music, photography, random thought, travel, writing

sharing big bend

i’ve said it before; i don’t share my sacred places. there are a select few places that i go multiple times a year to get away, clear my head, and recharge my batteries. big bend national park is one of those places.

wyoming is as well. and as it was, i entertained company (my brother) in october. it was a new experience. and a good one. i’d even say refreshing.

so again, a few weeks ago, it was time to share.

my girlfriend elle had a birthday coming up. i wanted to do something special for her…

“let’s go backpacking!” she said.

and so it was. big bend, here we come!

elle had a great birthday, she said. and i had more fun than i ever imagined… sharing one of these places that i thought was mine.

i think i’m beginning to like this “sharing” thing…

all images © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2009

photography, random thought, travel, writing

monterrey… one important role of the church

i went to monterrey, mexico with my church again over halloween weekend.

after our first trip a year ago, my church, providence presbyterian, decided to support a small church in the township of san nicolas. la casa de dios serves a small middle class community on the outskirts of monterrey, specializing in counceling. there is a great need in the city for biblical counceling, as many of the folks of this neighborhood have deep scars from drugs, violence, prostitution, and the many ills that life in general can bring.

so, last week, ten members of providence and i visited la casa de dios to encourage and serve.

pastor reyes has much work to accomplish here to bring the message of grace and repentance to a hurting people.

we went to dinner the first night to experience true northern mexican cuisine, a surprising far-cry from the heavy tex-mex influence we have in dallas.

after dinner, we visited the famous giant flagpole complex that sits above monterrey, to pray for the needs of the city. it’s a place for families and lovers. a romantic oasis.

the next morning we awoke early to serve the community of san nicolas by applying a few fresh coats of paint over the graffiti in their neighborhood park.

amber, crawford, michael, sam, and i decided to form a band after i shot these photos of the group… they were very band-like photos, sam said.

a stray cat took a liking to us and followed us around all day. it became our mascot for the weekend, though no one had the courage to pet it.

local kids came out to see what the gringos were up to, and quickly asked if they could help. we were excited because they seemed to really take ownership of the new look in their park.

andrew, one of the local missionaries’ sons is quite the ham. and i have to say, he has a pretty cool name…

amber loved on the kids…

while the guys wrestled with them. funny how the two sexes differ in relational styles…

some of the neighborhood teens came out to play american football. we couldn’t help but join in. they beat us.

after the football match, we held a barbeque in the park to make friends with the folks in the area. it was a great success.

on sunday, we attended la casa de dios to worship with our mexican brothers and sisters…

after church, we went downtown to sightsee and enjoy the river walk.

the closest thing we have in the states is the riverwalk in san antonio. the one in monterrey is much nicer, in my opinion.

tamales! we were treated so well by the folks at la casa de dios. they cooked fantastic meals for us every day.

monday, we finished painting and enjoyed playing around on the playground.

tuesday morning before our flight, we visited casa hogar, the local orphanage. it was a moving experience for us all to remember God’s heart for the orphans.

the sign above the door reads, “God promises to be your father,” a fitting reminder for the role of the church…

though our time in monterrey ended on a bittersweet note at casa hogar, we all left with a greater sense of urgency to help carry the burdens of our neighbors to the south, as well as our community back home in dallas.

all images © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2009

family, photography, random thought, travel, writing

four(?) musketeers

when i lived in wyoming in 2005, i didn’t have many friends. but don’t feel sorry for me. it wasn’t because of the excessive whiskey drinking, or the lack of bathing. no, it was mostly due to the simple lack of people in the great state of wyoming. a numbers game.

you see, the entire state boasts a smaller population than the city of austin, tx. i believe the last count was around 750,000. and it didn’t help that i lived in a town of only 2000. so the few friends i had were very important to me.

among those few friends were two of my closest; anna and kim. we called ourselves the “three musketeers”. original, huh?

this last trip up to my former home partially happened because i had a good excuse. well, two. the first was that anna, who now lives in new york city, had planned her first trip back to pinedale since she had to leave in ’05. and the second reason was that kim, who is from the area and thus stayed, had a baby a few months earlier. kate.

kate is a darn cute kid. so the three musketeers, plus one, set out for a reunion hike. we decided to hit up sacred rim in the wind river mountains, just outside pinedale.

