the luck of the pot

I've always liked potlucks. I like when people bring just enough of each item purely by chance, or the comedy of a dinner where everyone brings dessert. I like tasting the genius of friends who don't always share their culinary skills. I like them in the winter when everyone brings steamy dishes of cold weather favorites. I like them in the fall when so much of the food on the table is straight out of local gardens. I like them in the spring when you venture into the backyard for the first evenings outdoors in a long while. But I especially like them in the summer. Cool salads, and crisp cucumbers, bare feet and endless evening light, ice cubes and fresh mint, and of course, a sizzling grill.

Around here potlucks are the best restaurant in town.

For an easy polenta recipe that pleases a summer potluck crowd, check out my other blog, the peppered keyboard.

glacier crest

gorman

I'd spent the entire day inside, staring at a computer. It didn't seem like the right way to be spending one of the last few glorious days of August, so at the last possible moment I hopped in the car and drove to a trail head. Racing against the sunset, I sped along the trail to Gorman Lake. The air was fresh, the chance of encountering a bear present. I kept a quick pace, yelling greetings to bears that may not have been there. It was so much better than finishing the project at hand.



I'd spent the entire day inside, staring at a computer. It didn't seem like the right way to be spending one of the last few glorious days of August, so at the last possible moment I hopped in the car and drove to a trail head. Racing against the sunset, I sped along the trail to Gorman Lake. The air was fresh, the chance of encountering a bear present. I kept a quick pace, yelling greetings to bears that may not have been there. It was so much better than finishing the project at hand.

day trips

I spent some time on the river with Darren Colton of Sunchasers Photography today. It brought me right back to my summers of photographing commercial raft trips in Maine and Colorado. Those summers are full of stories worthy of their own blog posts, which I'll maybe get around to one day.

This shot would never have made it to the sales table back when it was my job to create identical images, one after the other. But I was out there with different intentions today, so I can keep this one. And admit that it's my favorite. Despite the raft not being centered in the frame. Indeed, because the raft isn't centered in the frame.

up in the air