Skip to main content

Blur (noun) 1. fuzzy or unclear image

Something that cannot be seen clearly, e.g. because it moves too quickly or because it is not distinctly remembered

-Encarta Dictionary-
Eyes don’t see like cameras do.

Sure, there are some similarities, but compared to the conservative monocular mechanical vision of a camera, my eyes do something radically different as they dart around a landscape like hungry chickens pecking the ground in search of premium chicken scratch.

Little by little (despite some glaring but hidden blind spots) significant details are added to a simulation of the world that runs in my brain – a simulation something like the simulation you are running, but necessarily unique.

I could tell you what I saw - try to describe how, from Lost Lake (during the last days of summer) Mt. Hood looked like a ruined red pyramid …naked …

…or I could show you a typical photograph…



But what I really want to share is how the moon danced on the water.







…and how the wind sighed as the sun went down…
…and how the water sounded as it lapped at the sides of my kayak…
…and how I could taste the smoke in the bottle of Black Butte Porter…






…I’d like to be able to share the peaceful calm I felt paddling invisible on the Gilbert River… the city of Portland betraying its presence over the horizon by the light it bounced off the clouds…





…I’d like to convince you I’m a candid photojournalist and not some creepy voyeur …






…I’d like to explain how beer feels…




…I’d like to reveal some secret of life…




…some obvious thing about parties and food…




…the difference between life and meat…





…how quickly magic is forgotten in the rush to the parking lot…





...how life clings...





...how a row of trees disappear at 60 miles per hour...





I'd like to understand how water envelopes...




I'd like to convey the joys of physics...





...how luck is rigged...





...all the beauty in a fraction of a second...





...the risk/benefit ratio of sailing in the dark





Someday I'd like to capture just how really big that harvest moon is...





...or share exactly why they call them goldfish...





I'd like to explain the soothing cool of the forest at the end of a hot July day...






...translate the gestures of a balloon...







...and remind you how transitory it all is.




...so I guess I'll keep trying.
Labels:

Comments

  1. AnonymousOctober 29, 2009 at 6:40 PM

    This is why I always check this blog...great stuff! seriously, thanks..........

    BTW, your camera must have been really drunk for some of these pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousOctober 30, 2009 at 3:47 PM

    Ditto. A wonderful distraction for a slow Friday afternoon at work, counting down to the weekend! - Edie

    ReplyDelete
  3. Cynthia WenslowNovember 17, 2009 at 4:22 PM

    The beauty of this post is not transitory.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Test Paddling the Thresher 140

Wilderness Systems has broadened their sit-on-top offerings this year with the introduction of the Thresher (this includes a 14 and 15.5 foot version). The Thresher seems designed to bridge a gap between overly stable, relatively slow fishing platforms and sleeker more touring-orientated craft, all for the sake of fisher-people who need to cover significant distances to reach their intended fishing locales, whether that's in the middle of a huge bay or out beyond the breakers in the open sea The characteristics that make this boat a good fishing option, should also make it a killer expedition photography platform/beer barge. I knew my test trials wouldn't be complete until I auditioned this state of the art bid for kayak fishing supremacy. The Thresher 140 I've probably been remiss for not highlighting this before, but the reason I've been able to rent and evaluate various sit-on-top kayaks is because of the reasonable and renter friendly policies of the ...
1 comment
Read more

Miller Island Expedition: Columbia River Ghost Cult

My brother Fred sent me a checklist of things he didn’t want to forget for our second attempt at a Miller Island Expedition. Foil pans Steak Beer or whiskey/tequila Bacon Shovel TP Bug spray Homebrew Ghost repellents Scouting Miller Island from the Lewis and Clark Highway (Washington side of river) “Ghost repellents?” I asked. Well, it turns out that Fred had been doing some research and found an old article from American Anthropologist by Wm. Duncan Strong called The Occurrence and Wider Implications of a “Ghost Cult” on the Columbia River Suggested by Carvings in Wood, Bone and Stone. The article, written in 1945, revealed that bone carvings depicting figures with prominent rib cages, a symbol of death, were found in old cremation pits on Miller’s Island. Excerpts from the article: “It can be shown that among these peoples there was an old belief in the impending destruction and renewal of the world, when the dead would return…” “One of the most striking fea...
4 comments
Read more

John Day River: Thirty Mile Creek to Cottonwood Bridge

"Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and deity, has been clearly perceived in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse;" -Romans 1:20 "I'm not so sure about that, but whether or not we all make it through these rapids alive, I'm confident the grading criteria will be fair." -  Scott "Get ready to explore your world without boundaries." -  Wilderness Systems Owners Manual Sunrise found us on the outskirts of Wasco, high on the Columbia Plateau, our 3 vehicle convoy speeding through golden fields of wheat on toward Condon and then West to a 7:30 AM meeting with a rancher who would provide us a private launch site to the John Day river and also execute our car shuttle.   Startling verdant fields, free of the vestiges of irrigation, belied narratives of drought that punctuated the news. The fresh born morning, still cool to the senses, felt like the fledgling hours of a...
4 comments
Read more