We've got many traditions in our family from cutting down our own Christmas tree to spending New Years, Thanksgiving and the 4th of July with our relatives in Happy Valley. One of our more quirky traditions is hunting for meteors whenever the weather is clear during any or the showers. Mark and I started this one back when John was a baby. We'd wait until he'd fall asleep, then we would grab the baby monitor, give it to Mark's mom so she would hear if John woke up. (He usually was good for the night at this point.) Then we would pile into the car and head out to look for some dark place to watch for the meteors grazing the atmosphere or simply burning up in the atmosphere. I remember one yer when we wound up out near Corbett on a country road standing beside the car and praying that the farmer's dogs wouldn't decide we were prowlers while we looked up the glorious black velvet of the sky filled with more stars than we could ever see in the city. Then we'd catch the little lights zipping by the edge of our vision and the occasional brilliant lights that trailed like a comet. It was magnificent. As soon as John was old enough to stay awake he joined in our expeditions.

One year we were really frustrated because Portland was socked in during the Leonid Meteor shower. We sat online listening as other people told of the wonders of this particular shower. I don't know which one of us said it first, but Mark, John and I finally hustled out to the car and started to drive east through the Gorge, trying to outrun the cloud cover. We got past Cascade Locks: cloudy. Hood River: cloudy. Finally we reached the Dalles and saw some stars although the clouds were reaching toward us. We pulled off the freeway somewhere near where you cross the Columbia to go the the Maryhill Museum and watched meteors until the clouds caught up with us. Exhausted, but triumphant, we turned around and headed home.

On the 12th (I guess it's now the 14th . I should be in bed.) we had a busy evening but decided to head out to look for the Perseids. I mean, the sky was clear, the moon had set early. It was perfect meteor-watching weather. So we got into the car and headed out toward the Gorge. We took the old highway anf thought to stop at the Women's Forum viewpoint. We'd watched the Hale-Bopp Comet from there. Unfortunately a big chunk of the population decided to go that way, The parking lot overflowed and cars were parked all along the road, with more cars coming all the time. Every time my eyes started to adjust someone would turn on their headlights or another few cars would pass by. Yikes! We looked at each other, shrugged and headed back to the car. We needed to find a better spot. Mark headed further east along the old highway then we branched off that and then took another branch until we finally came upon a spot with a wide swath of open sky and no other cars. Once we shut our lights off the sky opened up. We saw what seemed like millions of stars along the Milky Way. I could have been happy with that. but then we started to see meteors: the little zippy ones and some of the bigger ones too. I don't know how long we watched, but eventually Mark mentioned that the dogs we could hear in the distance were getting closer and reluctantly we got back in the car and headed home. What a great night that was, our family out there in the night with the stars. I can't wait for the next chance to do this crazy dance with the stars.

~Mary ·

Something I've pondered a lot this month is the way that making music and taking pictures work for me in an amazingly positive way. Regretfully I don't play any instruments very well. I can hunt and peck on the piano and I was reasonably mediocre at strumming a guitar back in the 70s. But I can sing on key and have a good time doing it. When I was younger my family may have wished I wouldn't, but I sang all the time at home, especially when I was doing dishes. (I should learn that one song from Enchanted about cleaning.) I also sang while walking down the street although I did it more softly if people were around. I stopped singing anything except for Christmas carols, at church and at Scout meetings for many years, but then I slowly started again, eventually joining the Conchords Chorale. Singing picks up my mood on the craziest of days. I love the way it makes me feel. We've got a performance tonight and I expect I will be higher than a kite by the time we're done. There is nothing like singing and singing in front of an audience is like adding the cherry on top of a hot fudge sundae.

Similarly having a camera in my hand and searching for "pictures" makes me feel better. The strongest recent experience is the funeral for my father-in-law. I had been fine all week getting ready for the day after the first shock of his passing wore off. But I had a sudden attack of nerves at the church before the service. I cried and hyperventilated. Suddenly I dug into my purse and pulled out the small camera I always carry and I instantly felt more calm. I went out into the chapel and took a couple of shots of the flag-draped casket. Then we took the opportunity to take pictures of family members. By taking this time to use this gift of mine I was able to make it through the service and speak about Joe. Something about using the camera let me relax and be able to do what I needed to do. And this often happens at other times too - put a camera in my hand and I am a happy camper.

And lately I get to combine these two parts of my life by taking pictures of my fellow musicians. What a blessing for me and hopefully those whose pictures I'm taking. The hardest part is that I can't take pictures and sing at the same time. It just doesn't work. Try it some time and you'll see. The pictures go all blurry. Anyway, I just consider myself incredibly lucky that I these two ways of relieving my stress and sharing with other people all at the same time.

