Glacier Lilies in snowmelt (Erythronium grandiflorum)

HORSE THIEF!

When a rancher goes to bed with 10 horses in the barn
and wakes up with but one, he cries out, “Horse thief!
Get ’em boys!” But when the investment banker goes to
sleep with a billion $'s and wakes up without a cent, he books
a family vacation to Disneyland, courtesy of the President

CENTERS OF LEARNING

We shape the world and the world shapes us.

It takes more than a school to educate a child; it takes, as
they say in Africa, an entire village, a village deeply
rooted in place.

In each life, learning has a center.

The teacher is the one who helps the student find it.
Nourishing content, and a free, open, protected space in
which this center may clarify and flourish, are the cultural
imperatives of the community dedicated
to the fostering of creativity in the young.

NOTE TO MYSELF . . .

If your pictures are not good enough, it’s most likely not because of
poor equipment or technique. More likely is that you’re not living close
enough to your subject. Be out. Be exposed. Be on foot. The rhythm of
walking will generate the energy which burns away the opaque, faded
film clouding over the New with 2nd-hand images out of somebody else’s
past; the downtime of sitting out storms in your tent will develop patience
and a compassionate, steadfast heart. Who knows? One day you
may go out sleepy-eyed in the middle of a moon-lit night and stumble
upon the scene of your life. Who knows?

Follow @cliffcrego

Please visit my picture-poems.com MOUNTAIN WATER
print gallery. Above is a set of about 60 recent images.
(Mouseover controls / lower right for full-scrren mode)

I might just mention here, following the simple ethical principle,
First, do no harm, that I never use cars or trucks or snowmachines.
Instead, I do everything on foot, or bike or ski. I think this in a
direct way affects my work, and deeply affects how I see
the world. So all the photos above were approached
on foot—including all the 'in between spaces,' sometimes
involving journeys of weeks or months.

I would not want to work any other way.