today
is walt's birthday...
WALTER EARL COTTEN
1947 - 2008
friend
photographer
lover of wide open space
we miss you
( walt's boots -
michael sanders )
you are here
and i believed it.
there was a place on the map
called kodachrome basin
and i thought about the photographs
and all the things you taught me
"you have to wait for the light beth"
that is what you would always say...
we had waited a year
to say our goodbye.
the road was difficult.
he always liked best
those places most remote and silent...
on the way there
i saw him in the clouds
and felt good to have his company
the invitation read...
"the family will be scattering his ashes at his favourite time of day
when the sun is even with the horizon.
we will eat, drink, and read from his favourite writers,
listen to his favourite music
and tell stories...
getting to muley isn't easy,
Mexican Hat is the nearest town.
camping is very rustic
no toilets
no water
and temperatures that reach 100 or above..."
“We need the possibility of escape as surely a we need hope.”
( Edward Abbey, Desert Solitude )
potholes and switchbacks
red dirt and hot sun
you might say the road to muley
was just like him
hard to navigate
but full of adventure
he had informed my aesthetic in a way
where i couldn't turn back
once i saw the sun set on that horizon line
but the road was never easy...
there were his girls of course
all there
to say goodbye
about this time every year
we start thinking about the ghost trail
and how you can carry on missing someone...
just like it was yesterday.
( photos by michael byrne, lourdes gomez, beth nelson, walt cotten, jeffery bishop )
