My Mother's Day was Just Ducky!

Quack, quack! I went up to Eugene, Oregon, home of the University of Oregon, to spend Mother's Day Weekend with my son Henry. The school mascot is a duck, and I was delighted to find actual ducks walking around campus. This fine fellow was right outside of  Henry's dorm.  The weekend was organized by his fraternity, Sigma Chi, and I was looking forward to meeting many of his friends and their mothers, as well as spending time with my boy.  I arrived on Friday, met up with Henry, and took him to the mall to do some shopping. I bought him a football jersey as a belated birthday present.

That's his roommate, Kent, photo-bombing. Kent is also in the same fraternity (as is Kent's cousin), and Kent's mom and Aunt stayed in the same hotel as me, and we spent lots of time with them.  In addition to his jersey, Henry needed new shoes and more socks. He thought someone was stealing socks from his laundry, until I explained to him that disappearing socks are just a fact of life when it comes to laundry. No one's stealing them, I told him, it's just what happens. And I reminded him of the basket in our laundry room at home which contains about 30 single socks (which had admits to never having noticed). We went back to the hotel and had calzones and cookies delivered before calling it a night!
On Saturday, we went to the Eugene Saturday market, where he bought me a nice bracelet for Mother's Day, and then we played in a mother-son miniature golf tournament with other members of his fraternity. Everyone was really nice.
Afterwards, we went for a walk to the football stadium.

You walk down a path, past the field where Henry plays intramural softball and then over a bridge and into the forest.

Before you know it, you emerge from the woods to see Autzen Stadium:

Afterwards, we went out to a lovely dinner with the rest of Henry's pledge class and then off to a couple of parties. The parties were really fun! I drank, I danced, I played drinking games, I chatted with other moms, I drank some more . . . you get the idea. It's been a long time since I've done anything like that, but I was none the worse for wear in the morning!

Henry and I went to the movies (a low brow Seth Rogan comedy called Neighbors, which fit the theme of the weekend perfectly because it was about a fraternity moving into a suburban neighborhood). And then it was time for me to head home.

All-in-all, it was a lovely weekend. Hope yours was too!

More Gratitude tags

I'm really enjoying "The Art of Practising Gratitude" class hosted by Bernice.  For the prompt on inspiration, I used the suggested bubble wrap printing technique and journaled that "I have been inspired by brave artists, bold colleagues and fierce mothers." For the prompt on "Be Positive," I followed the painting with stencils technique and used the quote "Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things truly are."

I made this very simple tag because I wanted to highlight this quote. They key to happiness is being grateful for what you have.

I broke out my distress inks and journaled about the importance of making time to do the things you love. And here's what my tag book looks like now:

I'm off for the weekend to visit Henry in Oregon for Mother's Day. I hope your weekend is filled with inspiration, joy and gratitude.

One Photo and Twenty-One Words: Art Journal Page

Thinking about whether I successfully guide my girl, 
wondering if what I say sinks in,
I work it out through art.

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Linking up with Abi at Creating Paper Dreams and her monthly meme.

ZIZO #19: Wild flowers

Spring has arrived in full bloom here on the coast. The other day I was walking the dogs and stopped to capture this patch of wild flowers - zoomed in to see the delicate beauty and zoomed out to see the raucous wonder. It made me think of that wonderful quote by A.A. Milne: "Weeds are flowers, too, once you get to know them."
To check out other ZIZO pairings, check out Helena's blog here.

Photo Heart Connection: Taking Flight and A Private Moment

Every month, Kat Sloma hosts a link-up she calls "Photo Heart Connection," where she encourages photographers and artists to review their monthly work and pick the one which most touches their heart. It's funny, but in April, she couldn't find a photo for this month (read about it and see other PHC entries here). I had a bit of a hard time finding an April photograph, and I skipped the practice entirely in March (more on that later). I did have a couple of April photos of my kids which touched my heart:

Henry looking all grown up on the day of his interview with the Giants

Clara and her team mates at the Arcadia Invitational

But they weren't really doing it for me, in a PHC kind of way. So I looked back through my track photos from April and chose the photograph up top. A photograph I took of Abby (one of Clara's team mates) doing the high jump. The photograph touches my photographic heart because of its technical beauty. I love being a sports photographer. I enjoy taking portraits, still lifes, street photography, nature shots and other types of photography, as well.

