This morning we woke up to rain and Little Wonder did not want to go outside. After it stopped I cut some peonies for our kitchen table.

WRITINGS AND PHOTOGRAPHS FROM A SMALL COMMUNITY IN WESTERN NEW YORK
This morning we woke up to rain and Little Wonder did not want to go outside. After it stopped I cut some peonies for our kitchen table.

If this is going to be our summer, I am in deep tapioca. 85 degrees and I could really feel it.
At 8:15 I got a call from my friend Hanny's daughter, asking me to do a drawing of a tree for an event she is working on. Gary had already picked me some rhubarb that I was making into sauce....
“My father saw some of the photos I took and said, ‘That’s it, this is your artistic gift.’ He helped me buy my first professional camera, and I haven’t stopped since,” says Michele Ashlee-Meade, photographer, hairstylist, and humanitarian.
Michele captures spare, emotionally honest moments of people in the simple act of being. She says, “I like to photograph anything that reveals something about how people live, struggle, and celebrate. Most of the time I’m drawn to the person, though, not necessarily what they are doing or where they are. That’s just a bonus if I capture the landscape or their situation.”
Michele Ashlee-Meade’s upcoming show opens at Hart Gallery 27 in Brockport on Friday, June 5, 2026 from 5-8 pm. The evening is free and open to the public.
When we arrived, Julie T. (one of Stephanie's longtime friends) was there with her daughter standing in front of our pictures. (Later, Michelle told us that Jenny bought them).
All those being photographed wrote something about themselves....and that made each photo so special. Here's an example.

Another beauty. 83 degrees.
This morning Little Wonder and I were doing our usual thing and someone came to the door to buy rhubarb. We have a sign out by the road and always pull it when ordered so it is fresh.