Last Friday, I went and rallied with my union at the steps of the Capitol building to encourage the legislature to make ethical cuts to the Washington State Budget. If you want to read more about it, may I suggest this depressing article in this week’s Stranger. Yes, it does get worse. However, on that sunny Friday surrounded by nearly 7,000 Washington State Employees and Residents, I couldn’t help but feel hopeful.

The awesome Oly Planned Parenthood supporters representing!

After running into a few long time radical Oly folk including Lois, Flem, and Nikki McClure,  I was invited to join their lovely picnic under blossoming plum trees on the Capitol’s Lawn. Really, the day couldn’t get any better than that.

A bike ride through the park and then an afternoon in my backyard rounded out the day.

The next morning, I went for a walk at Woodard Bay with Joel and Sarah. (If you take scroll down on that post, Sarah has some great photos of my birthday party that happened almost a month ago!)  In the park, ferns and nettles are coming up everywhere. We also met a friendly slug that was as long as my index finger.

And finally, I would like to introduce you to my newest lil’ camera: a 1950s Brownie Hawkeye! I found it in its original box with the flash unit and unused flash bulbs in an Astoria antique store. It’s in great shape– I’ve never seen one in such beautiful condition. Its body is bakelite and the front is a metal plate containing the lens and viewfinding prism. The amazingly resourceful Hugh Lentz (with the assistance of some fearless folks on youtube) helped me take apart the interior to thoroughly clean the lenses and now she’s ready to take on some great lo-fi summer shoots! I even researched a workaround to shoot with 120 film instead of the old, extinct 620. I can’t wait!