A Long Time Ago in a Faraway Land…

I lived in Seattle. I arrived after a long drive cross-county with my BFF (since age 11) following my graduation from law school (this post is full of info you didn’t know, huh?!). Driving cross-country with a friend, I highly recommend it. We covered The Badlands, Mt. Rushmore, Wall Drug, Yellowstone, Glacier National Park, and a whole host of towns in between. We weren’t on a schedule, and we just drove whichever way the wind blew as long as we were heading West. It was a drive I’ve gone on to repeat on two other occasions, once by myself (again, highly recommend this), and once with my fiance as we headed towards our new life.

Returning to Seattle though. I decided upon Seattle by happenstance. With no job looming on the horizon at law school graduation, I decided to survey the map of the United States and choose a new locale. Since I grew up in Pennsylvania, spent a bunch of time in DC, and went to college and law school in the Midwest, the West looked like a great prospect. I thought, “If not now, when?” I had before me an opportunity to go anywhere and to do anything (you know, but for those tens of thousands of dollars of college and law school debt). I love love love the mountains, and Seattle is right on the water, and well, it just looked beautiful to me.

It is.

{again, these are film shots}

This is Lake Union. I lived in East Lake, about two blocks off the water, to the left in this photo.

When I look at that photo, it brings me back to those days. 70 degree weather, no humidity, sunny skies and a breeze, and with mountains and water all around.

This is Gas Works Park, which, as you can guess, is an old gas facility converted into a park. You can’t climb on the structures. Not everyone listens to that admonition. Great views of the city and elsewhere.

Gas Works is a great place to fly kites, ride your skateboard, play your guitar, write in your journal or to photograph other people doing all those things.

So, why all the old shots?

I’ve been thinking about that myself. This time of year is very harried and rushed, with lots to do, lots to remember, and lots to do. I forget things I don’t want to forget. I put lots of items into online shopping carts, and think I can check it off my list, only to realize two weeks later, then I never actually *placed* the order, and well, we’re running a bit short on a few very important items. I stay up late, whether to get things done or to not hear anything. To revel in the silence that is a quiet house. I know I will miss all the cacophony once it leaves my everyday daily life. I get that. But you know, I still need not to hear it at the end of the day. I need to enjoy that quiet, to gather my thoughts, to focus, to review, frankly, just to *be*.

Those days in Seattle and all my west coast travels seem like a lifetime ago to me. I love remembering those days and that lifetime. My photos bring it back to me. A picture can rush forth with a feeling, a smell, a state of mind, a laugh, a smile. My images allow me to be back in that “lifetime ago.”

And for just a moment, all the stresses from this season melt away. And there is peace.

Until next time ~