Heavenly.

I am home after nearly a month long adventuresome absence and am beginning to settle back in for a bit;  going through the stack of bills that inevitably pile up when you are away, finishing up the mounds of laundry that comes with dumping out suitcases (complete with little piles of sand in the bottom), cleaning house, doing some great Fall portraits with some fun clients and trying to get back into the groove of "regular" life which includes plenty of my to-do lists, of course!  Although there are certainly more pertinent chores to attend to, I couldn't help myself but to download some of my pictures from our Seattle-Olympic Park-Oregon coast trip and I came across this one, from the Olympic National Park, which makes me just sort of sigh... 

I know there must be a heaven...and I kind of like to think this is what it is going to feel like...

 



For some, it might be hiking alone in the mountains...

...for some, floating down a long stretch of river...for some, wandering in antique shops and for some, it is the hum of a city...  For me, well, if you know me at all, it is walking along a beach.  Whatever it is, wherever it is, that you find yourself feeling most like yourself...do that once in awhile...it's rejuvenating to the soul of who you are. 

I got to spend some time along the Oregon Coast again, my favorite place in the world, thus far!  There were sunny days, windy days, calm days and yes, for sure, a couple of rainy days...but for me...every day, barefoot in the sand, listening to the constant waves of the ocean is a really good day!  I relaxed on the deck, people-watched, whale-watched, did a little wandering, took a few pictures, got completely hooked on Mexican mochas, hiked up the dunes (to work off the mochas!), shared the time with family and friends (and oh, my goodness, cute pictures of baby Harper on the beach to come soon!) and, I renewed a promise to myself...to write a book. 

I've had a dream, probably since I was a teenager, to write a book.  But, there is never enough time in the day, it seems, and always another adventure to plan or another project to undertake (or a house to clean or kids to raise or bills to pay...oh, yes, all those other things you have to juggle and seem to always take priority!), and...it is incredibly difficult to isolate yourself enough to think straight or stay focused for hours at a time...but I am going to do it!!!  I have it in me to write a book!  I do!  It's not just going to be a dream, it's a goal...and now, I've said it out loud!  I'll keep you posted! 

In the meantime, one of the beautiful evenings on the Oregon Coast...

Day one of our safari.

The first, of what proved to be many, vehicle glitches, a dead battery, slowed us down a bit, so we weren't able to make the entry gates at sunrise, as planned...but we made it, into the Ngorongoro Crater in the early morning hours, a beautiful morning with cool, fresh air and clear skies.

The first animal we spotted were elephants, a herd of them, crossing the dirt road near the top of the crater.  Our vehicle; Mike and I, Lyle and Sue, with Godfrey as our guide, was second to come upon them so we only got a glimpse of them, but it certainly got us excited - and the binoculars came out!  For me, it was the first of many, "oh my gosh, we are in Africa" moments!

We spotted some colorful birds next, and a black-faced monkey...and then, as we dropped into the crater a little farther, a herd of water buffalo!  Not the most attractive animal, with their George Washington wigs and big curled horns, but certainly a unique "Africa" moment!

And then, not far off the road, tucked into the weeds, napping - a cheetah!  Godfrey had just told us that is was very rare to see a cheetah in the crater, and then, there it was!  A beautiful cat, laying in the warm sun!  Amazing!

The day blazed on, getting hotter and hotter, seeing more and more animals: jackals, zebras, warthogs, monkeys, and more! While the crater is tremendous in size (100 sq. miles), the walls surrounding the crater floor are pretty steep (a caldera, with a 2000 ft. drop in elevation), so most of the animals (with the exception of a couple of species) live year-round, contained in it's rich ecosystem (about 25,000 animals).

Herds of zebras, with their babies, were among my very favorite. I know, they are so similar to horses and mules that it shouldn't be that exciting to see them, but I loved their patterns...and all the cute brownish babies! 

This little baby is challenging his boundaries and his little legs!!

