Alexander Stuart

Sade in concert in San Jose. All concert photos  Copyright  © 2011  Alexander Chow-Stuart. On Thursday evening, we saw our longtime friend Andrew Hale perform with Sade at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, in one of the most beautifully conceived and produced concert performances I have ever seen. Sade is a rare musician, in that she and the band only write, record and tour every eight to ten years, so that in a very real sense you can measure your life by her. The band's music is always fresh and always newly conceived - for their previous album, Lovers Rock , they stripped everything down musically to a minimalist sound and banished the saxophone that had been so much a part of Sade's heavily soul- and jazz-influenced style. The latest album, Soldier of Love , released in 2010, is one of the most tender, moving collections of songs yet, from the astonishingly beautiful Morning Bird , which features exquisite keyboards from Andrew, to the soulful, retro, return-

All photographs: Alexander Chow-Stuart. On Friday night, the whole family went out on the lake while Hudson fished. As we were coming back across the water, the light changed as the sun set and the moon rose - and for about ten to fifteen minutes we were enveloped by the most sublime color show nature can produce. We just watched in awe...and felt very lucky to be here. All photos: Alexander Chow-Stuart.

The lake, early this morning. All photos: Alexander Chow-Stuart. This morning Hudson and I got up early and decided spontaneously to go out on the lake in our friend, Steve Stewart's electric motor boat (the only kind of of powered craft allowed on the lake). Steve is a friend and neighbor and has been incredibly kind and generous about letting us use his boats since we moved here. It was a beautiful summer's August morning, just cool enough to be comfortable before the sun's heat really dug in, and we felt great as we pushed off and navigated some pretty thick weed close to the shore. Out on the water, there was silence and the kind of calm that too few seven year olds can appreciate fully - but Hudson likes quiet and stillness as much as I do, and we both enjoyed the fact that we were the only people out on the lake. We had to stop from time to time to clear weeds from the propeller, but that only added to the sense of peace. The sun over the river. Hu