Fall is Here Now...

...as the moon gets fuller and the evenings become colder I am in anticipation of fall and the beauty it presents us. I took my photo one kids out for a "mini field trip" this moring during "A" block and it was great for the low sun and the shadows that students found in their photographs while looking for "fall color". I am inspired to take them around the island one of these mornings!

The mist grabbed me at several spots on the way into school this morning, and the peaceful calm of that time of day is such a stress reducer!

Shopping Cart

All I needed was mints, but that low sun always gets me! Picture me running around in the parking lot moving carts into just the right light. (Yeah, I had to "set up" the photo.) Not perfect... shooting into the light and that piece of crap on the ground in the foreground I didn't notice until transfer to computer!

RoadKill? Or Something Else?

Dan and I made this discovery on the way to Haystack a couple of weekends ago, but I really wanted to post this photo... It may explain some of those animals we see in the roads here in Maine. Laughter, the best medicine! Sorry if I offend any animals activists groups, but I did post the original "roadkill" website!

Yesterday's sail...

Working on the roof to move the air exchange intake to accommodate burning some wood this winter was the main job for yesterday, then David and I headed into the bay, up around Calf Island and back for a nice afternoon sail, hopefully not the last of the fall. Today was a lot less eventful, looking over cars and a trip to Winter Harbor for steel to repair my truck. No camera today as I was recharging the battery for it, but the light was cloudy diffused anyway.
The highlight yesterday during our sail was the view of the cruise ship at Bar Harbor. We couldn't see it from our house, but I got a good shot or two from south of Sheldrake Island.
Back to school tomorrow and I will be glad in so many ways to see everyone and my young artists again.

Strange and Scary Days...

The last thing I remembered was sitting down at the kitchen table for a celebratory dinner with my youngest son Torrey and his new fiancee Allison. I gained full consciousness a day and a half later in the ICU at Eastern Maine Medical Center. I call it consciousness because I was aware of my surroundings, but it was an awareness that was very distorted and disorienting. Let me explain.
Part of my morning ritual is to go to a drawer in the pantry and take my oldest son's medication to him when I do my morning workout. He has suffered from schizophrenia for years now and is on quite a variety of "heavy duty" medications, which he takes twice daily. The evening doses of the families meds (vitamins, heart meds for me, etc.) my wife Jennifer sets out for the family as the table is set for dinner each night. Monday evening Matt had decided not to eat with the family and everyone else had taken their medications before I got to the table, so... I had to get my own pills from the pantry drawer. It seems (I do not remember specifically doing this) that I reverted to my daily routine and took the pills from Matt's pill box and swallowed them.
The rest of the details have been described to me by several members of my family, and they coincide with what I do recollect from the experience. Everyone thought I was having a stroke as I sat at the table, lowering my head and curling my fingers, palms up, and lapsing into unconsciousness. The MTs arrived within 10 minutes (what an amazing resource we have in our small communities). At some point I stopped breathing voluntarily and so had a breathing tube inserted during my trip to the Ellsworth hospital. My stay at Ellsworth was brief as there was no room in the ICU, and so I was sent directly to EMMC, where I began to slowly gain consciousness.
My regaining of awareness, strangely, was very insightful to me. I displayed to visitors (and to myself as I was aware but without control) symptoms that were very similar to the symptoms that Matthew had displayed many times over the past 15 years. I saw strangers that would appear in my room and then vanish before my eyes after I had communicated back and forth with them, I had conversations with visitors that created puzzled expressions on their faces (my thoughts were full of unconnected tangents), and I had people talking to me that I could not see, the "voices" that entered uninvited into my consciousness. My speech was slurred, I had difficulty getting words out, and any complexity to language and thought was, at first, almost impossible. As time went by, and my body purged itself of "toxic medications" my speech and thoughts began to improve, and by Thursday morning I was somewhat myself, with only a sore throat (from the tracheal tube I suspect) as a physical symptom. I had blood drawn each day as doctors (who are excellent, as are the nurses and staff at both EMH & EMMC) were concerned about pneumonia developing from bacteria in my lungs, and then Friday the blood cultures came back negative and I left the hospital around 6 p.m. that night.
If you have read this far I want to sincerely extend my deepest gratitude for your concern (or even curiosity as they are spiritually connected) and the many prayers and well wishes that have been presented to me over the past week. I firmly believe in the power of the collective spirit, and without the caring thoughts of family, friends, and colleagues I would not have survived this experience. Thank you all!

Haystack Weekend (MAEA)

I almost dislike putting up this post because it marks the end of a wonderful weekend. The opportunity for art teachers all around the state to come together for 3 days of art-making and conversation is one of the best professional development experiences that visual arts teachers receive here in Maine.
We had a great crew, Shira Singer was the only one missing, and even she was there in spirit! Everyone was in a variety of classes, and we will do a faculty "Haystack Show" in mid-October of all the work that was produced!
Haystack moves my spirit!

Find the Wild Turkey...

Neglected? Or Just Forgotten?

I attended a workshop on using First Class client software yesterday after school, or rather from 1-5 p.m., at the MDI Bio Lab. My principal and I rode down to the session together and I looked up the table as we were finishing up for the day - and he was gone! I looked around the parking lot and saw that his car was gone as well. After an initial panic, I got a ride back to school with a colleague, but had to come up with a way to respond to this somewhat insignificant oversight. I had one of the people I ride share with take this picture of me at the Taunton River Bridge and I emailed it to my principal suggesting that I made it home OK and was there before dark so felt good about the experience. I happened to be in a meeting with him this morning when he opened it and I was duly rewarded by his embarrassment. He had completely forgotten about me...

Construction

Hey! If life gives you lemons, then make lemonade, right? I don't recall how many times I have heard that, but it is a sentiment that I adhered to this morning on the way to school. I'm sitting with the engine shut off waiting for the construction as we go onto the island and looking to my left I see the "bump" sign and the sun poking through the clouds. I liked the look of it so I snapped a couple of shots. I'm pleased with the results, and there is something about the sign and the fact that we often have "bumps" in our road of life that have meaning for me. Sometimes a picture takes some time to grow on you and develop a personality.

Surprise Visit!

I love it when students come back to visit me, and many of them stay in touch and make an occasional connection through email or FaceBook. It really is amazing to see how young people change even over a few short years, and the maturity and life experience they bring back often move me in amazing ways. I've always loved to teach, and to teach young people methods and materials to express themselves is beyond belief rewarding. I have seen students just this past week gather the rhythms of full arm motion drawing (and truly appreciate the video I made of them doing it), discover a new sensibility (and sense of self) for the art of collage, and beam with glee at the results of their first photograms.

Today, one of the top art students I have ever worked with came into my room with the new life she had created. They were both beautiful! Thanks.