But I take immense joy in becoming the best sports photographer I can be. I have been on a journey this track season learning how to photograph track. And, at a recent meet, I spent about an hour by the high jump pit. Figuring out the angles; watching the light. Talking with another women who was photographing the jumpers. And, even though none of my children do the high jump (or maybe because of it), I felt really inspired. I felt that photo-heart connection as I captured Abby taking flight. And sailing over the bar.

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Photo Heart Connection: March

 At the end of March, I was on a bit of a blog break. I thought about doing PHC, but I actually felt overwhelmed by the number of PHC contenders. I finally settled on this one:

"After a long day of work" - a photograph which perfectly captures a moment. Late at night, after having taught an evening class. I come home, I take off my shoes and socks, but I'm still in my dress slacks. I'm tired. But still a bit too wired to sleep. I'll probably go upstairs and watch a bit of TV. Have a light snack. And unwind. When I look at this photo, I'm immediately drawn back into the moment. A private moment. Unknown to others, but one which defines the edges of my work life.

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And here are a few of the other contenders:

My bedside table at night

A still life "Unlocking the Past"

Clara with a puppy at the Humane Society

Before the boys 3200 meter race

Each of these touches my heart for a different reason, but I'm happy with my March choice. And happy that I took the time to not just review my photographs, but write about the connection. For it is in the writing that I learn more about myself. As a photographer. As an artist. And as a person. Thank you Kat. And I'm looking forward to where your current journey takes you.

My Month in Numbers: April 2014

Julie Kirk, over at Notes on Paper, hosts a monthly link up called "My Month in Numbers" I participate only sporadically. This month, inspired by a bunch of paper scraps left on my desk by Clara after doing a make-up project for art, I decided to play along. I glued some of the scraps onto a page in my Road Atlas art journal, added some painting, a little stenciling and journaling about my month. It's mainly about the road trips I took, but also talks about the chickens and classes taught, the local track meets and Henry's big interview.
It includes:
387 miles to Arcadia, California; 4x1600 meters in 21:49
2,000 miles to Minneapolis, MN
25 miles to AT&T Park
3 plane flights; 3 road trips
24 miles to USF
6 chickens, 43 students
4  track meets, 9 classes (it felt like more)
550 miles to Eugene, OR; 8 happy croppers. 
I found this easy to do because I've been taking a picture a day in the "Collect" app, to help me remember what I've been up to. Here's a collage I made of my collected photos:

A big shout out to Debs who turned me on to the app. If you want to see other months in number posts, head over to Julie's round up here.

A Peek Inside the Kitten Nursery

Clara and I hustle up the stairs at the Peninsula Humane Society to the second floor Kitten Nursery for our 5:00 p.m. dinner shift. Seven years ago, the PHS started this all-volunteer effort as a way to save the hundred-plus kittens between 2 and 6 weeks that would arrive at the shelter without a mom during "kitten season" (spring - early fall). Without special feeding arrangements and veterinary care, these kittens would surely perish. 

We head into the front room to check the boards and see what needs to be done. There are four cages  nurseries with a litter of kittens in each nursery that need tending. There's also a note on the board "There are 16 kittens in the back nursery!"  Clara and I decide to split up. She'll work with the volunteers up front, and I head into the back to help the volunteer there.
I walk into the back nursery, and the kittens are hungry! I am greeted by their crying chorus: "mew, mew, mew!" Some are climbing up their front doors. Time to get to work. Nursery 1 has four kittens. Each one needs to be weighed, fed and have its paper work updated. Most of the kittens need to be fed with a syringe. 

I grab a kitten by the scruff of its neck, settle him on his back feet, wiggle the syringe into the corner of his mouth, and say some encouraging words while I squirt the food in. I'm learning how much each kitten can eat and how fast. Inevitably some ends up on their face, on the towel, on the outside of the syringe and on me. It's a messy process. But very fulfilling! 

Before we put the kittens back, we quickly check their nursery, making sure the towels and litter box are clean. We leave some food because the goal is to get them to eat on their own. We shape a towel into a donut and place it onto the warm spot created by the heating pad under the towels. The kittens, with full tummies, are all warm and sleepy. The picture of contentment; no mewling now.

After a very busy three hour shift, we mop the floors and make sure everything looks good. I snap a quick picture from the public viewing area of the front nursery. Tomorrow morning a new shift of volunteers will arrive for the morning feeding. I hope they all got a good night's sleep!