for j,

my dear/ my lover/ my sweet/ my babe the mornings are empty without you. sunlight strewn across cold skin. tufts of hair ruffled without the help of your hands. these things serve as empty reminders. a rumpled sweater tucked beneath my pillow, two silver earrings in the catch-all dish on my dresser, and an empty spot on the bed i save for your sometimes silhouette.

in your gaze i feel lovely. i'm learning to see myself the way you see me. you bring me so much delight my lover/ my babe/ my sweet. you fill the empty spaces in my bones; in my heart.

mimic

pictures from an afternoon with h at the lincoln park zoo + conservatory a few weeks back. this girl is my favorite subject. she's a kind soul who doesn't mind having a camera in her face (most of the time). it was very chilly, so we spent the majority of our day huddled in the conservatory while i taught her to use my 35mm camera (she enjoys using disposable cameras and my polaroid). i hope that these are photographs we both look back on together as we grow older, remembering our early days as best friends / adventurers.

yearning for summer

it's been hovering well below freezing the last couple of days in chicago. my mornings have been slower, my stretches deeper, and feet colder. winter has always been m favorite season, but with achy days like today, i'm ready for sunshine, ferris wheel rides, pitchfork music festival, farmer's markets, afternoons spent on my vintage red schwinn, barbecues in the yard, fireworks, and to see my city full of life again.

summer, please come soon.