 At one point along the road we came across a small pride of lions, seeking shade under and around the vehicles! That was an incredible rush, to see a wild, huge, beautiful lion walk past you at about 10 feet out! We had the top of our vehicle popped up, throughout the whole safari, and I kept wondering how quickly we could drop it if one of them jumped up on our car! Godfrey assured us that "all they want right now is our shade", but also said if we got out of the vehicle, we would be immediately seen as easy prey!

We watched them move from car to car, stretch their feet against tires and occasionally rub up against each other in a playful way...and then, from across a field, a big, beautiful maned male lion came lumbering by... He was really cool, sauntering along, with the heat of the land rising up around him!

Lovin' the shade!

Sniffing the air.

A hot walk across the field to check on his ladies.

Handsome guy.

 I'll have to consult my camera's captures to accurately report what else we saw and in what order - Grant's gazelles, Thomson's gazelles, hyenas, birds of every size and color, elephants (mostly from a distance), and huge hippopotamuses rolling in a "hippo pond", and wildebeests (which are unexpectedly kind of interesting looking)...and many more! 

Wildebeest.

The three little pigs!

 

Warthog, a.k.a. Pumba!

Wildebeest, aren't they kinda cool looking?

Jackal.

Napping kitties.

One of our vehicles!

Zebra.

Elephant, zebra in the distance.

Oh, those two creatures on the horizon...black rhinos!  Stay tuned!

Zebra.

Did I mention the zebra babies were my favorite?!

Zebra baby!

The hippo pond!

Thomson's Gazelle. 

Can't tell if he's helping him up, or keeping him down?!  Just monkeying around, I guess?!

Black-faced monkey.

And then we began a harrowingly fast climb out of the crater!  We drove through an area near the bottom rim of the crater that Sue aptly nicknamed "the nursery" - filled with babies of all kinds!  Warthogs (their babies are so funny and cute!), zebras, gazelles, wildebeests - tons of babies and mommas hanging out together.  So fun!  But, Godfrey only slowed momentarily and continued on up the windy road.  Not far from there we went past a herd of elephants hanging out near the road in the trees and we spotted at least two little babies amongst them, but again, Godfrey drove right past them, ignoring our squeals!  Up and through curves on an impossibly bumpy road we continued, passing a group of baboons really close to the road...and again we continued by them at our fast pace!  It was kind of hair-raising!  Dust flying, bumps and ruts that would scare off the Sportsmobile and we were taking it all at about 80 kmh!

 Unbeknown to us, as we reached the first gate out of the crater, we were late!  The crater, we then learned, closes at 6 p.m. (they monitor vehicles to prevent poaching) and we had arrived at the 1st gate (15 minutes or so from the main gate) at about 5 minutes 'til six!  We could've been fined, or banned even, but the Maasai guards let us through and we careened on to make the last gate as quickly as possible!  We had gone so fast up the crater and then down the other side that when we finally arrived back at our lodge, as Godfrey pulled into our parking spot, the brakes failed and sent us up and over the curb and about 15 feet into the bushes!  What a dramatic ending to an exciting day!

Hot and covered with dust, we showered quickly and then met on the deck for dinner with the group.  We enjoyed a yummy dinner and "Safari" beer as we all compared stories and sightings, and laughed about the unexpected twists to our day.  We wiped down our gear and re-packed our bags for day two of the Ngorongoro safari...and it got even better!

Africa!

Though this journal was purchased much nearer to the sea, as I sit here, in this lovely tent in Africa, I thought it was a perfect place to begin my writing... 

Far from any sea I have seen (yet), I kept thinking yesterday of that MaryAnne Radmacher-Hershey saying "I come to the sea to breathe," always a relevant quote for me.  As I was trying to summarize the experience here so far...I thought I might borrow from her to say "I come to Africa to feel alive!"

(Quoted from my journal entry while enjoying the day at Dunia Camp, in the Serengeti, Tanzania, Africa.)

