My year of crafting has come to a premature end. In April, my financial situation changed unexpectedly, which moved all of the crafty things I have even a modicum of interest in trying very firmly outside my new budget. Also, I wasn’t enjoying the project. I like the idea of being a crafty person. I do not enjoy doing crafts.
I did take on two creative endeavors over the summer: a letterpress workshop and a mysterious and important project that I’ll share more about later.
The letterpress workshop was a two-day workshop that I was able to afford only because I received an unexpected check for my birthday and rationalized I was “allowed” to spend it on something “frivolous” instead of putting it toward something “worthwhile.” I wish I hadn’t. Or at least, I wish I hadn’t spent it on the workshop. It wasn’t what I expected or wanted.
After the workshop ended, I went back and re-read the description for it. It accurately described what the weekend would entail. The problem was, I understood that only in retrospect. Going into it, I didn’t know enough about letterpress to understand that I actually didn’t understand the workshop description and that the things I want to letterpress print (Project Life cards, gift tags) require polymer plates, which weren’t part of the curriculum. The entire two-day workshop was dedicated to typesetting and printing a single line of text. I didn’t enjoy it and, unfortunately, I do feel it was a poor use of money, time, and spoons. You live and you learn.
I’m extremely excited about my other summertime creative endeavor. I’m not sure it’ll turn out quite like I envision (I can’t afford the options I prefer). Still, I’m very proud of it and excited to share it once I can afford to finish bringing it to life (soon, I hope!).
Hike number four of the season: Oxbow Loop. I’m gonna be real with y’all. This trail is—no pun intended—basically just a walk in the park. A very confusingly marked walk in the park that doesn’t really feel like a hike at any point during its seven-ish miles.
The loop snakes alongside the Sandy River and, despite how it appears on AllTrails (as one clearly defined, looping trail), it’s comprised of several smaller, interconnected trails that are individually labeled by letter on the park’s map (paper copies are available at the board outside of the visitor center).
Because of this discrepancy, and because I had very unreliable cell service and couldn’t easily pull up the map on AllTrails, it took me about 35 minutes to just pick a letter/trail, start walking, and hope I was on the right path. Thankfully, the trailhead I chose (C) gave me one single bar of service long enough for the AllTrails map to load and confirm I was indeed on the right path.
I deviated from this trail much more than I usually do during a hike so I could scout out secluded spots to set up in the sun afterward. The promise of finally getting to touch water for actual real after the tease of Lower Punchbowl Falls is the entire reason I did this hike.
AND GUESS FUCKING WHAT. I FINALLY GOT TO TOUCH WATER FOR ACTUAL REAL!!!
There are several spots along the way to set up in the sand. Most of them are marked by large signage, trash and recycling bins, and have lifejackets available for use. Some also have vault toilets and/or portable toilets. By late morning on warm weekdays, these areas are pretty crowded.
I set up on a small patch of sand with my beach towel, a library book, and some snacks and spent the next several hours reading, sunning, exploring, and cooling off in the water. My dream life. I love being outside in the sun and water so much.
I don’t feel strongly one way or the other about the “hike.” I feel very strongly about setting up in the sand under the sun—big recommend. Just please don’t do it while I’m there.
Shout out to my friend who told me about this place earlier in the spring when I was asking around for good spots close-ish to the city and any accessible body of water where I could go and be alone. I’ve been back here several times since this day and each time I’ve been blessed with about three entire hours completely to myself, sometimes as many as five. How incredible to live so close to such a place.
Without exaggeration—and as someone who is not into birds and is very easily overstimulated by the noise they make—this documentary about extreme birdwatching is the best YouTube video I’ve ever seen, and among the best documentaries I’ve ever seen. The concept, the humor, the storytelling, the pacing, the production, etc.: exquisite. Please please please watch it without googling anything about it.
Shout out to the filmmakers for turning YouTube ads off for an optimal viewing experience. From the pinned comment on the video: to support their work you can donate directly and/or purchase Quentin’s field guide.
Here are the scraps of ephemera I saved in August.
