To feel the wind colder, you step outside. Turn your heart east, and you are faced with mountains tall and sheer, with a frosting of snow on the tippy tops. Turn your heart west, and brush your windy hair from your eyes to see a desert of sand and lonesome dreams.  To feel the wind slightly warmer, you step inside.  An elephant rumbles at one giant wall, a creepy monkey plays it's cymbals at the window, and a jackrabbit stares at you with one eye near the crackling of a woodstove.  Against the opposite wall, a table with found objects placed on top: bits of glass, peculiar rocks, tiny little toys, shotgun shells, anything you might possibly pick up when roaming around in the middle of nowhere...all organized by red, purple, yellow, gray....you follow.  This is the Old School House of artist John Simpkins.  

Story Online and in 1859/July-August 2016

Chefs Ariana and Andres Fernandez have been bringing their energy into the kitchen every day since they opened Ariana together over a decade ago.

A California native from an Italian family, Ariana attended Cascade Culinary Institute where her husband Andres had also studied—a coincidence they discovered while working side by side at another restaurant.

Housed in a bungalow on Bend’s West Side, Ariana began as a family affair. In 2004, Ariana’s parents saw the culinary talent and creative possibilities in the Sicilian and Colombian marriage and offered to provide funds to help the couple start a restaurant. Ariana’s father, Glenn Asti still pairs wines as the beverage manager and is part of the reason the Sicilian calamari is a staple.

One of the few remaining unspoiled areas of North America is now open for the discerning traveler who is looking for something really unique—an undiscovered eco-resort that is actually part of an authentic Western cattle ranch.

Sitting inside the barn at Some Day Farm in Tumalo, the Cascade Polo Club started their season with a team meeting around a ping-pong table. Tiny posts set on metal washers marked the goals, as Daniel Harrison moved wooden blocks around a white marble, going over the rules of the game with his team before they saddled up. One of only three polo teams in Oregon, Cascade Polo Club aims to introduce the sport of kings to both riders and spectators in Central Oregon.

“Polo is a rare bird in these parts, but it’s a good fit,” said Harrison. “There are a ton of horses out here and a ton of horse people who want to learn—it’s a nice thing to pass on.”

Harrison first started riding as a hunter-jumper, but says as soon as he swung a mallet, he was hooked. He began playing professionally in the 1970s and has competed for the U.S. in ten different countries. In 1975, his team at the University of California, Davis won the National Intercollegiate Polo Championship, bringing the tournament’s prestigious trophy to the West Coast for the first time. This launched a streak of wins in seven out of the ten years that followed.

One of the few remaining unspoiled areas of North America is now open for the discerning traveler who is looking for something really unique—an undiscovered eco-resort that is actually part of an authentic Western cattle ranch.

To get away is to gain the courage to stay.

Personal project.

Middle of Nowhere, Center of the Universe

"In Chiloquin, Oregon, a tribesman held a hand drum at the Sprague River’s edge. He closed his eyes and readied for the opening prayer at the annual Return of the C’waam Ceremony. The C’waam, also known as the Lost River sucker, has sustained the Klamath tribes during hard times. According to native lore, watchmen stood along the riverbanks to see when the fish would return." 

Story Online and in 1859/May-June 2016

Home Interior/Exterior Design Photography

Once yearly, when the snow starts falling & the eggnog's a bubblin', I host a "Cheesy Goodness Holiday Portrait" photoshoot in my ghetto home

At its peak, the town reached a population of about 600 in 1910.

Adventures with Pilot Joe Spence and a 3-month-postpartum luxury stay in the heart of the wilderness.

Walking down Walla Walla’s Main Street on a Saturday afternoon, you may notice a curious sandwich board sign pointing upstairs to the Museum of Un-Natural History. Your interest piqued, you may climb the old wooden stairs above Tallman Pharmacy, open an unassuming door and walk into Gerald Matthews’ surreal imagination.

Story Online and in print 1889 Magazine | Summer 2018

...with a fishing problem.  Rolling around America's great North Star, avoiding grizzlies whilst carrying the deepest yearning to see one.  

You know the bar down the street don't close for an hour
We should take a walk and look at all the flowers

Between 2009 and 2016, I worked seasonally as a ranger in various parks & wilderness areas.