Switchbacks
A loop through recent terrain, what I’ve been rolling through lately.
A sharp left: Carving, slashing, grinding
There’s a pool in my friend’s back garden, empty of water, but poured smooth concrete. Last Saturday, we skated it at a backyard jam, the smoky scent of the BBQ settling into my clothes, that sticky summer smell you don’t want to wash away. I pushed myself to try new lines around the bowl, chasing the rush of slashing the coping, the sharp clang of grinds syncing with the rush of feeling beneath my wheels. I took some photos, still shots that should almost move, remembering what it means to cut through summer heat, capturing a moment of chaos and wildness. It was a reminder of what skating feels like before the mind gets in the way.
A long climb: A new project
I’m excited to share a new project Depth Chart of the Heart, the beginning of a deeply personal and explorative journey. It began by exploring a collection of diving memorabilia my dad left behind when he passed and now I’m deep in his diving logs. There’s something strange about reading someone’s depths on paper, dates, coordinates, visibility, all facts until you remember his breath was behind every story. It’s heavy, but it’s good. I don’t know what it will become yet. For now, I’m just reading, sorting, noticing.
I also got to meet with some other historic dive lovers, and had my own chance to dive with the old style of helmet and canvas suit (they call it standard diving dress). It was pure magic and I wrote about the experience here.
A milestone: Love that has done the miles
My friend got married on Saturday. The ceremony was small, warm, and full. It felt like a quiet marker on the road, not flashy, but solid. A reminder of the real miles in life that are shared. I didn’t take a camera; I just absorbed the day in real time. It was good to be near love that has done the miles.
A crossing: A step back into nature
Last weekend, I crossed over into the woods and photographed some heath fritillary butterflies. They’re rare, a species you really have to look for. I like that. Nature making its own plans for me. I’d been out on a bike ride, had to ditch the trail, and stop to watch these beautiful mosaic patterns flickering on the wing. It made me think about how many things I pass by that I’d find beautiful if I only paused. Will you stop for me today and notice something beautiful? Let nature take the spotlight.
A lookout: I’m off this week, back to the alps!
I’m heading to the Alps this week and have been hugely inspired these last couple of days by Jade Stephens’ (Substack hej jade) Written observations and dreamy photographs on her own mountain time. It has me itching to climb, to open, to let the landscape shape me. I’ve been feeling pulled there, to the mountains, not for the miles, but for the thinning of noise. To see what parts of me will hum when things get quiet.
Checkpoints: For you
What quiet milestones in your life have shaped you lately?
What does “doing the miles” mean to you in friendship or love?
Is there someone whose journey you’ve been quietly witnessing?
How do you mark the moments that feel steady and true, a mental note, a written note, a photograph?
Have a good time,
Kirsty x