Tempting, but the Ice?

So as the winter moves on and the temperatures get lower, inevitably ice begins to form in the bay. Less than a week ago it was over 50˚ and I was tempted to head into the bay and do some paddling. Single digits and 30 mph winds tomorrow, I now wish I had gone out last week! Kayaks and ice below.

 

Blowing Snow - Short Lived

Here are a couple of shots of David doing the snowblower thing last week with the snow we got and at least have kept for a few days. Glad the ski areas finally got some God-made snow to add to all the "home-made" they've been laying down. I love the big round "snowflakes" in the flash path!

Almost a Week Old

Jackson is back into the gaining weight stage and doing well in his new home on a pleasant street in Portland. I FaceTimed with Torrey tonight and then he sent me the pic below. I'll post one of mine on here as well. Photographing really young, as in newborn, children is pretty easy, but taking great pictures of young people is always a challenge. The "pros" always seem to have some good tips that help them be successful in this genre.

Jackson as a newborn last week.

Jackson Avery Johnson...

...was born at 11:11 on Thursday, January 5th. The above photos in descending order are: Jackson with a flash (dim light in the hospital - I had to reset my camera flash), Jackson trying to get a digit in mouth, wrinkled up feet, my two sons and grandson, and the new family.

What a rush to see all this happen and to hold that fragile little piece of life in my arms. He is so bright, looking around and moving and stretching his limbs! What a day!

Mind Ghosts

My muse was working on this piece... I've been working with my "gorilla brush" and India ink during the break a bit and I got to thinking about thinking. Metacognition, "they" call it.

Someone once told me that the proverbial "they" were simply "them what knows", or people of a supposedly broader experience than others, or at least broader than those who are making the reference to "they". A life goal for me would then be to become a "they". 

So I'm working this piece out and it seems so familiar, something I've done (similarly) numerous times before, and it dawns on me that the subconscious background that I enjoy picking out of (or adding to) my work, while being largely imagination, has to have real resources in my experience of the world. So my muse licks in, I complete this 11X14 inch piece and immediately long to produce something larger. Unfortunately my time is not my own and I have (last minute, of course) a number of things to accomplish for school this week. The piece is above and two details are below.

Freeze... Thaw, Freeze... Thaw

The weather outside is frightful, but the pattern of the weather is even more frightful when one considers the impact, long term anyway, of global warming. How can anyone deny that global warming is happening? In any case, it really shouldn't be about the effect, but about the cause, and it will behoove us as a planet to reduce carbon emissions, but can we really do that with China and India emerging as industrial nations with huge populations? Too many questions, so here are a couple of photos that for me demonstrate the freeze thaw cycle we seem to be going through lately.

Quilt Making

It's odd funny how priorities develop in one's life. I always thought that I had complete control over the sequence in which things, all things, get done in my life, assuming that control was the "organizing" factor. But I've begun to discover that the tasks (I'll call them tasks here, and yet feel that word is too harsh) order themselves in many ways, all I have to do is just find the right time or the "extra" time to accomplish them. It's all about time, isn't it?
So, anyway, here we go again, I'm running out of time to put this post up, I need to fetch Jen a cup of coffee as the 6 o'clock alarm just went off, and I need to shower and get ready for school.
Last weekend was spent doing quilts for the grandchildren (and grandchildren-soon-to-be), so without revealing the finished work and spoiling a surprise, I'll post some pictures here. I need to start taking more photos and getting back to this site, I really enjoy it!
Interestingly, this is my 100th post for this year, half as much as in the previous two years. That says a lot to me about "new things", lifelong learning, and losing interest...

Night Time Related

These two shots... the first was taken in my basement after bringing in the solar lights that line the walkways around the shore and patio all summer. They were thrown randomly into a box and then put in the dark basement. The light came from within.

The second shot is from my kayak last night as I got home before dark (hard to do now) and decided that a "paddle" was in order, so I made my way around the bay and got a few shots before the night had closed. It was beautiful and this picture just gives a sense of how amazing it was on the water!

School Activities...

So Liz had some "ladies" laying ceramic tile this week, and were doing a super job of it when I took the first shot. What fun and it really makes the wall look cool!

Also, we did a "Tie Dye Tuesday" after school workshop, and got several teachers and a bunch of students preparing clothing for the weekly "tie_dye Friday" that the Art Department does at MDI. George and I even did dress shirts in tie dye.

And, finally, we've been doing tessellations in Fiber Arts and I shot one of a student on my iPad. Yes, it does tessellate!

Tall Chairs

These two photos were taken at USM and I thought the tall chairs sculpture was an amazing piece. Just got around to posting these photos. It's about the shadows after all, n'est ce pas?