My Heart is Broken

   My beloved sister Cecilia died Sunday morning of cancer. I am heartbroken. It is hard for me to imagine her no longer on this earth.

   She was a loving and generous spirited presence in my life and that of my other 3 siblings, her friends [some of which extend back to grade school], her students, and the many, many others whose lives were made happier and richer because of her.

  I will remember: her taking me and my little sister with her and her high school friends camping at Yosemite, letting us attend the parties she threw [in High School], spending the weekends with her at her dorm room at Berkley, traveling back east to Mexico and to Europe, spent a Thanksgiving at Cornell with her and her graduate school friends [are you sensing a theme here?].

 Besides growing up in the same house she and I lived together in Philadephia and in San Anselmo, California as well. My sister cared for and loved me all her life, she is the reason I survived my childhood with an intact heart.

  I will miss her deeply for the rest of my life. In her memory I will continue to "Pay It Forward" through my photography work. Love you Cis................always.  

Fog thru the Trees

This image was taken on a day where the the fog clung to everything. 

When ever this weather phenomenom happens the landscape takes

on an other worldly quality.   

A Past

     We all have one. I must admit when I say these 2 words out loud they sound a bit sordid, but that isn't at all they way I interrupt them.

Even if one only managed to live for one day they would still have a past, albeit a small one but nevertheless it's still there.

     I would assume for most of us the past is filled with memories of the great times we've had, people we've loved, things we've done. As well as trauma and drama we've experienced and maybe tried to forget. We all have had these experiences from one degree or another.

    I have always chosen to remember it all...the good, the bad and the ugly. And from time to time I have been criticized for this, not completely understanding why.

    My life like everyone else's is comprised of it all. To not embrace it all seems to me like denying that certain parts of my life just didn't happen. I have to remember, it makes me more grateful about the wonderful parts of this life. Maybe more importantly it's a constant reminder of my humanity and the need for me to be compassionate towards others as they all have a past too.  

The Washington Co Portrait Project

   Washington County, Mn has a rich history of farming and of keeping an incredible archive of it's citizen's and their life in the St. Croix Valley over the last 150 years. Most of what has been collected and preserved are photos, artifacts, and personal histories donated by the valley residents themselves.

    I approached Brent Peterson of the Washington Co Historic Society and asked if there was currently any effort being made to photograph and record the stories of long time residents.  The answer was no, so my project was born.

   My focus will be residents who farmed over the last century and those new immigrants who farm the land now. This county used to be primarily agricultural land, but that has steadily decline since development has taken over.

  My objective is to document the people who made this place what it is today and to include the new comers trying to create a life through farming the land that is left. 

  The images of this post are of John Breschens and his family. He is a fourth generation farmer in Lake Elmo. He no longer works his land but leases it out to a group of Hmong farmers.   

   

Life in Minnesota

  When you live in a place like Minnesota you better find a way to embrace it or you will go insane. I am a 5th generation born and breed Californian a condition which is impossible to erradicate from your DNA. My whole way of walking through this world is influenced by this simple fact.

   But I live in Minnesota for now, so I must engage in the life I have here.  Last night I went to the Loppet in Minneapolis. Luckily for me it was a mild night weather wise. I wandered around the event just shooting, hoping to get some pictures that will help me to remember this time in my life, once I find my way back home.