About Sense Memory

Explore the Pacific Northwest of my memories at the beautiful places I’ve been lucky enough to see since moving to Washington in 2008. With this project, I revisited the past in sync with the seasons. We snowshoed at Snoqualmie Pass, hiked at Mt. Rainier, camped for the solstice, tidepooled at Deception Pass, and road tripped across Vancouver Island.

For each memory, I chose three photos and one song I loved that month that best encapsulated the experience, and shared a brief story and reflection about that memory. I’ve shared what I learned from writing and curating the first season.

Seasons

The first season, Spring 2021, included adventures in Washington plus “spring break” in the Southwest.

The Summer 2021 season stuck to Washington State, hitting some of our outdoor crown jewels, from Tacoma (Mount Rainier) to the North Cascades.

A third and final mini season focused on road trips, mostly in British Columbia, ran in Fall 2021.

Posts are organized by month; for another reading order, try by year:

2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020

Extras

Nine photos that didn’t make it.

All Sense Memory songs in one playlist on Spotify.

Inspiration

This project was inspired by Craig Mod’s huh project, David Shanske, and writing about newsletters by Robin Sloan, Patrick Tanguay, Robin Rendle, and others. I’m a fan of websites myself, but also feel the allure of email newsletters. My compromise was to send emails with Substack but simultaneously publish here.

About Tracy

I’m Tracy Durnell (she/her), a graphic designer and writer in the Seattle area. I blog about creativity and productivity, and finding inspiration in nature at cascadiainspired.com. I’m a native plant nerd and wildlife gardening enthusiast.