Keep smiling,
Mary ·

Thank you Harry Chapin for the words that best describe my life this last month:

All my life's a circle;
Sunrise and sundown;
Moon rolls thru the nighttime;
Till the daybreak comes around.

All my life's a circle;
But I can't tell you why;
Season's spinning round again;
The years keep rollin' by.

It seems like I've been here before;
I can't remember when;
But I have this funny feeling;
That we'll all be together again.
No straight lines make up my life;
And all my roads have bends;
There's no clear-cut beginnings;
And so far no dead-ends.

Chorus:
I found you a thousand times;
I guess you done the same;
But then we lose each other;
It's like a children's game;

As I find you here again;
A thought runs through my mind;
Our love is like a circle;
Let's go 'round one more time.

Chorus

In this month we have had the pain of loss and the joy of knowing that we really will all be together again. Mark's dad passed away at the beginning of the month and it has been hard for all of us. John grew up with his grandparents in the house with us. Grandpa was the one who came to Grandparents Day at school and played tic-tac-toe with a restless little boy at church. He was always calling John over to show him an article or to share one of his coins with him. And he always had the radio on, mostly on the classical music channel. (We're still playing the music.) Joe was the one who made me feel most welcome in this house when we moved here. And in recent years he and I spent a lot of time together as I took over more and more of his care. There was always that quiet "Boo" when we didn't expect it. And the happy look on his face when he shared an article from one of his magazines or told me another story (or the same one) from his childhood. We miss Joe a lot.

At the same time the circle of life keeps spinning and John and I have started the Spring performance season with the Conchords Chorale and have the excitement of singing for people again. It is such an amazing feeling to look out into the audience and see the happiness, the memories and even the sadness of some of the folks out there listening to our music. Because we sing primarily for seniors we can see the light of happy memories in the eyes of the men and women as we sing songs that they remember. This season our theme is Let's Go to the Movies and a lot of folks are singing right along with us.What a wonderful experience this is for all of us.

Back to the song - No straight lines make up my life; And all my roads have bends; There's no clear-cut beginnings; And so far no dead-ends. My life is in the middle of many changes and I'm not sure where the roads are taking me. Maybe I should switch to a song from the Conchords Chorale this year: Que Sera Sera. I don't know where I'm going. I do know that my family and friends will go along with me and what will be, will be. Argghhhh! The words don't come out right, but at least the pictures do. Keep looking at the pictures and let the words straighten themselves out.

Keep smiling, Mary ·

Lots of odd little bits and pieces in the last couple of weeks. I got to be a beta tester for Photoshop CS5 and had a blast! There are so many little and not so little changes that Adobe has made this time around that I keep finding things and going, "Wow!" I can't wait until I can get a copy of my own because it will speed up my workflow. My personal favorite tool now that we can talk publicly about these things is the Content-aware fill that makes it so much easier to clean up the odd stuff that sneaks into a shot when you're not looking. You know, the odd branch growing out of a head, that sort of thing. Yea!!! I hope I get a chance to test again some time because it wasn't just the testing that was fun; it was the community of testers too.

Taxes! Yikes! This was painful for us this year since Mark is still out of work and we had to ante up to Uncle Sam. We expected it, but it just wasn't a fun part of the month. Taxes are always hot button issues anyway. We all complain about them, but I notice we all seem to want the services that they help provide. There's that old saying in life: nothing is sure except death and taxes.

Enough of that subject. Photography! There's a fun and happy subject. I have come across the most amazing things in recent weeks and I haven't gone all that far from home. Just down the street was a yard full of flamingos! You know, the plastic kind, that are usually only one shade of pink? Not this time. They were yellow, too and more than one shade of pink. One wore a pearl necklace and another had a headband, Just the thing to make you smile. Mark and I were coming home form Lloyd Center the other evening and found ourselves behind an amazing old Pontiac wagon. I loved the symbol on the back of the car and shape. And this one had all sorts of stickers on the back window. Incredibly cool. Got to shoot engagement pictures too, That was so much fun as we trotted around the area looking for the perfect spot and shot. Anyway, if you have a camera of any sort, make sure it's with you, even you phone camera because as has been said on the blogs that I read, the best camera is the one that's with you when you need it.

Have a great week! And keep smiling!