Top row
Packaging from a book I ordered
Scraps of a security envelope pattern given to me by someone after they learned I collect security envelope patterns (such a sweet gesture)
Packaging from the Parmesan I sprinkled over the massive slice of pizza my son brought home for me one day
Second row
Caution tape leftover in the courtyard after they repainted the exterior of our apartment buildings (the paint job looks so bad y’all)
Packaging from the first-ever cabin air filter that I installed in my car by myself—I can’t believe I’ve overpaid for the oil change people to do it all these years
Paper from the pizza box that held the massive slice of pizza my son brought home for me one day
Third row
Label from the pool noodle I bought to bring to the river
Old exterior paint from my apartment complex
Oil change sticker
Bottom row
Matchbook cover that I found on the ground during a walk
Packaging from my son’s new Rogue barbell
Packaging from a new vegetable brush that I finally bought after many months of needing to replace the old one I threw out
Hike number three of the season: Lower Punchbowl, Tunnel, and Twister Falls via Eagle Creek Trail. In addition to the three well-known falls, there are a handful of other falls along this trail, which is one of the most popular trails in the Columbia River Gorge.
Originally, I’d planned to hike down to Lower Punchbowl Falls, swim in its bowl, and then head back to my car—a quick and easy 3.8-mile out-and-back. While a shorter distance hike than I prefer, the allure of the waterfall and its swimmable bowl was strong: daily summertime access to water/swimming is one of the things I miss most about my pre-pandemic life and I was excited at the possibility of finally—FINALLY!—getting my toes wet. Given the day was set to be 90 degrees and was already well on its way to 70 degrees when I started the trail at 5:30 am, I figured the shorter distance of this hike would be offset by how much time I’d spend in or lounging near the water.
While researching the trail ahead of committing to it, I learned about Tunnel Falls, a few miles past Lower Punchbowl Falls. After watching a few YouTube videos of the hike to Tunnel Falls, I added it to my route, upping my hike to 12.2 miles roundtrip. Then, while discussing my hike plans at the gym, I learned about Twister Falls, just around the bend from Tunnel Falls. Of course I had to add it to my route, making my third hike of the season—and my third hike back after a nearly three-year break—a 13.4-mile out-and-back with 2,270 feet of elevation gain.
Of all the hiking I’ve done this year, this hike was pretty middle-of-the-road on paper: it wasn’t the longest in distance or duration, it wasn’t the most difficult or technical terrain, it wasn’t the most strenuous. And yet, it’s the one I’m most proud of.
This trail was the most exposed of any I hiked this season. In many sections, it was similar to the exposure I encountered on the 2022 hike that broke my brain and triggered the very terrifying episode of mental illness on the trail that, after the 2022 season, kept me from hiking until this summer.
Many sections of the trail are very narrow and rocky. The sections of trail blasted out of the basalt cliff faces also feature vertical drops. In some, but not all, of these sections, cable handrails are installed. Many of the YouTube videos I watched of people hiking to Tunnel Falls showed and/or explicitly mentioned these cables. Learning of their existence is what convinced me to extend my original route.
Surprisingly, I used these cables only on the sections of trail immediately surrounding Tunnel Falls. Given my previous experience on exposed sections of trail, I figured I’d use them at every opportunity. Even more surprisingly, I didn’t experience any physical or mental markers of anxiety, panic, OCD, or derealization at any point during this hike. My heart rate remained steady, my palms didn’t sweat, my mouth didn’t dry up, my legs didn’t shake, my vision didn’t narrow, my hearing didn’t become muffled and echo-y, my head didn’t become light and fuzzy, my thoughts didn’t begin to race, I didn’t begin to catastrophize, the voices in my head didn’t taunt me or command me to yeet myself off the cliffs, etc. It won’t always be this way for me. At some point, my mental illnesses will rear their heads on the trail again. I’m grateful that hasn’t happened on any of the hikes I’ve done so far this season.
Tunnel Falls is named such because there’s a literal tunnel behind the falls that you have to walk through to continue on the trail. It’s incredible. One of the most thrilling things I’ve experienced so far in my life. It is truly a shock to me that my brain didn’t lose its shit during either pass of this section of trail.
About a half mile past Tunnel Falls is Twister Falls. There are large flat rocks you can sit or sunbathe on. I stopped here for a few minutes to refuel electrolytes and carbs before heading back.
