wtf walk
I spotted a trailhead recently, one that looked not unlike this one:
very innocuous, so I thought.
Well yesterday I wanted to go on a nice stroll in the woods with my dear friend luke. Thought we might get some fresh air, maybe find some wood sorrel to munch on… then go home after about an hour. Somehow this turned into the most intense hike I’d been on in years. It’s a very long story. I’ll let you know though, that it involved thousands of wild blueberries growing side-by-side with poisonous buckthorn which looks almost exactly the same, and probably the most impressive view I’ve ever seen in connecticut, and lots of soft moss under my bare feet which by the way is the best non-sexual feeling ever.
picking blueberries ^
watching hawks, on huge cliff ^
big pond covered in algae ^oh yeah and we got really really lost, didn’t see any other people on the trails, ended up on the street in the city somewhere, about a five-mile walk from where we started, about four hours later.
go swimming
I recommend it.
cute island pix pt II
a year ago I found this exercise bike, and now everything around it has burnt to the ground but it’s still there. what a trooper.
favorite places
last friday I went down to my hometown to photograph a few of my favorite nearby places. I’m not really sure why. some of them aren’t even there anymore, but of those I photographed their remains.
at some point my view camera broke, hence the rubber bands…
feather
We were by the train tracks, next to the big river. There was an old bridge going over, engraved “1912″. I went down by the mossy rocks at the edge of the water, and pointed out all the berries and seed pods that hung from the trees like christmas ornaments. I found that the most beautiful thing by far was a small down feather caught on a tiny dead plant near the tracks. I could’ve watched it flutter in the wind all day long, probably.
calming scene
I read somewhere about a stress and trauma reduction technique. You rest your hand against your thigh, and press your fingers against it one by one, imagining a calm beach scene. First, your thumb, and you think of all the smells in this scene. Just the smells and nothing else. Then your forefinger, thinking of just the sounds. You go through each finger, and each of the five senses, and you will feel calmer. Eventually, if you really make a habit of this, they said that you will get to a point at which you can just tap your thigh with each finger. Without having to go through the whole scene in your mind, you would feel the wave of calm.
I went down to the beach yesterday. I was almost completely alone, and it felt very beautiful. I decided to record my experience there, so that I could use it for the aforementioned technique.
smells
very clean, light air
soft scent of wood
sounds
pat, pat, pat of my feet as I descend down the steps, to the beach
rustle of long grass, occasionally
squeeches of a seagull, a staggered sequence of harmonizing notes
trickle of water as it crawls over damp sand
short chirps of small birds
children playfully screaming, and beating their fists against their wet swim trunks
“ouh!” he says, with a quick smack of the sand
“hi dtay! ah shan de gun! way uh!” she says
slowly pulsating cshrahnnnnnnn of airplane
chorus of leaves crashing in the large trees behind me
a muscle clanking against a rock, by a seagull
to be played simultaneously:
A) shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
B) dun dun
bell-like sound of echoey metal, of boats, touching
sights
long, slender blades of calm-green grass, with tan-yellow tips
fence-like row of thick sticks, broken at the ends, rising from the sand, some decorated with dark green moss and/or sand
shining, clear blue water, breaks up into flashing waves of a deeper, grayed blue
white seagulls, lots of them. one is dipping its head swiftly in and out of the water, half-flapping its wings, digging its beak into its side. one is stepping through the very shallow water. some are flying, in every direction, at every height
the clouds are short and wide, a pale lavender with white tops, looking painted and stretched
a white boat, with a long thin mast, floating so very slowly along in the distance
glittery stretch of land to the left. docks, houses, trees.
pale grey sand
row, clusters of heavy round stones
green, fluffy, abandoned island in the distance
clear, solid line dividing water from sky
ants circling and ascending a piece of straw in the sand by my foot
tastes
a homemade chocolate chip cookie
sensations
wind gently brushing my bare arms, across my breasts
hair pushing back and forth in front of my face
it’s warm
large rock beneath, supporting me
soft, find grains of sand. I push my bare foot into them. it reaches a hard point, a patted-down layer. cools the bottom of my foot, the top layer warming my toes.
dry little seashells as I walk along