year's end is neither an end or a beginning, but a going on w/all the experience wisdom can instill in us.

i took a hike the last day of 2010 w/two of the best people i know.  the weather was unusually warm for december; it was raining & the snow was melting.  submerged in the woods with a shattered river to my left & a dissolving hillside to my right, i was immersed in this vanishing winter wonderland.  surrounding me was change; i could see it, hear it, feel it.  The dripping of the evaporating snow from the trees, the splashing & crackling of the fractured ice river, the mixture of crunchy & squishy footsteps, the sound of distant laughter & conversation of my friends (who, by this time, were no longer visible as i stopped every 5sec to take a photo).  These things resembled change, transformation, adjustment.  this hike, these photos, this experience provoked a kind of encouragement in me.  these simple ideas that a new yr supposedly brings are..normal, everyday occurrences.  new & different aspects of life should be embraced daily & the idea of looking to the past to explain our present & mold our future should be thought frequently.

happy 2011!  :)
--rae.

beyond understanding//how transitory our lives are.

planes like vultures le loup.

"a series of especially violent thunderstorms preceded this photo.  suddenly, it seemed to be over, & this cloud formed as if by some sort of divine intervention.  many cities have houses of worship, but for me, nothing compares to witnessing something awe-inspiring in the natural world, that is beyond understanding.  i named this photo god descending** for that reason."--joseph corrado.

vast valley: salisbury, england rae burke.

breakthrough over stonehenge rae burke.

burning sky, not river: cleveland, ohio rae burke.

"i am transfixed when i encounter an intimate setting like this.  it is a portrait of those who are long gone & yet, still, very present.  as i poke around the fading edges of a once-lived existence, it feels almost wrong, like a violation of privacy..like going through someone's belongings.  there's a real edge to this kind of intimacy.  &, yet, i have profound respect for them, & i feel perfectly comfortable doing this, even as every sense tingles.  it ineluctably makes one all the more aware of how transitory our lives are.  this is us tomorrow.  live now.  love now."--peter ralston

tumblehome peter ralston.

stonehenge rae burke.

ghost town #1 rae burke.

ghost town #2 rae burke.

ghost town #3 rae burke.

ghost town #4 rae burke.

--rae.

**note:  there is a copyright issue w/joseph corrado's photos (that's why i added my photos that i felt visually explained what he/& ralston are saying).  please, click on the link to his website to see his photography, & god descending which is the photo that originally goes w/the text.
also, both photographers are featured @ the naples museum of art in naples, florida.

someone to share things w/..

 "but i am not a sad person, i am a happy person w/many friends. it's just, sometimes, i wish i had someone to share things w/. for example, i saw all of paris from a skyscraper. i wanted to say to someone, 'isn't that beautiful?!'..but there was no one there."--je t'aime paris.

notre dame & the seine river.

notre dame.

a crowd praying outside of notre dame.

louvre.

louvre.

inside looking out//louvre.

inside looking out//louvre.

eiffel tower.

roue de paris//transportable ferris wheel.

arc de triomphe.

metro.

rouen cathedral by claude monet//one of my favorite paintings.

ode to the eiffel tower.

little boy chasing pigeons under the eiffel tower.

the sky resembling a rene magritte painting.

--rae.