Between that and the G-7 closing the French border up near Irun (my original destination), that sealed the Pyrenees hike.  And it's a tough crossing, but I probably could've done it in one day.  As it was, I split it into two, Orisson, 8 kms up from St Jean Pied de Port.  Hot, and 100% humidity; with air so thick that morning, you could barely see 20 feet in front of you.  The Refuge at Orisson suddenly appearing out of the mists.  The picture below is how it appeared later in the afternoon, once the mists had burned off.  There was a family dinner at 7 pm, where everyone introduced themselves and what brought them here.  At night, we'd left a window open, and moths and other insects attracted to the bathroom lights, collected inside.  Ones you'd probably never see otherwise.

Orisson, August 25/L Herlevi 2019

French Pyrenees, August 26/L Herlevi 2019

The second day was more dry, with a lot of wind.  Full of herds of horses (which I'd hoped to see, and made the walk worth it), crowds of people walking, jeeps of armed security driving down the road, and a very steep descent into Roncesvalles, the first village in Spain.  I was tired and happy to get a bed when I arrived.  I got a top bunk, but a woman I'd met in Orisson, remembered that top bunks were hard for me, and traded with me, without my asking.

French Pyrenees, August 26/L Herlevi 2019

Later that weekend

Pathways, Feb 4/L Herlevi, 2019

On Sunday, we got the first of our snowstorms.  Shut down work through Tuesday,  And we're having our second snowstorm as I type.  Work only had a half day.  It's pretty.  Snow is in the forecast at least through next Thursday.  It hardly ever snows here.

Birch Trees at the Lake, Feb 4/L Herlevi, 2019

Trees, Feb 4/L Herlevi, 2019

Rosehips, Feb 4/L Herlevi, 2019

Summer

Keep trying to write, and then running out of steam.  In the meantime, some pictures of my summer. Part I: Mt. Rainier and the North Cascades. On Mt. Rainier it was cool, and cloudy with expected thunder storms (and relief from the smoke and heat.)  In the N. Cascades, the smoke was at hazard level, and it was around 90 degrees F.

Mt. Rainier Nat'l Park, August 11/L Herlevi, 2018

Meadow in Cloud, Mt. Rainier, August 11/L Herlevi 2018

Electric Forest, N Cascades, August 15/L Herlevi 2018

Newhalem, August 15/L Herlevi 2018

Newhalem, August 15/L Herlevi 2018

How it feels

Summer is winding down, and I wonder where the time went.  The heat continues, making the attic unbearable to sleep in.  Everyone has moved out of the house, save the one I like living with the most.  And we'll clean it all out, and it all begins again.  Feeling inner elation.

Here are a couple of pictures from 2017.  I don't feel melancholic, but there's still an appeal in that idea for me.  It's an end of summer, and a change in the weather signalling it's time for a new beginning, a new year to start.  I can start again.

Following the light, March 31/L Herlevi, 2017

Melancholy, March 31/L Herlevi, 2017

Tired

I'm trying to finish a book: Patti Smith's "M Train."  I'm enjoying it, but slow about it: I think it must be past due by now.  It's a series of essays, related to one another, not necessarily linear, though, they could be.

Catching up on things, but there always seems to be more.  Have an acting thing at the end of the week that I'm looking forward to.  Hope to do it justice.  And more garden stuff to catch up on.  It's a lot of work, and I'm still tired.  The first phase of a work project got completed today, and someone else contacted me about a story project, so that might happen.  Several people I'm quite fond of at work are leaving soon, and we have a vote for the future of a central part of my life coming up.  Emotionally I'm drained, wavering between ache (which has been off and on for months) and defiance (why do I care? Still I find I do.)  Every day I have plans for my evenings, since there is extended light now, and every evening I just end up sleeping instead. 

These are basically two pictures of the same thing, but the light was glorious.

The Quad, April 10/L Herlevi, 2018

The light in springtime, April 10/L Herlevi, 2018

What I want most of all right now is to sleep.

Weather

A few shots from late afternoon, yesterday.  Insomnia.  I should just get up and write, it's almost 5 am.

Untitled, March 23/L Herlevi 2015

Corner of Light, March 23/L Herlevi 2015

Tree Angel, March 23/L Herlevi 2015

Untitled, March 23/L Herlevi 2015

Photos

These are some pictures from today.  First is the sun rising through the fog in the morning.  The remainder are the result of my decision to think in b/w.  When I shot film in the past it was almost exclusively b/w, and I regularly switched my thinking between color and b/w.  I'd view the world differently, depending on what film was in my camera, but the automatic switching to see between the two started to drive me nuts.  I stopped years ago, but decided this morning to see what I would shoot if I were shooting b/w and if I would choose my subjects accordingly.  (These are digital, not film, but I almost never shoot this camera in b/w.)  These were all mid-day, very contrasty, hard shadows.

Sun rising, March 9/L Herlevi 2015

Trees, March 9/L Herlevi 2015

Shadows, March 9/L Herlevi 2015

Blooming, March 9/L Herlevi 2015

Baby Gull

(Found the cable.) Most interesting creature from yesterday.  I hadn't seen one this young before, big gray fur ball.

Gulls, July 5/L Herlevi 2014

Baby, July 5/L Herlevi 2014

The day before the night before

Happy day before the day before Christmas!

I read a post regarding aging well yesterday.  It reminded me of that question that floats around, "If you didn't know your age, how old would you be?"  It also reminded me that for some reason, I spent half the year thinking I was older than I actually am.  The man that annoyed me by calling me by my formal name, told me how old I was.  Not sure why I added the year, I was kinda' relieved to figure out I was younger than I was thinking.  It'll be true soon enough, my birthday is in three weeks.

I feel sorta' old when I realize that all of my college friends are now in their forties, my ex-boyfriend (from when we were 21, he's a month older than me) has a daughter that is in her second or third year of college, and my former bosses' little girls who ran around the Christmas parties in fairy wings are also college age now.  Or when I get asked out by 20-somethings (can't go there.)  Other than that, I don't think about it all that much.  I think acting-wise, I'm more likely to get cast on the younger end of the spectrum than my actual age (I'm going with mid-20's to mid-40's.)

Also, a friend commented that she liked my skirt, and I mentioned I wished it were shorter, by about two inches.  When I bought it, I thought maybe I could have it altered, but that turned out to be too complicated, so I roll the waist-band like a catholic school girl.  It's funny, the older I get, the shorter I want my skirts, I had unfortunate body issues when I was younger, dressed like a boy or in baggy clothes.  Guess I'm reliving that now...is that my mid-life crisis?

Here's a couple of snow pictures.

Pathway/L. Herlevi 2013

Tree with snow/L. Herlevi 2013

A couple better photos

Here are some birch trees I passed by on the very long and scenic route home today. I needed some wildlife and forest time. It took me more than two hours to get home this way. (These are taken with the old, point-and-shoot digital camera.)

Birch trees, late afternoon/L. Herlevi 2013

And a mama mallard and very tall baby that walked up out of the canal and came up to me. I think something might have been wrong with the female, she was making squeaky noises at me and her feathers were kinda' a mess, like something had gotten on them. It used to be a landfill, so it's a little toxic, still. She walked the baby to the ditch on the other side of the road, it went into the water, but she remained standing in the road.


Ducks/L. Herlevi 2013

Ducks/L Herlevi 2013