Lone Pine

Remember when your teacher used to tell you to close your eyes and imagine a peaceful place that made you feel happy? Times when you were supposed to recall a favourite place? Exercises where you were meant to mentally transport yourself to a location from your childhood? For me, this is always 'that place'. Down near a tiny Utah town called Koosharem, and up on a nearby mountain, my dad's family has owned a chunk of land for generations, and my grandpa had a cabin built. He and his father used to be cowboys and sheepherders back in the day, and they would bring their animals up to the mountain to graze. I grew up visiting this cabin with my family just about every summer of my childhood and adolescence, even though we lived all over the world, and it has been really difficult to let go of that consistency as I've grown and moved away.



There is a huge, intimidating stretch of land still used by relatives for cattle referred to as 'The Big Pasture,' but we usually spend most of our time in 'Lone Pine,' my grandfather's private and much smaller pasture. This is where the cabin sits, with woods to the back and a big open meadow to the front. This place holds so many memories for me- catching tadpoles in the ponds with my cousins, have picnics in the willows, slopping and playing with the clay in the mud banks, picking wildflowers for grandma, gathering round the campfire at night with hot chocolate and marshmallows, swinging together on the big front gate, riding grandpa's horses through the meadow, exploring the woods, building our legendary stick fort- the list goes on and on. It's difficult for me to write about or really explain to anyone else what this place is like and what it means to me. There are so many ineffable emotional ties, and there is so much personal significance. I'd like to try and share though- it really is a beautiful place.





It's been bittersweet coming up here since my grandpa died, but I still really love coming and spending time with my family here. It always feels closer and more simple and like we really spend a ton of quality time together. I also really love seeing all the details and small legacies my grandpa left behind, like all the handmade log fences bordering the pastures, his horse corrals, the cabin itself, and the way his posterity loves being surrounded by nature. I always feel a little bit closer to him here.







When I found out my cousin's wedding preceded the week my parents had their designated week here at the cabin, you can bet I planned my plane ticket home around a good weekend trip with my family. it also just so happened to be the peak week for leaves, so that didn't hurt either. It was breathtaking, and I'm so glad I got to visit.





On another note, I found this shirt in Japan and cannot get over how cute it is and how lucky I was to find a bear shirt. It kills me every time I see it, and it felt fitting to wear it out here where adventure abounds.

T shirt: bleu beret
< shirt underneath: thrifted at don don down
< jeans: J. Crew
< boots: vintage/thrifted