The 2017 Eagle Creek Fire burned through this area which means there’s very little tree canopy on this hike—very little shade on hot, sunny days; very little cover on wet, rainy ones. Plan, pack, and dress accordingly.
Even with the scars from the fire, this is a beautiful hike. While the trees may be bare, there is plenty of other vegetation and life (lots of chipmunks!).
This trail was much busier than I expected for so early on a very hot weekday morning. On my way up (“up”—the grade is so gradual it never feels like a hike in the expected sense) I encountered one person, a backpacker headed the opposite direction, toward the parking lot. On my way back, though, I encountered a fairly steady stream of people hiking to the areas I was coming from. And a lot of them seemed wholly unprepared??? For example, hiking in JEANS??? Not bringing a single drop of water or a water filtration setup??? Not bringing anything—no pack, no map, no nothing??? There were several separate people who stopped me at different points to ask what the name of the trail was, where it went, how long it was, etc. How do you venture into the wilderness—on a hot-ass day, no less—with no information, gear, hydration setup, or plan??? Inconceivable.
In the end, it worked out well that I tacked on Tunnel and Twister Falls and nine additional miles to my original route. The “path”—I’m using that term very loosely—between the trail and Lower Punchbowl Falls would’ve been very difficult, maybe impossible, to ascend, especially with a pack, even my small one—very steep, loose dirt, no defined route. I took one look and didn’t even consider attempting to descend. On I hiked.
I would absolutely do this trail again, ideally with a non-iPhone camera (it is for sure time to invest in a camera camera), and ideally continuing on past Twister Falls. I really am so happy to be back out on the trail.
In the middle of writing this post, I sat down to lunch, pulled up YouTube, and hit play on the first video it recommended to me: a discussion from popular backpacker @MirandaGoesOutside about mental illness on the trail. Truly, the most apt video YouTube could have recommended me in that moment.
After seeing this post from @lindalovescreating in early July, I decided to start including monthly ephemera pages in my 2025 album, beginning with July. I think it’s such a fun way to include extra bits of life that normally wouldn’t make the cut.
Top row
Scrap of paper from a basket of street tacos I ate on my walk home after finally visiting an interactive art experience I’ve wanted to visit for the last two years (featuring a line of test stitches from my new-to-me sewing machine)
Piece of a ripped-up $1 bill I found on the ground while out walking
Part of the tear-away freshness seal from a pint of ice cream
Second row
Part of a flyer announcing yet another neighborhood library construction closure
A gold star I found on the ground while out walking
Wrapper from a candy at the nail salon
Third row
$1 bill found in a library book after I brought it home
Tag from a new bikini bottom
Lion decal I found on the ground while out walking
Last row
Portion of branded packing tape from the company I order my creatine from (it’s the only creatine that doesn’t make me bloat—if creatine makes you bloated, I recommend trying this brand)
These pages will live in the back of my album alongside those documenting the media I consume this year. Each month will get one 6″ x 8″ page protector that’s divided into 12 smaller pockets. Only the front of the pocket will be filled. I like the idea of seeing through the gaps, and of seeing the backs of the items in the pockets.
I haven’t yet decided how I’ll include lists of each month’s ephemera. I might type up each month’s list on a 3″ x 8″ piece of paper and slip it into a 3″ x 8″ page protector in front of the corresponding 6″ x 8″ page. I might make one big list and slip it into a 6″ x 8″ page protector. Not sure. For now, I’m keeping track with a sticky note adhered to the front of each 12-pocket 6″ x 8″ page.
Hike number two of the summer: Tom Dick and Harry Mountain via Mirror Lake, a nine-ish mile out-and-back in Mount Hood National Forest. This hike immediately joined Angel’s Rest and Riprap as one of my all-time favorites: so much green, so many wildflowers, and an awe-inducing 360-degree view of five (!) different mountains from the false summit. Because I began so early, I had the summit and my first pass of the false summit completely to myself. A dream.
At the false summit. Mount Jefferson is visible in the background. Out of frame to my left-ish are Mounts Adams, Rainer, and St. Helens. Mount Hood is directly in front of me.
The time of year (early July) and weather (almost completely clear skies, 70-sh degrees at the start, 80-ish degrees by the end) for sure played a big role in how enjoyable this hike was. I’m so grateful I had the flexibility to change my originally planned date to one with a better forecast.