Mary ·

In the last few weeks we have gone from a gorgeous early spring to a hint of summer and around back to late winter with tons of snow up in the mountains and heavy rain here in the valley. There have been beautiful flowers, overgrown grass, flattened bushes and strong winds. Sunshine, rains, fabulous clouds. It's all a wonderful metaphor for my life at least. Some days I'm all excited about photos I've taken, new music I've learned, others I am depressed about being a caregiver for my father-in-law and knowing that it's all a matter of time. We have no idea how much time, and that's part of the stress. I go from panicking about money to cashing in my bottle of accumulated change and buying myself a new toy...a DS, the new one, and I'm playing sudoku and Pokemon! It's an amazing ride, ranging from being sure I can't deal to feeling on top of the world because I'm positive everything will be all right. Does this have any deep meaning? Maybe. The only thing I am sure of is that just as the spring weather is never dull because of the way it is constantly changing, my life is never dull because it is always changing too. I think that it's only when everything is exactly the same all the time that one really needs to worry. Or panic. Otherwise, you just need to hold on and go along with the ride and remember to ask for help when needed.

Enjoy the ride!

Mary ·

Everybody needs to get away from the routine once in awhile. Just take off and have fun. Not worry about the chores. duties responsibilities. Well - maybe worry a little, but cover the stuff that needs to be covered and just go. Get in the car and drive somewhere. I've been lucky in recent months that I've gotten to take the sister missionaries on day-long adventures which helped me climb out of the ruts made by my routines. But I didn't get to take off with Mark and John for the day until last Saturday. We got good friends to cover what couldn't just be abandoned (Thanks, Corrinne and Bryan!) Then we climbed into the car and took off on a photo safari to the coast, joining friends from Cleveland High School on our day-long adventure. And we did have an adventure! As the cars climbed into the coast range we found ourselves in a winter wonderland of fresh, fluffy snow. As we came back down there was sunshine. When we got to Astoria we got rain and hail and at Fort Stevens and Cannon Beach we got wind and cold and even a little sun! And all along the way we were able to stop and take pictures. Lots of pictures. It's a challenge to photograph places that you've visited many times, but I think we managed and we had fun. And surprises - at our last stop in Cannon Beach we watched a bridal party march in to do their group and single photos despite the cold and the wind. You don't see that every day. (And yes, I admit it, I took pictures of them too.)

So what's the point of this ramble? Find a way to climb out of the ruts of every day life and have fun and adventure. If you let the ruts get too deep you just might not be able to find the time needed to climb out and life will only be duty and not fun. Everyone needs to fly.

Keep smiling,

Mary

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Last week I was asked why I blog. She couldn't understand why anyone would want to send their thoughts out into the world. I told her then that I did this primarily as a way to share my view of the world, especially though my photography, with other people. That's a large part of my reason, I'm sure. But I also think that I want to make sure that someone is aware that I was here on this earth for however long a time it may be. Think about it - those pioneer women whose diaries we read; they had no idea whether or not anyone would read their words or if anyone would care about their lives, but they hoped. And where is life without hope? I hope that I will reach someone with my words and pictures. And hope is incredibly powerful. It keeps us from caving in to the pressures in our lives. Hope is God's gift to us in the Pandora's Box of our lives.

So why am I waxing philosophical today? I'm not sure exactly. I finished reading Three Weeks with my Brother this morning. It's a memoir by Nicholas Sparks and his brother Micah. Part of the book is about a wonderful trip they took around the world in yes, three weeks. But the larger part of the book revolves around their lives growing up together with their sister and parents, and dealing with the loss of those members of their family, of growing up and reaching out into the world and of always finding their way back to each other. And realizing that life is a precious gift that can be taken away at any moment and thus needs to be treasured and enjoyed and sometimes there will be parts that hurt so incredibly that you want to run away from it. And there will be other parts that you want to hold onto so tightly that it can never change or grow because they are so wonderful.

Excuse my babble. I needed to try to get these thoughts down before they get lost somewhere in the archives of my brain and I might not be abe to access them easily. Have a great day. I walked in the Rhododendron Garden today and it was wonderfully relaxing. Do something for fun. Do something practical. And treasure the gift.

Keep smiling

Mary ·

I can't believe that it's been almost a month since I posted last. You'd think my life had been incredibly boring or something, but the opposite is the truth. Things really got crazy after our little photo safari to Cannon Beach. The biggest thing was John's Eagle Court of Honor on the 24th. I feel that we had been aiming toward this moment from the day that John insisted we go to a presentation on Tiger Cubs when he was in the first grade. That Eagle Court was wonderful. We are so grateful to Julie & Bill, Cathy and Val, the Smith family and so many who did the heavy work so Mark and I could enjoy this moment with John! And we can't forget all of the people who came to honor John for his accomplishment. So many of his scout leaders from troops and camps were there. (No one will ever forget the story of John and the fork from his first Camporee which Mike Hogan started and everyone else elaborated on during the evening.) But the absolute highlights came from John, first when he gave Mark and me a family hug after the presentations and secondly when he gave his remarks, thanking so many people for what they taught him, and then he calmly walked over to the piano where Don Anderson was waiting and sang Into the Fire from the Scarlet Pimpernel after explaining that even though it was about the French Revolution, it was mostly about never giving up in life. I literally had tears in my eyes as I witnessed how far my little boy had come from the kid who wnted to be a Tiger Cub to this young man singing in front of the whole room, giving his own philosophy in the song. What an amazing night!

