"Kaweah River" from a series "On The Walk...", Three Rivers, Winter 2009.
The daily walk along Kaweah River Road is full of adventure if you keep your eyes open. Critters and birds attracted to the water's edge, the seasons change the landscape and the way the rivers runs through it. A new home was built and I realized before long all the wild beauty will disappear, even the local Hawk was so disturbed by the loss of some of his territory he knocked the hats off a few walkers, even hurting a couple. I feel empathy for his rage, even as I understand how lucky the people who moved in are. I take my camera each season, hoping to capture this lovely place, just in case my fear is realized and the wild disappears.
"Truck Garden," Three Rivers, 2009
Pat O'connell's Petrol Station is a familiar landmark for those of us who live in Three Rivers, and many tourists who pass through, especially those who find themselves in difficulty and Pat has been called to rescue them with tow trucks. The line up of rusty ancient vehicles creates conversations of how ugly, and as my image shows, how beautiful and interesting, the O'Connell property is, depending on how you see the world. Since his wife, who passed away before I moved to Three Rivers, and I share our first name, I felt attracted to the stories of rescues the two of them participated in over the years. He towed in the broken vehicles, and she fed the waiting people. Mother Nature obviously loves the rusty stuff of what she finds on the O'Connell property because blackberry bushes fill in the landscape with lush berries that critters and birds must appreciate, enveloping the old truck in a wonderful garden.