For whatever reason, despite reading the trail’s name and details a billion times on AllTrails and various local hiking blogs, until I came upon the junction to continue to the summit or loop around Mirror Lake, I didn’t realize the lake was an optional part of this hike. I decided to take the loop around the lake and holy fuck I’m so glad I did (I went clockwise).
The lake isn’t visible from the junction, or for the first couple of minutes of walking. And then, there it is.
It literally stopped me in my tracks. “Oh, wow,” I gasped when I spotted it. One of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. I feel so fortunate to live so close to such beautiful natural spaces, and to have the ability to explore them.
Unfortunately for me, Mirror Lake is also where the mosquitoes began. From this point on, the trail was full of them. As someone who is eaten alive by mosquitoes whenever they’re around, I have, historically, always doused myself in bug spray before beginning a hike and carried bug spray in my pack, dousing myself again several times along the way. Since moving to Oregon a few years ago, I’ve very rarely encountered mosquitoes in general and never on the trail. Because of this, and because I didn’t see any comments on AllTrails about mosquitoes on this trail, I removed my bug spray from my pack the night before this hike. What a mistake! From the lake on, I spent most of the hike swatting at mosquitoes and was covered in bites by the end. I itched so badly that it woke and kept me up at night for the better part of a week. Disaster.
This is a hike you do for the views, especially those of Mount Hood, which is right there. Personally, I think the views of Hood are equally as dramatic from the false summit and the actual summit.
View of Hood at the false summit:
View of Hood at the actual summit, about half a mile further up trail:
Famously, the summit also features a view of some communications (?) equipment, which deters from the experience for some. Personally, I wasn’t bothered by it; it’s off to the “side” and doesn’t take up much space or obstruct the view of the mountain. The communications equipment at the summit of Mount Defiance, which I hiked several weeks after this trail, is a different story.
The actual summit is roughly 0.6 miles past the false summit. You’ll have to hike and scramble over some rocky and sometimes steep-ish terrain to get there. The video below shows the first stretch of trail from the “back” side of the false summit to the actual summit.
The best overall view—the 360-degree view—is at the false summit. If you reach the false summit and don’t want to (or can’t) continue on for whatever reason—weather, blisters, joints, time, terrain, etc.—you won’t miss much. The video below is the view from the false summit. It’s hard to see in the video but all five mountains—Mounts Adams, Rainer, St. Helens, Jefferson, and Hood—were visible to the naked eye this day.
I learned too late that this hike can be turned into a loop by continuing past the summit and down to the parking lot via Sunrise Trail. I would have loved to do the loop! Even though I had service and could have texted a change in plans to the people who I share my hike details with, I chose to stick to my original plan. I can always do the loop next season.
Overall, this was a great hike on a perfect day. Aside from a brief freak-out about a completely made-up scenario while scrambling my way from the false summit to the actual summit, my mentally ill brain behaved, thank god. I’m so happy to be back out on the trail.
Last year, I decided to more completely document the media I consumed throughout the year in my Project Life album: docuseries, movies, podcasts, TV shows. I didn’t include books (I didn’t read much last year) or music (I don’t really listen to music). I used 6″ x 8″ page protectors divided into 12 pockets, each measuring 2″ x 2″, and printed 2″ x 2″ thumbnails for each piece of media, six to each 4″ x 6″ piece of photo paper.
Because I didn’t have the idea to do this until mid-November, it’s not a complete, and therefore not a completely accurate, record. I did the best I could by pulling from memory and going through my watch and listening history in my streaming apps. It’s complete and accurate enough.
I considered organizing each category chronologically. That quickly became too complicated. Not every streaming service tracks when you streamed what (only what you streamed and in what order), and anyway, do you list things in order of starting them or finishing them? What about things that don’t have a clear finish date, like podcasts or TV shows that release episodes weekly instead of seasonally? Or docuseries or TV shows or serialized podcasts that you started and are still watching or listening to at the end of the year but haven’t fully finished yet? I decided to organize each category alphabetically.
They’re not the most attractive pages. Frankly, I think they’re an eyesore. Visually overwhelming. Because they live in the back of my album, their unattractiveness and overwhelmingness bother me less than they would otherwise.