We went to Africa!  (An amazing thing to say!)  And, it was a truly incredible trip!  I kept a journal on the trip, trying to record as much as possible as it was really hard to take it all in!  In the next few days/weeks, I will be posting my journal entries, along with some IMAGES!  Stay tuned!

More!

Okay, it's official...as someone commented, on my Facebook wall..."Ashley makes pregnancy look glamorous!"  Yes, she does!  If you could hear the daily groans about her aches and pains...you know, the ones that come with growing a human being inside of you...well, you would empathize, along with me.  Pregnancy really isn't all that glamorous, but it IS incredible! 

Baby is growing and doing great...Ashley is feeling pretty good and looking pretty amazing at 35 weeks!  And, the belly button is almost popped, just like a turkey timer!!!  :)

Now, if baby Harper can just hold on for at least 3 1/2 more weeks, I'll be back from Africa and be able to take some amazing 1st day pictures to share!  I can't wait to meet her!

  

         

 

Ashley...and Harper!

Okay, I know, I am pretty biased...but, seriously...isn't she lovely?!  Just over 5 weeks to go! 

We are so excited to welcome her little baby girl into the world!

Indian Beach.

This is Indian Beach.  To get there, you head just a little bit North out of the town of Cannon Beach, Oregon and follow the signs up a windy, forested road to Ecola State Park.  Once in the park, you head down another windy, narrow, steep, forested road to the parking lot overlooking Indian Beach.  It's a nice, quiet cove, usually pretty unpopulated, with a perfectly Oregon Coast rugged, rocky south end...and it has a special place in my heart.  It was particularly lovely this chilly January night, just after sunset.

That's the thing about sunsets...this one, the actually setting of the sun, was kind of unremarkable.  There weren't a lot of clouds in the sky, just a skiff on the horizon, so nothing really popped in the sky...it wasn't an obviously beautiful sunset.  But, if you are patient, and wearing lots of warm layers (because as soon as the sun disappears so does all the warmth in the air)...you might be lucky enough to get this kind of image...a beautiful, calm, vibrant reflection in the low tide.  Worth the wait (and the goose bumps)!

That's the thing about beauty in life, isn't it...sometimes you have to be patient, and really, really quiet, to appreciate it. 

Thanks Mom & Dad. 

It's not just the gorgeous sunsets...

I have always loved the Oregon Coast.  Well, almost any coastline, actually, but the Oregon Coast has been a special place for me since the first time I visited, when I was 12 years old. 
My parents and I, and I got to bring along my friend Lori, drove, the summer of '76, from Michigan to Oregon, camping along the way.  When we arrived at the Oregon Coast, Lori and I got to pitch our tent right on the beach (can't do that anymore in most places) and sleep with the roar of the ocean literally right out our screen door!  It was incredible!  I think we stayed up all night, just watching the waves!  And I was hooked.
The next year our family moved to Eastern Oregon and we visited the coast often, usually ending up near the quaint town of Cannon Beach.  Mike and I spent our first 'vacation' together there, on the coast, in a really sketchy, cheap hotel in Seaside with Mark & Kelly (remember the slanted shower and the broken chair?!)!   Once we were married and had returned to the Northwest, we began a tradition of taking our girls there every summer for a week.  One of our fondest memories is the vacation to Yachats, Oregon where everything seemingly went wrong...kids with the stomach flu, pulling up to our hotel to fire trucks putting out a fire, a flat tire...and one of the best trips ever, just the 4 of us, hanging out at the beach.
So, there is certainly something nostalgic that draws me back to the Oregon Coast...like the home I grew up in, in a way.  But then there is the obvious...the beauty!  People think of the beach and it is bikinis and sand castles and miles of crowded sandy beaches...and I love that too, sometimes...but the Oregon Coast is different.  It is usually chillier than you expect for "the beach", no matter what time of year...and rugged...and fairly uncrowded, in places...and, well, relentlessly beautiful. 
There is an artist/writer, Mary Anne Radmacher, who resides on the coast who wrote "I come to the sea to breathe"...and I think it's true.  I feel more at ease there than almost anywhere else...something about the constant hum of the ocean...

