The red wine that my new friend Rhonda and I shared that evening helped our conversation flow, though we discovered that we really didn't need the assistance. Evening had fallen on the little town of Astoria in far Northwest Oregon, and the orange-yellow lights of the crab boats coming in from sea were bright in the Columbia as a grand story of love unfolded at Rhonda's dining room table.

We poured another glass of wine, and Rhonda's eyes danced with joyful memories of her husband, Dwight, a photographer and pastor. Like my husband, he exited this world far too soon, leaving behind a woman adjusting to life without him.

It was my first visit, but the home felt familiar to me. I was born to two artists, and memories of the homes of my childhood came rushing back. Rooms were filled to the brim with an eclectic array of all kinds of art, not just on the walls, but everywhere my eye landed.

Like many of Astoria's homes, it was built in the early 20th century and, as a "working man's Craftsman," had plenty of character. As is common here, Rhonda's home sits perched on one of the town's many hills. A bank of windows reveals an expansive view looking west toward the mouth of the Columbia River, one of the three bodies of water that surround the peninsula on which Astoria sits. Beyond that lies the Pacific Ocean.

Though we had just met, I was an overnight guest, a generosity that Rhonda extended based on the endorsement of a mutual friend. I was grateful, both for the accommodation and for the comfortable exchange of stories. I was experiencing one of the many benefits of being a traveling writer.

The tale of how Dwight and Rhonda's relationship bloomed has everything to do with the love of art they shared and how their unique talents intertwined. Dwight was a photographer who had studied under Ansel Adams, and later, under another acclaimed American photographer, Wynn Bullock. Stonehenge-like monoliths in Scotland had been his latest muse, and his ability to capture the interplay between light, shadow, and stone on those neolithic monuments created majestic images that graced his black and white photos.

Oil paints are Rhonda's chosen medium, and much of her work is hanging in scattered places around the house, sometimes grouped as a series. Rhonda's technique is unique and is inspired by subtractive methods practiced under a couple of her college art professors. Using rags fashioned from garage sale cotton sheets, layers of paint are manipulated to create beautifully ethereal landscapes in muted earthy shades. A by-product of this process is a growing supply of color-soaked rags, and the seeking of a way to make use of them was the catalyst for their love.

Dwight and Rhonda met in 2009 during a post-show dinner at the Astoria Music Festival. Discussion that evening included mutual commiseration on the dismal state of art sales. "The Great Recession," as the snowballing economic crisis of the time was dubbed, had dampened enthusiasm (and the means) for art collection. Dwight, a talented writer who contributed articles to local media, later called Rhonda to interview her for a story about art in troubled times. It turned out that this was the first chapter in another story, theirs.

Around this time, Rhonda had been experimenting with creating outdoor installations of flags made from her large collection of colorful used rags. She became inspired to do a series of these installations in a variety of natural settings, something that perhaps could be described as a sort of "Andy Goldsworthy meets Christo" project. She asked Dwight to photograph her installations, and an artistic collaboration was born. Their goal was to create a book that featured the work they did together.

The project took 14 months. They not only had to find mutually acceptable space in their busy schedules, they were beholden to the will of Mother Nature, with things such as low tides and weather to consider. In Astoria, where it rains a lot, this could be a challenge. But they did it. Flags were installed and photographed at beaches, along trails, and near rivers. In 2011, they published "Unexpected Grace," an art book of installations by Rhonda Grudenic photographed by Dwight Caswell. The book was part of their collaborative gallery show in the same year and, for those interested, is still available for sale on Amazon.

Dwight, who had become enamored with Rhonda during their work together, asked for a "relationship upgrade" after the installations and photography were complete. Rhonda's affection for Dwight grew slowly while she shared with him the poetry she had written to accompany his photographs in the book. "He listened to my thoughts," she said, and they spent many hours together enjoying each other's company. They married in 2017.

Dwight later took Rhonda's flags to Tibet, where he hung them among the traditional prayer flags of that region.

In 2022, just months before he passed from this world, Dwight's photography of Scottish monoliths was featured in an Astoria show which also included his wife, Rhonda, and close friend and potter, David Campiche. Dwight's spirit can still be seen in his photography, remembered in the sermons that touched his parishioners, and felt in the hearts of Rhonda and all who loved him.

"Unable are the loved to die. For love is immortality." Emily Dickinson