I step into the darkness with California sun-stained eyes, and I'm overwhelmed in the most transient way... I step into the darkness and hear the sonorous dripping of the water echo as we walk in.

 

I stand in the LA underground and see spider webs, and my tilted reflection staring back at me in semi-evaporated puddles. I don't even dare to dodge them because even the little rush of water around my toes is cleansing enough for this to feel like catharsis. As the back wash of water stagnantly stares at me, I notice I lose sight. Brendon and Kyle run ahead, I hear their voices bouncing down the walls of the aqueduct. I take in a deep breath again, like I had so many times out there. Even though the water is washing away the dirt of the canyons, the mud of the mountains, the snow from Mt. Baldy, when I breathe like this, I still feel it all inside of me. But this time, the water leaves it's own mark.

 

I take my shoes off and leave them in the dry spots, and splash and splash and splash, jumping up and down so I can really feel the blood of the LA underground between my toes. The city baptizes me one last time, and washes away the past. It's a new year with new friends and new experiences, new challenges, new places to go, new hearts to mend and bridges to cross. I can't help but feel like these little tiny puddles come from hurricanes, and tsunamis, and that the water is really up to my knees, because that's how strong this is to me.

 

It's my last day and I'm leaving. It's my last day and it's all being washed away. But now I am cleansed to be brighter, to be stronger. I take one more deep breath and I walk out one last time, the bright light of California's winter sun beaming into my irises.

 

I remain barefoot for hours after, just to remind me of the sullen earth beneath my feet.

 

----

 

from our last day in LA in the aqueducts. for some reason they struck such a chord with me, in that dank underground. It filled me with adventure and I didn't even care that there were spider webs or dirty puddles or if it smelled a little weird or that the contrast between the dark and the super bright entrance hurt my eyes. It just felt like home, for some reason.

 

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Still selling prints on my Facebook Page!

 

Also check out my new journal! It's on my tumblr but if you click the link above you can look at the tag and see everything. I'm trying to focus on writing this year a lot more and synthesize my writing with my photography. It's been really creating some good inspiration for me in my head so I think I'm sticking with it. Let me know if you have anything you want me to write about!