The power of the pink moon wakes me. Stumbling out of bed, I wander barefoot through half-lit rooms looking through distorted glass while my eyes attempt to adjust. What if I let them stay blurry? What if I simply see what’s there? Maybe beauty does exist in the imperfections. The flowers tell me so. I follow the sounds to the beach and surrender.
“Oh moon, I have begun to envy you your terrifying powers” —Henry Virgin
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The fourth full moon of the year arrived on my birthday while on vacation at Dillion Beach. The moon proved elusive and all my photos turned out distorted. I had no choice but to embrace the imperfections and play with them.
Let me know if you have a favorite. These photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.
I write because I want to understand. I write because I don’t understand. I write anyway. I write to think. I write to feel. I write because my body is mostly water.
I write to translate water. I write like I’m swimming. I write deeper and deeper to find my breath. I write to remember I never lost it. I write the silence of being underwater. I write rhythm. I write tides. I write endless grains of sand. I write to honor the twisting cypress trees and my grandmothers. I write because the moon doesn’t give up on me. I write because I don’t give up on me.
I write because I was a child with an imaginary friend. I write to remember her. I write to remember me. I write stories moving through my body. I write to hold them tighter. I write to let them go.
I write because you didn’t see me. I write because you did. I write to hold your hand in the dark. I write a thousand tiny hearts in the margin of my notebook.
I write to play. I write to dance. I write because a song made me cry.
I write because I’m afraid I’ll forget everything. I write because I’m afraid I’ll be forgotten. I write to leave my children pieces of me to hold onto when I’m gone.
I write because the world is filled with contradictions. I write because I’m filled with contradictions.
I write to understand how gravity and time change depending on who I stand beside. I write as one who has been hurt and who has hurt others. I write to understand forgiveness.
I write because my fingers and jaw need to unclench. I write because the wind told me to.
I write because of beautiful journals and smooth pens. I write because words cost nothing and I’m broke. I write lies. I write truths. I write as if you have been by my side the entire time.
I write because I hope you will like me. I write because it doesn’t matter if you do.
I write even though the words must be extracted with bloody fingertips and it hurts and I get angry. I write certain you will figure out I’m a fraud, but hoping you won’t care. I write because sometimes I touch something like spirit, like source, and it’s intoxicating. I write because we are all this vulnerable.
I write as one who learns and forgets over and over. I write as if I’m going to never stop. I write because someday I will.
I write because words, like me, are imperfect, and yet I still love them.
My good friend Neil challenged his readers to write a list of why they write. I turned 47 today and I decided to celebrate it by answering. I’d be honored if you took up his call and wrote your own list. Let me know if you do and thank you for reading.
This is my final Washington photography post and it’s of the iconic Pike Place Market. If you’ve never been, it’s a daily market known for its produce and fish-throwing vendors. In my opinion, these are the best photos I’ve ever taken. I usually focus on macro shots, but I’m learning to step back and let the scene tell a story. I’m excited to see this growth in myself and look forward to continuing to learn new skills.
To those who have visited all six posts, thank you. This trip felt transformative to me in a way I’m not sure I understand yet. Next week is my birthday and I always get introspective this time of year. I’m not writing my novel, I’ve not published anything yet, but I’m still creating. Maybe that’s enough.
“…and then, I have nature and art and poetry, and if that is not enough, what is enough?” —Vincent van Gogh
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Can you believe I didn’t get a single photo of the Space Needle? Neither can I. Next time…
All photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.
“I have been one acquainted with the night. I have walked out in rain—and back in rain. I have outwalked the furthest city light.” —Robert Frost
On the last morning of my stay in Seattle, I strolled the city alone with my camera. I took photos of things that caught my eye and allowed myself to be an explorer in a big land. It was the most creative and alive I’ve felt in a long time.
I hope you enjoy these photos and please let me know if you have a favorite.
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All photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.