Anyway, we just returned from a great family Thanksgiving in Prosser, Washington...had a really good time catching up with everyone and just hanging out with a great family...and we had a fun baby shower for Ashley while we were there (only 3 more months to go!)!  Then we headed farther west to the beach for the week...took Mike's parents with us for a few days to enjoy some sunshine, dune-climbing (and, yes, at 74-years young, Mike's dad ran down the dunes with us!), puzzle-making and surfer-watching!  Then, picked up Allison towards the end of the week and, well, we loved the chance to hang out with her. 
So these are a few images I took with my iPhone (thankful for that little gadget in my life!)...on a particularly beautiful evening.

Now it's time to start thinking about Christmas!  Getting the tree up this week, and the house decorated, gifts wrapped, goodies baking...and settling in for a homey holiday! 

Thankful for all the friends and family we have in our lives...and all the blessings we enjoy.

Sunset.

September was kind of a busy month for us!  I can always tell, in retrospect, when we've been busy, because it takes me awhile to download my memory cards, and then even longer to post them here, or on our websites...but when I finally get a chance to sit down for a few minutes to look at them, it's like Christmas morning, re-discovering pictures I've sort of forgotten about momentarily!  This one jumped out at me, well, it actually kind of beckons me, to return...! 

A beautiful sunset at Cape Kiwanda, Pacific City, Oregon...  Just wanted to share this one while I scan through the rest of these September images!

Storms.

I had a restless night last night, listening to the winds howl and the rain collide against the bedroom windows. I keep checking the calendar, to see if it really is almost June...and yet there is snow in the forecast? Yikes!

And then I began thinking about the days and nights we spent with the Karen people. We were fortunate to be there in very mild weather. No rain. No winds. It was warm and mostly sunny, and our only concern was overheating a little bit on our short walks through the jungle. Even the nights were lovely. Cool, but calm and relatively quiet.

That isn't how it always is there for the people trying to live their lives there. They, too, have to deal with nights like last night, where the winds are whipping and the rains are beating down...only they do it in their modest huts, on their dirt hillsides... And I am certain they do it with the same admirable grace and humility that they manage in their everyday lives.



We brought a few little gifts along on our trip, mostly for the children; books and crayons, dolls and small toys…and we spent most of a day sitting with these two young girls, sisters, in their family's home. They sat quietly with us, all day, drawing pictures, getting their nails painted, and playing with a few little toys, all the while listening to all the talk around them about the enemy that threatens their very existence. How do those girls sleep at night? I stayed up last night, worried that my new planter wasn't going to survive the storm…and then worrying that these beautiful young girls won't survive the storm that surrounds them…

I am going to update our website soon, I promise…and I am going to include a gallery of images from our trip with Partners. All proceeds from any print orders in that gallery will go toward their goal of "free, full lives for the children of Burma."

Have I told you about the children?

Many of my friends and family have called or sent me emails about these posts, "what an experience", "how can I help", "I didn't know...", and I am so glad if my posts have touched you in some way.  Please don't hesitate to ask me questions, give me a call or email me, and please let me know if you are interested in helping these beautiful people in some way.  Please also check out Partners website where there is lots of information and a really great, easy way to donate online.

If photos affect you, pull at your heartstrings, as they do me...well, brace yourself. 

In the next week or so, I will be sharing a few photos of the children we met on our visit to the IDP sites and refugee camps.  These are children who have only known a life of fear, of running from a monstrous enemy.  These children have lost grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, siblings and/or friends in this "conflict", and every one of them still has a child's spirit alive inside of them. 

They love to play and learn and be silly!  They love to be held and appreciated and valued.  They love to sing and dance!  They love to feel handsome and beautiful.  They love candy and surprises!  They giggle when they see themselves in pictures!  They squirm when they are tickled!  They say please and thank you (dah bloo) and have beautiful smiles.

