Afterglow

writing names in the air

Who knew how much fun glow sticks could be, especially when you can relive it by taking pictures at slow shutter speeds? The kids and I couldn't choose our favorites so we just posted them all. It's interesting to note that their glow art reflects their fetal movements in the womb. Tea's motions with the hot pink stick were small and delicate, while Kai's movements with the orange stick were wild and energetic.

When the leaves are gone...

I've been thinking a lot about why I love fall but why I also love winter. This quote really helps sum it up:

"The leaves that seemed so important, the outer foliage that we thought defined who we were, falls away and leaves us bare to the winter winds with a subtler kind of beauty."
(From Wabi Sabi Simple by Richard R. Powell)

Winter is a time for reflection. I enjoy the fact that we can't spend as much time outside and we can just stay inside and keep warm while doing crafts, baking, and reading books. I am usually reading about 10 books all at once during the Christmas break! This has been my tradition for as long as I can remember to spend lots of time reading and reflecting after the flurry of gift making and cooking and visiting with relatives.

I like this quote too:

"The Chinese say, 'To attain knowledge, add something every day; to attain wisdom, remove something every day.' [...] I see that loss can help attain wisdom. Along with the sad losses of life there are also the liberating losses of pride, and fear of what others will think. By realizing that the leaves of life come and go, a person is free to focus energy in the deep and earthy storehouse that trees call roots and we call our soul."
(From Wabi Sabi Simple by Richard R. Powell)

Bathe me in the colors of Fall

The leaves have nearly blown away, but I had one more good day of photos just before the election. (See my Flickr link on the side of the blog--you'll find many of my Fall photos there).

Today, the leaves remaining on the trees at Stephens Lake are faded and waiting to hitch a ride on the next big gust of wind. At home, the woods behind us are bare, revealing the skeletons of the trees. Only the brown oak leaves hang on--and they will for a good portion of the winter, trying to give us some color during those long bleak months.

These two pictures were taken a little over a week ago. They are the essence of why I love Fall: the color combinations, the blue skies, and the bright, yet translucent leaves that overwhelm me with their beautiful colors.

This Jack Johnson song "Talk of the Town" has been in my head lately and it seems to go well with this post. I'm so excited I finally figured out how to add YouTube videos (although this one is just audio for you people like me with slow-as-molasses internet connections). Enjoy!

Beautiful...

Someone said this in response to an article about why Jesse Jackson was crying during Obama's speech on Tuesday. It's so beautiful, I just had to share:

Rosa sat so Martin could walk
Martin walked so Barack could run
Barack ran so our children can fly

Kai racing his shadow at Stephens Lake

Speechless

I have so much to say but am at a loss for words right now. I feel like I have been crying for days. Tea woke up during Obama's acceptance speech so I brought her out to the living room so I could watch. She was lying in my arms and at one point looked up at me and said,
"Mama, what's on your neck?"
"Tears."
Tears of such joy.

I so agree with Obama when he said this election brought together so many people: young and old, Republican and Democrats, gay and straight, white, African-American, Hispanic, Native American, and really the whole world. There is an amazing slideshow on Huffington Post of the rest of the world reacting. It's incredible to see people in other countries weeping tears of joy for us. They, like us, know this is something big. I am so thankful this happened in my lifetime--it really gives me hope for my children's future.

Kai and Tea went canvassing with me yesterday, and when they woke up today, I told them Obama won. You guys were part of history, I said! They don't understand now but someday they will.

Here are a couple of images from Monday that seem to reflect my mood right now. I feel such peace now.

Hope...

I voted and drew this on my driveway afterward.

Hope is in the Air--literally!

Hope is an airplane flying above your head with a sign flapping behind it that says, "VOTE OBAMA."

This was as we were walking to the car from Stephens Lake. I was wearing my "Another Mama for Obama" shirt and had just finished an interview with KBIA 91.3 FM at the playground (they approached me). I'm on a roll with the media lately. Last Monday, it was my Mario Manzini photo. On Saturday, I opened my new Mothering magazine and started reading a letter that sounded familiar and realized it was mine! I had written to the magazine telling them how much I loved them and how their magazine always gives me hope!

Now we will see how this interview turned out. I would much rather be the photographer than the one photographed, the interviewer not the interviewee! In high school and college, when I had to tape my speeches in speech class and my radio shows, I never watched or listened to them. I couldn't stand it! And I just am that sort of "foot in mouth" person that says or does something stupid. I shouldn't even share this, but I have learned to laugh at myself. When I worked at The Buckle clothing store in college, a TV station was doing a story and filmed me dressing a mannequin. Not even realizing it, I was dressing the mannequin in the same cream sweater and red skirt I was wearing. Boy did everybody at work get a kick out of that one!

But this post is not supposed to be about me. I'm not an egomaniac, I swear. It's about hope. I hope that airplane was a sign. I hope Obama wins. And if you haven't cried yet today, look at this lovely "Tears for Obama" slideshow on Huffington Post.

Now I'm going to go and blanch and freeze some spinach to distract myself. Doesn't that sound like fun?
A spur of the moment piece of art I created outside after we saw the Obama plane fly over our house