oh, july!

it was filled with wondrous things, entirely.

the dearest girl came and stayed for twelve days.

making beautiful art of my city and teaching me so much.

just some old pages:

(something from may, for you)

just so much

has happened these past two months that i've been terribly absent from this little page.

i ventured to lakes and oceans and happened upon wonderful places with the dearest folks.

there are also new things:

a) having completed a year of wednesdays here (and enjoying every day of it), she & i began this.

b) i am putting the finishing touches on my little etsy shop (full of photographs and other curiosities)

c) my ink + watercolor journal (on the pages of an old book that i actually have begun to enjoy, apart from it's perfect texture to paint on), that i think i'll show you bits and pieces from here and there, starting tomorrow, and maybe every day but i make no promises.

i hope you all are well.

thank you for reading and (with any luck) not forgetting about me.

life is wondrous and my heart is at peace and i think there is something to be said for that.

my Father is so faithful.

most sincerely,

lesley

little girl,

with eyes so bright.
reminded me today that our childhood was backyard wild strawberries (covered in sugar).

i think they

love in melodies and rhythm.




















(she sings and he conducts,
and their togetherness flows and resonates easily,
and willingly.)

p.s. more here.

thirty.

(stuck behind the most delightful van, and found this wonderful gentleman enjoying the outside in the evening hours)

today: morning weather reminded me of the ocean, the best morning walk, gardening and garment altering, a delightful little and the playground in bright sun, discoveries, and the most wonderful evening conversation with my dearest girl.

p.s. thank you for looking at these. they were hills and valleys. and for your lovely words that always mean so much.

twenty-nine.

(i take photographs like this less because i think my feet are a good subject and more because i like to remember being certain places. and here is my flower-selling stranger)

today: morning gifts of precious words, all meals outside (the air and light have captured my heart), planting white flowers at my favorite place, watching the setting sun from our hilltop (dear matthew, how i do hate going there alone).

twenty-eight.

(i went to cabbagetown with evan and shot black and white film and it felt like home)

today: watermelon for breakfast and for lunch, delightful things in the early afternoon, made things for you and you and you, walked around with a most wonderful gentleman (falling in love with tiny houses and little motorbikes) and two strawberry plants to make friends with my window box.

twenty-seven.

today: i noticed my front yard irises have bloomed, a meal of watermelon, wrote and wrote and wrote, tried to have a patient heart, tried to be a blessing.

twenty-six.

(i found a laundromat in seemingly the middle of no where)

today: a wonderful daytrip, so much thinking and realizing, finding new places.

twenty-five.

today: was busy and tiring and ended (perfectly) with the river. i want to show you my river! i want you to walk in it with me and to see my favorite fallen tree and the way he taught me to skip stones.

twenty-four.

(even the flying things want to be in that golden light)

today: window-box flowers are too expensive. it will be lemon balm, rosemary, lavender and mint for this little lady. the most delightful memory of these four walls is waking up to blinding sunlight and seeing nothing but green outside my window.

twenty-three.

(i didn't even touch my camera today and it felt alright)

today: i walked a jar of sunflowers (mary's favorite) to the moore's. it was the best part of today. overflowing with unexpected good things and discoveries of the best kind.

twenty-two.

(my downtown sky and, i'm hardly complaining, but i've run across an alarming amount of abandoned furniture lately)

today: park picnics and wonderful grass, downtown in golden light, meeting a wonderful man and his shop of old things, dreams of 8mm films and seeing the world better, trying to be better and trying to be simple.

twenty-one.

(i'm a bad little girl)

today: air that willingly reminded me of portland, early morning breakfast on the porch, designed light fixtures, fell in love with color schemes, watched slides of papa's, and everything was just delightful!

twenty.

(my favorite tree and tea for two)

today: was really beautiful in a simple and quiet in deep, deep ways.

ninteen.

(happy littles)

today: sleeping too much, thoughts of rain throughout the day, a delightful lunch, making small things, honey in my tea, wind in my small city.

eighteen.

(a delightful gentleman, and birthday flowers that i can't stop looking at)

today: sleeping late, confused about the weather, strawberry cupcakes for breakfast, daydreams of forest installations and owning a shop of children's handmade things, hoping, a new to me sunshine yellow tea set and photographing laughable littles.

seventeen.

(this is embarrassing. i should have photographed things today.)

today: i spent the morning and afternoon with wonderful littles (swinging and lying in good backyard grass and eating cupcakes on the porch), barefoot at the river and meeting old fishermen, perfect air and perfect warmth, and i photographed a lot of beautifully fancy people during the golden time of day.

sixteen.