One of the major reasons we visited Seattle was my daughter’s obsession with the video game The Last of Us. The second game takes place largely in Seattle during the year 2039, a city abandoned and overrun with infected (think mushroom zombies). It’s a story of found family, hope, love, and revenge.
Using a list of locations by the blogger Sam, we traveled around the city replaying the game. A lot of places we looked at but didn’t photograph, those include Columbia Center, Seattle Municipal Tower, Pioneer Station, the Convention Center, and Lumen Field. I also took plenty of pictures of the Great Wheel, but I’ve already shared them in previous posts.
Let me know if you are a fan of the game or the HBO series. Be sure to make it down to the hotel photos where I share a bit about our stay in another famously haunted hotel.
Also, in case you’re wondering, I’m a huge fan of the game now too!
This gorgeous hotel was our home while in Seattle.
We didn’t know this until after booking the room, but The Hotel Sorrento is supposed to be one of the most haunted places in the city. Supposedly the ghost of writer Alice B. Toklas haunts room 408 and many people stay there hoping to get a glimpse of her.
The elevator was broken at the time of our visit so nobody was allowed to stay past the third floor. We stayed in room 308, a spacious two-room suite with a gorgeous marble bathroom down a short private hallway. There was a nice little window nook I sat in each morning to drink my coffee.
On the second night of our stay, I woke up at 1 a.m. to someone walking very loudly in the room above ours. It seemed they were having a party. The walking and dancing went on for over an hour, waking up my mom and daughter as well. I finally said loudly, “I really need some sleep” and the sound stopped. I chalked it up to coincidence and went back to sleep.
The next morning when we were checking out I mentioned that our upstairs neighbors were quite rowdy and the lady gave me a startled look. “Nobody was in the room,” she said. It turned out we were staying directly below the famed haunted room of 408. Did Alice B. Toklas have a party? I’d like to think so.
My daughter was so excited because the details of the hotel matched the game perfectly, including this entryway rug.
“What is the downside to eating a clock? It’s time-consuming.”—Joel
This was our favorite location to visit because so many pivotal scenes in the game take place here. My daughter even bought a stuffed shark exactly like the one Abby gave Lev.
My momma ❤️
Thank you so much for taking this adventure with us! And here’s a bonus for those who love Grey’s Anatomy, the building Seattle Grace Hospital was modeled after. Not the best shot, but it was fun to see!
All photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.
I’ve always been someone who is in awe of the world, but being able to capture some of that feeling with my camera is incredibly satisfying.
This third installment of photos from my Washington trip are shots taken around the city of Seattle. I sure hope this isn’t like making someone sit through vacation slides! Let me know if you have a favorite and thanks for supporting me. It really means so much.
“Sometimes I come up here at night…just to look at the city. I like to imagine that the world is one big machine. You know, machines never have any extra parts. They have the exact number and type of parts they need. So I figure if the entire world is a big machine, I have to be here for some reason. And that means you have to be here for some reason, too.” —Brian Selznick
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These photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.
On the second night of our trip, we traveled to the historic town of Seaview and stayed at the Shelburne Hotel. You may remember I wrote about our ghost experience in this same hotel last year, and so we were eager to return. Although I’m certain I felt someone gently pressing me down in the clawfoot bathtub, this time our experience was mostly restful.
For me, the beauty of staying at the longest continuously operating hotel in Washington State is the interesting light fixtures and the way the hotel makes you feel like you’ve stepped back in time. I hope you’ll consider staying here if you ever find yourself in the area. Let me know if you have a favorite photo or if something stands out for you. Thanks!
“All the variety, all the charm, all the beauty of life is made up of light and shadow.” —Leo Tolstoy
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These photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.
Last week I took a much-anticipated trip to visit my mother, connect with a dear poetry friend, and show the city of Seattle to my daughter. It was a feast for the photographic eye. Please join me for a series of posts (6 total) exploring the Pacific Northwest and let me know if you have a favorite photo.
“Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.” —Rainer Maria Rilke
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These photos were taken with an Olympus OM-D and edited with ON1 Photo RAW.
Bridgette Tales 