Yeah, yeah, more than four trees, and I’m standing on the mountain, OK?

Having Mt. St. Helens up in the upper right corner of this page is proving interesting in ways I did not expect. For example, two days ago, I was up before dawn and happened to see dawn break over the mountain. A tiny bright spot in the silhouette of the mountain told me what I heard on the news an hour later. Lava had broken through the dome and was glowing in the night.

The image is also interesting in less volcano-related ways. I work in a garage which is entirely underground, and my house never receives any direct sunlight through its’ windows. My home office area’s windows look out on an alley and high fence. As the shadows swing across the mountain’s flanks I find myself gauging the time of day based on the picture. The image of the mountain is my most regular exposure to the light of day.

Finally, the images, in sequence, (as spottily as I look in upon them) create a long-form pseudo-narrative, akin to both comics and film, to Monet’s Rouen Cathedral or his Haystacks. It’s a rare chance to do some long looking, something I deeply enjoy. It’s unexpected to me that long looking is proving subject, in this case, to time-slicing, miniaturization, and distribution.