A Photo Journey Through August - My Fuji Journal

The Matchbook | 9.12.25

When you see this post, when you browse your way through the month that was August—the emotional punch in the guts of your heart and slap in the face of your soul—Sarah and I will be waking up in Dublin, Ireland, then doing the bravest thing I can think of:

Flying RyanAir to Edinburgh.

I’m sure the next time you hear from me, I’ll have a horror story to tell about how they overcharged us for a bag that really did fit into their stupid sizing thing, but whatever. We’re doing it.

Anyhow, this is not about that, this is about the month of August we just came through. This work is only made possible by the paid subscriber community. I’m not exaggerating when I say, I NEED YOU, some of you, to support this place. I make so little doing it, it makes it harder and harder each month to make ends meet doing so. If you wanna keep Signal Fire alive, please, consider upgrading your subscription.

Onward…

Click on the first and it’ll let you see them bigger and scroll through each one :)

August was, as August usually is, stiflingly hot in Montana. Had our amazing family in town for a family reunion (that Sarah and I missed as we had to photograph a wedding) but it was lovely spending time with nieces, nephews, and siblings. We took everyone downtown to vintage and antique shops, along with Addie’s amazing friend Gilly (pronounced Jill-y, but spelled the same as our pup, Gilly, that’s pronounced like fish gills haha) who just makes every activity 395% more entertaining. Sarah had her own family in town from the Chicago area, and then, before we even understood what was happening, it was time to move Henry into his college dorm. The last two photographs are the beginning of that day, and oof, what a day in Missoula, MT it was.

Moving day was chaotic, and bizarre. He’s an athlete, on the Cross Country and Track teams for the University, so he had to move in a week before the other kids. This sucked. No one was there, no RAs, RDs, no kids, no hustle or bustle, just empty rooms and dark hallways. It was exciting for him, but sad and a bit heavy. It was nothing like when I moved into school, lacking all the bluster and noise and promise of excitement. Still, we made it through, and after a teary drive home, we got back into the swing of things for a short time, going to a few local markets, watching forest fire planes buzz overhead endlessly, enjoying some magical sunsets, and more time with Gilly, the girl and the dog haha. The tongue sticking out photo feels straight out of Bob Dylan’s archives from the 1960s and I dig it.

The emotions kept on coming, as Addie’s other best friend Margaret, came by to say goodbye before leaving for her own college departure. It was heavy, and it drummed up a lot of tears, but we again got through it. Like clockwork, another fire erupted North of town, and Sarah and I could still see it when we drove out of Helena to Bozeman, to fly to Louisville, KY for another wedding. Louisville was, in a word, SURPRISING. We had no idea what to expect, and after an absolute debacle with our Airbnb check-in at 10:30pm, we ended up right downtown staying at another installation of the famous 21C Museum hotel. They are amazing. Luckily for us, this one was right next to both the Louisville Slugger Factory & Museum, AND the Muhammed Ali Center Museum. We did both, and both blew us away. Totally worth the money, totally worth getting lost for most of the day, and we had a blast. Also, David’s giant butt and giant tiny ween were on full display, cast in gold, right outside the museum hotel doors. Also also, Sarah would have been absolutely destroyed, had she tried to box Ali, if her shadow boxing is any indication.

Wrapped up the wedding and trip to Louisville with a stop in the raddest, largest, weirdest vintage store I’ve ever seen, the Fleur de Flea Vintage Market, that was absolutely sprawling. Sarah ended up with the best finds, legitimately, I’ve ever seen, including 1950s Swedish Military pants in her favorite color of green that fit her like a damn dream. We then went to Muhammed Ali’s grave (you should know, Sarah was obsessed with Muhammed Ali in high school, we’re talking weirdly obsessed) and found, hanging above his headstone in a beautiful tree, Ali’s Bees. His own little bee hive that they actually harvest honey from. Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee, indeed. Less than 36 hours after flying home, we were driving to Bozeman, MT, the place we just flew home INTO, to watch Henry run his first ever college cross-country meet! He did amazing, loved it, and then we were back on the road, headed home, to get wildly sick only a day later with something we must have got on the plane home from Louisville. Fun.

All in all, the month was a beautiful, emotional, heavy, entertaining, hot, bizarre one. No doubt, September will be just as wild.

I hope you all still like these. They are the most personal glimpse I can give you into this weird life of mine, and it feels like a real privilege to do so.

I love you all. Be good.