Garden of Lights
This one started on one of my walks around the downtown loop in Dallas, Oregon, a walk I’ve done many times. Near the courthouse, off to the left, there were these tall plants that really caught my eye. They had a strong shape to them and a kind of quiet authority, all standing upright together. What I liked was that none of them seemed bigger or more important than the others. They felt unified.
I started thinking how interesting it would be to turn them into something more — almost like a glowing garden with its own life. I wanted to give each stalk a little color and visual energy, something that would make them shine while still keeping the strength of the original moment.
That’s how Garden of Lights began.
The Boss of the Trail
For a while, I had a walking route in San Jose that I really enjoyed. Part of it followed a small river or creek, with a few little lakes along the way and stretches of dirt trail mixed in. Most of the time the water wasn’t much to look at, but during the winter it could get moving pretty good.
It was a great place to walk. Not many hills, so I could settle into a good pace, but there was enough nature around that it never felt boring. Birds were everywhere, especially geese.
And then there was the white one.
I don’t know what official position he held, but apparently he had appointed himself head of trail security.
You learned pretty quickly not to get too close to him. He didn’t back away. He didn’t negotiate. If you crossed whatever invisible boundary he had decided was his, he let you know about it—and sometimes he would come right after you until you understood the message.
Eventually I started thinking about what he must have looked like in his own mind.
Probably not like an ordinary bird standing beside a walking trail.
Probably more like the leader of a gang.
So years later, when I began turning some of my old photographs and memories into something a little more imaginative, that white bird came back to me. I gave him a hat, surrounded him with his crew, and let him become what I suspect he always believed he was.
The boss of the trail.
And looking at this picture now, I still wouldn’t get too close to him.
