I guess I was in kind of a "wild flowery" mood this morning, and the flowers such as lupine, clover blossoms and daisies made a beautiful bouquet for my sister-in-law Lynne's shop down at the Grange Hall. The blueberries have in large part gone beyond the blossom stage and are already starting to bud into small berries. It's fascinating to watch them go through their changes, almost like a caterpillar into a moth only no cocoon involved. Nature is beautiful.
I finally got the boat motor running again today, and after all the hassle with the trailer axle, the steering and such I hope to take it up to Flanders tomorrow for a test run. I thought the shot with it through the lupine was kind of descriptive of the way it has been in the background of things for a while over the winter. Maybe we can use it some this summer.
As I went out to water the garden just before the sun went down, I noticed the sun in the rear view mirror of my truck. It gave quite a bright reflection, so I tried to capture the sunset. I took a few of these and this was the one that came out the best. I got some good pictures today... it was a good day.
This morning I was a bit late getting up for my workout, but it was worth it as the moon on the water was gorgeous!
Today is Torrey's birthday, and I took a negative from a 1978 film sheet and printed it in the darkroom at school, then posted it on Torrey's FaceBook page. Matthew and I called him "the Alien Baby" when he was little like this. Ahhh, life. I guess I just have to realize it is what it is and call it good.
The "Outing Club" did a hike around the Witch Hole Pond loop and one of my fiber arts students invited me along. I'm so glad I did it as it was a wonderful way to connect with students, some who are in my classes and some who are not. It's nice to spend some time with kids outside of class, and it was interesting to hear one student say "you're just the same out of school as you are in school". "Hey", I responded, "just liking to keep it real." I didn't get the chance to ask what the expectation is, but apparently some teachers "wear a face" in school.
Anyway, it was a great afternoon, enough of a breeze to keep any bugs from lighting, a good chance to talk to kids about non-school stuff and get to know them better, and good exercise to boot. I seem to find myself doing double workouts during the longer days of summer anyway. I got some cool pictures and will post three of them.
Wow! Two days in a row of double entries, don't know what's gotten into me.
I feel at times that I have no control over what I do and feel and that the flow of time is just passing by me as I watch events unfold. In many ways I am good with that in terms of my thoughts and day to day passing moments, but in some ways I just need to cool the fires and let sleep overtake me. After the rough night of sleeplessness last night that should be easy tonight as the weather has cooperatively cooled. I can't imagine living in a southern climate, or even leaving Maine on a permanent basis. Restless, my sleep will take me many places tonight I am sure.
Here are a couple of photos from the MDI High School Art Society "chairs" exhibit. I'm really excited about these students and what they have done. The group has gotten better each year and this exhibit is very dramatic with the variations on the wooden chairs from my art room. They were painted about 10 years ago, and needed a "re-coat". The group picked up on this and did them as our annual "Induction Event" exhibit. I was delighted with the way raising the chairs took them out of their natural context and "elevated" them to an art form!
What a beautiful day! Sunshine and the range of beauty we can always expect in Maine. Enough said, just enjoy the view...
Rhododendrons are very beautiful, especially with the green leaves to compliment the blossoms. The original bush we got last year did not survive the winter, but was guaranteed, so we got another, planted it in what hopefully is a better location, and voila!
We planted scallions for salads and such last year, didn't clean them out of the garden in the fall, and they wintered over and have blossomed and are now going to seed. All living things are amazing, and we must take care of our planet!
I got home after school today and looking down at the shore I contemplated my inspiration problem and somehow I realized that inspiration, that the artistic eye is always there and it really is just a matter of listening to the inner voice and responding to it. It often feels like "life gets in the way" as a friend recently put it, but life really only gets in the way when you let it. That flow that we all truly possess, that flow of understanding and seeing is a matter of perception, of course, but it also a matter of being mentally prepared to perceive, of understanding that you don't have to "find" the beauty of life because it is already there all around one. I always get a kick out of the "let it find you" theory because I honestly think that "it" (the beauty of life/art) is always there, just waiting for each of us to recognize it in our turn.
So after I had these contemplations, I took my camera down to the front of the house, saw dozens of shots, and found my way to the water and the high tide. I liked all of the three I have chosen to post for different reasons, but I will let you be the judge.
There are some gorgeous trees out there right now, including a few in our back yard. At the risk of presenting too many close-ups, I had to post this photo taken this morning. A couple of shots that were of the full tree were all right but they lacked the intimacy of the one I am posting. I think I may well have seen beauty before with this very tree, but a new day should always be a fresh look, a new photograph, eh?