I decided not to include thumbnails of the movies I watched in theaters with those of the movies I streamed at home. Instead, I saved the ticket stubs for those movies in standard 6″ x 8″ page protectors divided into 3″ x 4″ pockets. These I organized chronologically. (These “ticket stubs” can hardly be called ticket stubs. They’re nothing more than shitty receipts. My outrage over the harbinger that is the disappearance of well-designed and quality crafted ephemera is deep and wide and intense.)
This year, I’m keeping a note in my phone to document each category of media as I consume it, and plan to again organize each category in my album alphabetically. Every four to six weeks, I go through said note in my phone, grab a thumbnail for each entry I’ve added since the last time I reviewed the list, add those thumbnails to a template in Photoshop Elements, and check it off in my phone. This way, I’m not scrambling at the end of the year, completely overwhelmed by doing everything all at once.
Printing is the only thing I plan to put off until the end of this year or early next. Partly because I don’t want to misplace printed sheets of thumbnails. Mostly because I know I’ll be tempted to immediately cut out each thumbnail and slip all of them in pockets, which, because I’m organizing them alphabetically, will create more work for me, which will frustrate me, as I’ll inevitably have to remove and rearrange the thumbnails as new media are added to the list.
* * *
For the curious:
Most-enjoyed docuseries in 2024:
Untold: Hall of Shame
Most-enjoyed movies (streaming) in 2024:
His Three Daughters
Run
Most-enjoyed podcasts in 2024:
Diss and Tell
Even the Royals
I Said No Gifts!
Extreme: Muscle Men
Normal Gossip
Scamfluencers
Smosh Reads Reddit
Most-enjoyed TV shows in 2024:
Bad Sisters
Boy Swallows Universe
Call the Midwife
Dark Winds
Ripley
Severance (rewatch)
Slow Horses
The Perfect Couple
This is Us
Your Honor
Severance is an obvious choice. Along with it, Bad Sisters, Dark Winds, and Slow Horses stand above the rest (especially Dark Winds).
Four weeks ago, I went for a hike. It was my first in nearly three years, after a few very bad episodes of mental illness on several different trails during the 2022 season rattled me so badly that I stopped hiking—a thing I love to do—altogether.
I hiked Angel’s Rest. I chose this trail because I’m familiar with it, it’s not strenuous or long, there’s no exposure, it’s close to home, and I know I have service the entire way (having service was important to me for this first hike back; in case mental illness things started happening, I could easily text/call someone).
I went early on a weekday, pulling into the parking lot just as the sun began to rise. This is the ideal arrival time for me. I’m an early morning person and I prefer to hike alone alone—to go by myself and to be by myself.
Shortly after I arrived, my brain began to bully me and after several minutes I actually drove away. I U-turned right before hitting the interstate on-ramp, headed back to the trailhead parking lot, re-parked my car, and spent the next 45 minutes negotiating with my brain. Once I got my shit together, I texted details about my hike to a friend, double-checked that I was sharing my location with her, and then I started.
This was my third time hiking this trail and my second-favorite experience of it. The first time I hiked it, in late May 2022, it was frigid and barren. I hiked it again two months later, in late July 2022, and it was gorgeous. Breathtaking, even. Everything was in full bloom and it was much more colorful and lush. This time around, it was in between—plenty of greenery, not much other color and not many blooms yet, hence the lack of photos.
Shortly before the false summit, there’s a large boulder the size of a small boulder on the edge of a bend in the trail. It’s my favorite part of the hike. Each time I’ve hiked this trail, I’ve gotten photos of me atop it. I love repetition in memorykeeping; it’s fun to have multiple iterations of the (essentially) same composition and subject.
I’m glad I chose this trail for my first return-from-mental-illness hike. Aside from the first few minutes in the parking lot, my brain behaved and I had a really good time. All of the reasons I picked it—I’m familiar with it, it’s not strenuous or long, there’s no exposure, it’s close to home, and I know I have service the entire way—are what made it a success.
Having a good experience gave me the confidence to try another hike the following week and now, four weeks later, I’ve hiked four more trails—one a week for the last four weeks—and have survived each both physically and mentally unscathed: I haven’t been serial-killed or attacked by wildlife or—and this is the real accomplishment—yeeted myself off a cliff.
