Cling Tightly

In 2021 I became enamoured with Garden Valley. It’s a gorgeous area with steep canyon walls carved by the South Fork of the Payette River, and a little town laid into the flat spots of the valley. The incredible canyons of the place became interesting to me. I turned my camera to its vertical position and started finding compositions.

As I photographed that spring, my thoughts constantly turned to my mother, who had passed away the previous September. She had succumbed too early. She was only 69. She suffered a difficult childhood, abused by those she should have trusted most. I believe the cancer that took her life grew from that trouble in her early years.

Despite her terrible upbringing, she remained hopeful and bore eight children. I’m number two in that series.

Despite the steepness, stony ground, loose topsoil, and scarcity of water, these trees have found a way to thrive. They were doing exactly what she did: survive in difficult circumstances. Notice the cliff in the middle of the bottom third of the photograph. They valiantly defy it. They’ve adjusted to their situation, clinging to this steep hillside, waiting for sun and rain to keep them alive. As I stood with my camera looking at the trees clinging to the slope, I thought of her. 

That’s life, though: you’ve got to thrive where you find yourself. Cling to what you know and reach for the sky, the sun, breathe the life-giving air, and pray for rain.

And don’t look down. You might see a cliff.