For my own posterity, I wanted to track how the exponential curve toward a new understanding of reality took shape in my mind during the beginning of COVID. Our ability as a species to reach a place of equilibrium, to “normalize” almost any state that continues for longer than a couple of weeks, is also fascinating (even if biologically sensible). I want to slow down my memory, notice better, try to learn some things from this once in a lifetime (fingers crossed) global pandemic.
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A Socially Distanced Camping Trip: Theodore Roosevelt National Park
After not really leaving our house for a couple of months, when the governor okayed “dispersed camping,” we packed our backpacks and spent a couple of days exploring Theodore Roosevelt National Park in western North Dakota. From bison to wild horses, badlands to prairies, we still left feeling socially distanced but with an itch to return.
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A + E helping me rediscover that while I’m not a cat person, I’ll always be a barn kitty-lover at heart.
Barn Kitties
Growing up on a farm, animals primarily served a utilitarian role. The fact that people let them live in their homes has always been hard for me to understand. Now, as a person who married into cats, I’ve had to tap into the devout love for kitties I had as a child. Slowly, the layers of ice are falling away from my heart.
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“Four Spirits” statue in Kelly Ingram Park memorializing the victims of the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing. Birmingham, Alabama
A Mother & Daughter Alabama Road Trip
In early 2020, before the world shut down, I invited my mom on an Atlanta/Alabama trip. I’ve not spent much time in the American South, and I was very curious what the mood and general landscape were of Alabama in 2020. The trip was both sobering and encouraging. As we continue to come to terms with the way racism lives on in this country, I urge others to visit Alabama, and especially check out the work of EJI in Montgomery.
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The finished product: Wiksten’s Haori jacket
A Sewing Reunion: Wiksten's Haori Jacket
2020’s late winter project (my antidote to the February blues) was sewing the Wiksten Haori jacket. The fabric came from the lovely and wonderful Lakes Makerie in South Minneapolis.
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How the Swedes do Summer
You can’t visit Torekov, Sweden without plunging yourself into freezing seawater, riding a ferry called Nanny to an island to see lighthouses and orange slug and roaming sheep, and leave with the feeling that Swedes really know how to do summer right.
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Miranda
I was pretty thrilled that the first photoshoot in our new Northfield home was with Miranda.
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Overlooking Jordan Pond from North Bubble
Maine // Penobscot Bay
In the fall of 2019, we took what felt like a very grown-up vacation to Maine. It was rainy, moody, and quiet. It was also so beautiful and filled with vivid pops of reds and golds, subtle pinks and faded blues, and deep, seaside greens.
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Jenni
Jenni and I met through work. Before we were officially coworkers, though, we met up for a hobby trade. I took her headshots and she read my Tarot cards. Through this shoot, I got to see how fun and varied Jenni’s personality is, and also how varied the textures and colors are along 38th Street are in Minneapolis, right near our apartment.
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The view north from Palisade Head
The North Shore: Grand Marais + Cascade River State Park
As an evangelist for the southeastern, driftless region of Minnesota, along with the western prairies, I have a confession: I'd never been past Two Harbors. I've seen the plunging shoreline photos, had friends rave about Grand Marais, but just nodded politely, assuming THEY were the ones missing out. So, to back-up my claims that SE is where it's really at, I knew I had to give the other regions a fair shake. About a year in advance, we booked the best pack-in site at Cascade River State Park and spent a long weekend literally camped on the shore of Lake Superior and poking around Grand Marais.
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