I plan to continue hiking once a week for the next three weeks. After that, my high-schooler will be back in school and the rhythm of our days will change. I don’t yet know how hiking will fit into them. I’d like to keep hiking through mid-October. If these two summer months end up being it for my 2025 season, that’s okay. I logged many more miles on the trail this summer than I expected to and I’m so grateful that I did. I’ve missed hiking so badly and I’m beyond happy to be back. I feel more like myself when I’m out there.
Post-hike, I picked up a mini pizza from a pizza place that I loved as a kid (and still love as an adult) and set up shop with it and a library book under the tree out front, where I spent the entire rest of my afternoon and evening. A dream. I love being outside (during nice weather).
After I got home and before I set up outside, I filled in the entry for this hike in my Letterfolk Hike Passport, while the details I wanted to include were still fresh. In keeping with the format I’ve followed for this project so far, I’ll eventually have a photo from the hike professionally printed and staple it to that dot-grid page (the Instax photos will be clipped to inside of the back cover).
The yellow flower-shaped clip is from a pack of Midori P-51 clips, which I’m almost certain I bought at Cargo but may have picked up at Oblation (two local stores I love). You can find these clips in various shapes in a number of online stationery shops.
I’m pleased to announce that I’m finally making some progress on this project. Slowly. Surely.
Build-A-Bear is my family’s most-enduring holiday tradition. Others we’ve done many years—Santa pancakes on Christmas morning, Elf, Krispy Kreme right when they open (6 am) in our pajamas. Build-A-Bear is the only one we’ve done every single year since our first visit, which we didn’t know at the time would become a holiday tradition, in December 2013.
This mini album is very simple: mostly photos and holiday-themed paper, with very minimal extras and embellishments. So far, I’ve completed the cover page, a decorative insert, and the pages for 2013 through 2020. I’ve still got the intro page and the pages for 2022 through 2024 to go.
The album is clear acrylic with glitter that I ordered years and years ago from a shop that no longer exists (sorry!). The front of the cover page is the back of a Persnickety Prints coupon from almost 10 entire years ago. I’ve held onto it all this time, waiting for the perfect opportunity to use it in a project. I’m so glad I waited. It really is perfect for this project. To the back of it, I adhered a piece of a letterpress greeting card that I cut down to fit (3″ x 4″). Once I figure out what I want to say, I’ll type up a short blurb about this tradition on that piece of white card stock.
Following the currently blank intro page is a decorative insert I made using a Photo Flips pocket (I cut off the strip with the adhesive) filled with stuffing and a heart from Build-A-Bear (each year I ask to take a small handful of stuffing and a heart to keep as a memento of our family’s holiday tradition and every year (so far) they’ve allowed it), star-shaped glitter from my stash, and a few pieces of the gold thread I used to sew the pocket closed.
And then, the photos (and papers)! On the back of each photo, I adhered a piece of holiday-themed paper cut down to fit—gift wrap that I’ve saved from Chistmases past, old Project Life filler cards, and scrapbook paper. Before adhering, I played around with the order of these papers to ensure they flowed well with each other and with the photo they’d be opposite of (above) when flipping through the album. And then, of course, I messed up the order when adhering them. Such is life.
From the beginning, I knew I wanted to include the date of each year’s visit. How to do this was the question. I decided to stamp each visit’s date on vellum using my Mega Date Stamp. Because I had only enough papers to work up to 2021 and because my date stamp was already set to 2021 and it’s a bitch to change, I worked backward from there. Had I worked forward from 2013, I would’ve learned much earlier in the process that my stamp only goes back to 2015. Oops! I’m still not sure what, if anything, I’m going to do about this.
I had the photos printed by Persnickety Prints. I decided on black and white because the lighting in Build-A-Bear is atrocious (it’s giving jaundice) and I wanted the finished project to be visually appealing and consistent without having to do much (any) editing.
I’ll pick this project back up around November—it’ll be easier to find holiday-themed papers then (I’m out of holiday-themed papers, I don’t want to repeat patterns, and while I could order holiday-themed paper online at any point during the year, I prefer to shop in person for paper items so I can see and feel the quality of them before committing)—and will share more photos of the finished (well, caught-up) album closer to the end of this year/the beginning of next.