Then I had the opportunity to go on another adventure with the missionary sisters. This time was a challenge: we couldn't leave until 11:00 AM and had to be back by 5:00. So I thought about where to go and decided Fort Vancouver might be fun. The sisters loved the idea, but these young women approach life with such enthusiasm that they probably would have been happy with just about any activity. They were fascinated with the fort which made it more fun for me because I've been there many times over the years usually with Cub Scouts and once with my Merry Miss girls back in the day. (Courtney might remember the trip.) Sister Wiese was fascinted by what would be growing in the garden in the spring and summer. And she kept throwing in comments from her experiences in living history which she has done with her family. You should ask her about it if you get the chance. Sister Bernard was fascinated with the living conditions of the 19th century and studied everything carefully - she has fun too. You haven't lived until you've heard her laugh. I'm going to miss her now the she's gone home. And Sister Low has a flair for the dramatic and gave me some of my bet photo opps. There was a blacksmith in residence that day and he was a garrulous type with all sorts of information that was more than willing to share. We spent a lot of time in the smithy. But we also had a great time in the carpenter's workshop. No carpenters, but ask the sisters about the RIP gravestone and the casket. We ended our adventure at a Thai restaurant, my first time which added to the fun of the day. I can't wait for our next chance.

Let's see - what else? Well there was a Pinewood Derby where we had 27 cars racing, Cubs, leaders and siblings had cars in the race although the Cubs were the official racers, of course. That was a great evening and everyone had fun because Mark's system lets kid stay in the race the whole time instead of having eliminations. And our proud winners got personalized stands to use with their now-retired cars. (You can only race an official car one year.) Next pack meeting: the Blue & Gold Dinner where we celebrate the 100th anniversary of the BSA!

That's just a sample of what we've been up to this last month. Lots of other things like my perpetual PE class at 24 Hour Fitness and PCC for Mark and John, not to mention the frequent meetings and chances to take photos. One Saturday while John rode bikes with troop 120 Mark and I looked for birds on Sauvie Island. There was this one hawk....but that's a story for another post. And rehearsals with the Conchords Chorale! Fun Times. And I haven't mentioned the chance I had to take pictures at City Hall when the Rose Festival was made the official festival of Portland. The Conchords sang, clowns clowned around and the Second Time Around Marching Band played. What a wonderful morning that was.

Okay, this post could go on forever, but I've got to run. Hopefully I won't wait so long to update again, but you never know. So many places to go, people to see and pictures to make. Keep smiling!

Mary
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I had a bright idea the other day and asked my husband if we had anything planned for this Saturday. His reply was short and sweet: We don't have anything now, but I bet we will." He's a nice guy. And I told him that I would like to go on a photo safari somewhere. I had no idea where: just to get in the car and get away from home and all the chores that fill our lives. Mark said that sounded like a good idea. Last night we still had no idea where we would go, but I mentioned that my trainer had suggested a trip to the coast to go to one of the glass galleries which might lead to some good photo opportunities. Light bulb time. We would go to Cannon Beach.

After we dragged ourselves out of bed this morning (These wet, gray days in January make it hrd to get up in the morning) Mark, John and I gathered up our gear and headed off on the Sunset Highway. We listened to some Doctor Who audio adventures as Mark drove through the wet and fog until we got to Cannon Beach. First stop: Ecola State Park. This was the first place we went to on the coast after we moved here in 1991. (Mark's a native Portlander, but I'm from Massachusetts.) We roamed around the park, taking pictures and wondering if the predicted storm would come in while we were there. Then we wandered over to Indian Beach and took more shots. Once we were tired of being wet, wind-blown and cold we drove into Cannon Beach proper.

That was when we stopped in at Icefire Glassworks and I got my favorite pictures of the day. One of the glass artists was working on a piece and I got a whole series of shots as he heated and reheated the piece, shaped it, blew through the tube, worked on the bottom then on the neck. It was amazing and something I had never seen done in person before. (You can check out the photos in my album!) What a wonderful day!

We need more road trips.

Keep Smiling

Mary

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Some days words can make you feel sad or mad or hurt so bad you want to scream. These words made me feel good inside. They were sent to my by my sister Peggy. I want to share them with you.

May today there be peace within.
May you trust that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith in yourself and others.
May you use the gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content with yourself just the way you are.
Let this knowledge settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance,
praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.


Keep smiling.
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