it was a great time to be with my ladies again… and i must say, kate is quite a nice addition.

i was raised by a family of grizzly bears in a former life (or so i tell people), so we reenacted a scene from my past when i used to attack unassuming hikers…

it seemed as though we hadn’t skipped a beat. and truly, i guess we never did. i’ve been going back up to wyoming a lot since i left, and almost every time, i get to see kim. i also have had the opportunity to visit anna up in philly and new york, and we tend to email, talk on the phone, and mail each other music mixes every so often. so really, the unique situation here is that we were all together again in the very place we met and became friends…

sacred rim is a pretty amazing place….

but it seems that we wore little kate out.

more bear attack scenes…

by the time we made it back to the car, kate was out.

it was really special for all of us to get together. we all live thousands of miles from each other, and our lives have all gone their separate directions. i hope we can reunite again before time gets away from us.

regardless of how much time passes in our busy lives before we’re all together again, it was evident with this short reunion, that we will always stay connected. these are the type of friends you keep for life.

all images © andrew r. slaton | photographer 2009

family, film, film making, music, random thought, travel, writing

july, july

july has started on a high note for me.

i went to austin for the fourth, to spend time with my brother, sister, mom, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, my niece, and all three of my nephews. it was eventful, to say the least.

the kids aren’t always angels, but then again, neither are we adults. regardless, i always leave full when i have the chance to hang with my family.

i am truly blessed.

so i made a quick film of our fourth to solidify the good memories we made…

music: july by the innocence mission

photography, random thought, travel, writing

journal: montana

6-18-09

my car is facing away from the mountain. i wake to the cold and rain. it’s 5:30 a.m.

behind me, the mountain is covered in a thin fog, like a bride under her fine lace veil. she thought she was hiding from me, but how could i not notice her?

cooke city, montana has always treated me well, but this morning, i feel lost.

i rolled in late last night. weary from the road and rain. the miner’s saloon, as inviting as it always is, seemed distant. they only take cash, and the big city man i am, i only had plastic. no problem, i thought. this always happens. luckily, they have the only atm in town. i slid the blue card in nice and easy, and yanked it back in a forceful, but fluid motion. “out of order.” !?!? but i had already started drinking my beer!

i apologized. the bartendress seemed annoyed at my genuine apology.

“well, i guess this one’s on me,” she said angrily.

i finished my free scapegoat pale ale and left.

my usual “free” campsite at the edge of town was closed with no explanation. i put “free” in quotes because i believe you’re supposed to pay. but i always seem to pull into cooke city after dark… so, i never have.

i decided to park at the old city dump, on the other edge of town. it only takes about two minutes to walk from one end of town to the other.

i reclined the driver seat of my chevy aveo rental, wrapped myself haphazardly in a sleeping bag, and called it a day.

now here i am; seven hours of restless sleep later.

the sun rose somewhere already, but not here. the cloud cover is thick, and there’s a light drizzle. 35 degrees. massive lodgepole pines in front of me absorb the rain like thirsty sailors imbibe on the first day of fleet week.

lately my heart’s been heavy like a sandbag.

this morning is no different. in fact, today it’s worse.

it feels like someone tied a cinder block, or a dozen, to my chest, and dropped it in the deepest ocean.

if it felt possible to cry, i would. but i wouldn’t know what for. after all, i’m in one of my favorite places in the world.

so i decided to start my day.

i made a cup of coffee and rolled a cigarette. yeah i know, i quit smoking three years ago. it was three years ago almost to the day when i started again in spain. then it continued on into lebanon…

you can smoke anywhere in lebanon. just walk into the airport in beirut with a lit cigarette, and see if i’m exaggerating.

so, unfortunately, for a time, i’m smoking again.

slowly my mind and body, cold and slightly wet from the night before, begin to wake up.

the lamar valley of yellowstone anxiously awaited my arrival. but the sun still hides it’s precious rays.

in spite of my thoughts, behind the clouds, the light is there just waiting for me to remember it still exists.

andrew slaton | blog

travelogue and visual catharsis of a nomadic photographer

Tag Archives: andrew r. slaton

sharing big bend

monterrey… one important role of the church

four(?) musketeers

july, july

journal: montana

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