They deserve a healthy childhood of peace and security.  Don't you agree? 

Overwhelmed. Part Two.

I have been home for over a week now. Ashley and I attempted to cook a Thai dinner last night for our family...and, well, we might need to go back to our Thai cooking school! But, it was fun to be able to share some of our experience, stories and photos with our family.


It is hard, though, to convey what we felt while sitting with those proud, beautiful people, the Karen people, refugees of their homeland. I am still processing our trip and probably will be processing it for quite some time. And, frankly, I am a bit anxious about trying to sum up our experiences...because it has become so important to me... and I want to provide it just the right words...evoke just the right emotions in you, the reader... Today, I've finally figured out that if I don't start writing, no one will ever know...and people should know…so...bear with me as I try to put into adequate words my experience with the Karen people of Burma.

I met this woman in one of the camps we visited. She, and another woman, had traveled days in the jungle in hopes of getting an opportunity to tell us her story. In hopes, I think, of not feeling alone in the world.  I hope I can at least give her that...a voice...in the world.

She is nearly my age.  She has 6 children, including the littlest one leaning against her.  She cares for her children the best that she can and they are clearly the focus of her life...she smiled when she talked about them.  She worries about their health, as all moms do, she worries about their education and their future.  She worries about her own future too, I am sure, but her biggest worry is for her children.  She likes to sew.  She made the traditional Karen top she was wearing...it was beautiful; intricate and colorful.  I felt a connection with this woman.  She was really lovely and strong...and, though we didn't speak each other's language at all, there seemed a moment or two when we both recognized that perhaps, in different circumstances, we might be friends.

She came to tell us her story. She walked through the jungle, with her baby on her back, in flip flops, for five days, so that we could hear her, so that we could validate her…and perhaps that we might give her hope, that she is not alone.

Her story follows next, give me a day or two to find just the right words.

Happy New Year!

We rang in the New Year in one of our favorite places, again…Jackson, Wyoming. It was frigidly cold, well into double digit negative numbers, but oh, so beautiful. The critters were mostly tucked away and not many people were venturing out into the cold, so we enjoyed a serenely quiet day amidst the grandeur of the Teton Range…watching the sun move across the sky, listening to the sound of crunching snow under our snowshoes, dancing to my own absurd songs in an effort to thwart the cold (not an easy task, by the way, dancing in snow shoes) and enjoying immensely our heated vehicle!

And there, in the calm of the sun setting upon the mountain landscape, I decided upon my resolution for the New Year…to seek and appreciate simplicity. It truly is, after all, the simplest things which give us joy in our lives…not the hustle & bustle, nor the to-do lists, nor the objects we acquire…but the purest appreciation of our own lives, the people in it, and the moments we share.

Peace, to you and yours in 2011.

Tetons in Fall!

There is no better time to visit the Grand Teton National Park, than Fall...well, unless it be Summer, when the temperatures are warm and the days are long, that's nice too...or Winter, when the mountains are white and the animals are visible...or Spring, when the wildflowers are in bloom...  But I digress...  Fall is really spectacular! 

Berkeley girl!

Another beautiful young lady...  

We've launched our new website!

My husband, Mike, and I have been working on our fine art portfolios for quite some time...to edit them, combine them and design a new webpage has taken some time, but proved to be worth the effort! We launched our new website http://www.mikeandkrisryanphoto.com/ and would love for you all to check it out and see what we've been up to!

We are this month's featured artist at Marigold's, a great new "try before you buy" wine shop in Pocatello! We have a variety of framed art on display; traditional prints, canvas wraps and a new vivid metallic print that is pretty amazing to see!

As a result of all of this preparation, I am taking a week or so off! I absolutely love being a photographer and wouldn't trade it for the world, but all of this computer work has made me a little stir crazy (not to mention all of this rain!)! So, enjoy all of these images, a sampling of our work...take a look at our new webpage...and enjoy your week!