(i treated myself to a pack of polaroid film, today)

today: i became twenty, warm sun on my drowsy face, a beautiful lunch with the most precious ladies in my life, goodgood light, swingsets and laughter, heartwords and feeling loved beyond measure, feeling so glad to be alive.

i am in the midst of compiling a list of 20 things i want to do during my 20th year.

i've only 13 thus far:

1. pick blackberries in may, peaches in june, pears in august and apples in september
2. learn to throw pots
3. drive to the ocean in winter, again (i absolutely must do this annually)
4. learn 'avril 14th' on the piano
5. distribute disposable cameras to all my favorite littles (begging them to show me their world)
6. produce a short film
7. write a piece/photograph jimmy & mary moore
8. open an etsy shop (of light fixtures and mobiles and book sculptures and things)
9. plant things in honor of people who've moved my heart
10. sail; regardless of where or for how long
11. travel somewhere by train
12. complete a book of strangers
13. plant ranunculus bulbs in autumn.



p.s. thank you, for making this day as wonderful as can be. it was brimmingly full of big and small and quiet and overwhelming surprises that made my heart flutter, continuously.

fifteen.

today: sleeping in, breakfast on the porch, a kind gentleman, horizontal to the sky in purple flowers, beautiful light.

fourteen.

today: wonderful light and wind and shadows (delightful motion pictures everywhere i turned!), wonderful aloneness, and walking in the river in golden light.

thirteen.

(dear zola, that open book is a german dictionary from 1939. i was going to make a book sculpture out of it, but would you rather be able to use it? either way, it's yours.)

today: thrift store treasures, visiting the library and remembering that i love it, bad morning weather < good things, writing letters and listening to rain.

easter sunday.

today: "who died eternal life to bring, and lives that death may die" resonating throughout the day, a seemingly endless supply of people i love and am thankfully related to, a seemingly endless supply of good food made by those same people, so many sweets, so many littles, the most beautiful light.

eleven.

today: sleeping late, light & breezy all day, making old clothes into new ones, pretty sunset clouds and a lot of time to think.

ten.

(we sat by the window in orange light and he told me entire cities about himself. he shared tightly-held secrets through beautiful noise. i am so grateful.)

today: morning rain made me uncertain for the day, miles alone, sweet tea and gummy cherries, a new downtown to explore, beautiful people, and this gentleman.

nine.

(my memory card was accidentally deleted by a little with good intentions of showing me the world through her eyes.)

today: partly clouded skies and even light (his favorite of course), sidewalk chalk, adventurous littles, ice cream and laughter, tree swings and soft backyard grass.

eight.

(oh dear! i was late!)

today: blinding window light to wake me up, hello sunshine, a delightful visit with the moore's (stories of the 30's and hearing about mary's collection of past gentleman callers), the best light all day, the perfect wind, meeting new littles on the swingset, feeling so alive.

seven.

today: windy everywhere, a little laughing girl, graph paper cranes, abandoned places and abandoned things, vastness, this lovely lady.

six.

(the most magical of secret places. i'm overwhelmed by my discovery. i wonder what it looks like in golden light)

today: bleak throughout (accompanied by sporadic rain fall and strong winds), blooms and everything green again, wet sidewalks and wet windowsills, moving forward.

five.

today: morning brightness and words that moved me, the nicest afternoon nap, rain and i loved it, thinking things through.

four.

(i just paint dots of varying color and size. diagrams are the only thing i can make with watercolor yet)

today: sounds of lawn mowers and a miter saw, lovely clouds, front porch sitting, so much warmth, meeting new people.

three.

(mama says i used to run around the yard collecting handfuls of these. they are still wonderful to me. and i still love the shivers i get when i step on them, barefoot)

today: early morning brightness, being quiet, visiting with grandma, dark shadows and lens flare, the tallest green grass i have ever seen.

two.

today: white skies, walking in and out of rain, reading cather on the white couch, wet-winged birds, making plans.

one.

(i'm pretty sure someone abandoned this piano just for me.)

today: his favorite light, being productive, so much laughter about small things and exploring.

oh, dear.

i'm just awful at this!
and i had so much to tell you!

march was so delicate and wonderful:

- thrift store treasures in abundance
- peach tea (unapologetically replacing mint)
- overwhelmingly beautiful weather (this of course includes an unexpectedly delightful snow)
- meeting you and you and you
- spending so much time with precious littles
- creating light fixtures (this is my dream, folks. i think this could make me happy for the rest of my life)
- just spending time
- traveling westward of my state and having the most remarkable adventures...

i love tiny hands

and tiny toes, and small accidental smiles.
i am so glad to have had the most delightful introduction to my cousin's newest little!

this, is colton (at 7 days):

diamonds on the trees

and diamonds in my soul:

everything glimmered

outside, today. i am so thankful for weather like this,
which kindly causes me to forget for a short while that spring is still months away.
my sweet cousins came to play and it was the greatest fun:


i also wanted to tell you that i've recently joined felicia and other amazing photographers in the littlest heroes project. it's a non-profit organization, full of photographers wishing to gift families with forever-memories of their seriously ill child. if you know of someone who has (or you yourself have) a terminally ill child and would be interested in a session, please visit the website or email me: lesley[@]lesleykerrphotography[.]com. more soon!

love,
L

wonderful things

of 2008:

- stopped biting my nails (forever!)
- began the weekly photographic collaboration of my dreams
- discovered a hilltop (and visited it freely and with ambition)
- daytripped and roadtripped to my heart's content
- laughed and laughed!
- established such nice things with some really remarkable people
- was deeply moved (and stopped hesitating)
- wrote so many letters and developed friendships with my post-people
- wrote in sketchbooks instead of lined pages
- grew and learned and learned to trust and be content

oh, also...

i took the most beautiful daytrip with a dear friend a couple of days ago:

i hope you have the most wonderful year my friend!

love,
L