molly irwin

Love Thursday

A love of reading will take her far.  Farther than the day's thoughts of school girls who exclude her from play and break her heart.  Farther than the words that she tries to muster to explain herself, when all that will squeak out are tears.  Far away from the sensation she gets in her hands and feet that she must move at times, even when those movements are unwelcome and everyone else is still.  Getting lost in a story helps her to settle herself.  It helps her mind become calm, even when her body cannot rest and soon her small limbs can follow.

I love this picture so much, and I love that she is still not to old for a cuddle before sleeping, when we absolutely have to turn out the light.

What seems like it was just a new book, is now another nearly-finished book ... the second Eleanor Estes book in a row.  Now all I'm hearing is "I want to read the Pye family books next.  Can we get Pinkie Pye?"  Why would I ever say no? 

today is a new day

My neighbor's trellace, taken on an early morning walk just over a week ago.  It's just as pretty in the cold winter, in a very different way, as in the greener months.

I've been appreciating these words quite a lot lately and am tacking them above my workspace today:

Every morning is a fresh beginning. Every day is the world made new. Today is a new day. Today is my world made new. I have lived all my life up to this moment, to come to this day. This moment--this day--is as good as any moment in all eternity. I shall make of this day--each moment of this day--a heaven on earth. This is my day of opportunity. -- Dan Custer

on photography

[Taylor's Island, MD, July 2007, Nikon N65]

I am not a photographer ... just someone with an interest in making better pictures and who uses a camera to sharpen a focus on my surroundings.  It's a source of play.  A fun challenge, a learning device, a way for me to seek out beauty that I may otherwise miss.  Things look differently when cropped within the confines of a frame.  What we choose to fill our frames with reveals something of ourselves.  It's becoming a part of everyday for me.

Today, I want to share two discoveries that both have me seeing the beautiful art of photography with fresh eyes:

Shutter Sisters:

This collaborative photo blog celebrates the work of both professional and amateur female photographers.  There are challenges, opportunities to participate, ideas for looking at things differently, and inspiration galore.  I'll be using their prompts as a jumping off point, no doubt.  In fact, I can't help myself as I go about my business today, I keep thinking about the first superhero challenge, presented by Andrea Scher.

Mom's World: 

This remarkable flickr photo-set showcases the work of a dedicated female amateur photographer in the late 1940s and early 50s.  The combination of photos and her narrative creates a rich story.  As I click from image to image, reading the detailed accounts of people and places, I'm nagged by the questions: How do I want my photos and words to be received?  And, am I sharing my stories well enough?  I'm also struck by her thoughtful self portraits, that despite a great deal of effort involved, she had the for-thought to put herself into her own work.  With the ease of digital, we don't really have any excuses today.

It's a good day for a photo.

 

winter weekend

We returned from a great weekend of snow, sledding, good food and good company on Monday night.  The weather seemed to call for it so I made my first ever beef stew one evening and boy, I don't know why I've waited all my life to try that!  Even the kids ate it.  That is definitely going in my recipe binder.

Hard to believe but this year (at eight and six years old) was the first sledding experience the kids have ever had.  Let's just say they did not want to come inside.  Ever.  Seriously ... ever.

I tried a little low-light photography on our date night using the timer and a flat surface. (didn't have a tripod along) Ellicottville, a ski town, is really quite charming, full of restaurants and bars.  It's pretty rare these days that Paul and I get out by ourselves.

Then we realized on returning home that something was up with our heat and the house was really cold.  Those shivers may have just been a warning sign, as we are all pretty much sick with a fever, massive headache and some of us have other symptoms as well.  Poor kids.  Mmmmm ... bet you're glad your reading this right now, hum?

Well, there is much laying around for me to get back to just now.  I'll be back in better form soon.

Make :: one thing from another

Most of my paper crafting gets done at the kitchen table ... for now.  Since I need to clear it away daily, I've started keeping a little box for each project, with all the bits and pieces I want to use for that project together.  I simply clear it away at night and pull it out again the next day or, (to be realistic) the next week or whenever I get to it.

When I began collecting a few too many clementine crates I started considering other purposes for them.    Of course this coincided with my December mini-book marathon where I was consumed with creating inexpensive little books for the kids.

I took the crate apart, prying out those long staples with a flat screwdriver.  That's not the fun part.

Using a box cutter, (with multiple cuts and a quick snap) I cut the bottom piece in half, sanded the edges, and had a rustic outer shell for a new mini book.  I don't mind the random holes and irregular shape.  I like the reminder of it's re-purposed origin and a bit of the inside pages peeking through. 

As it turns out the finished size is almost a perfect 5x7, so photo enlargements will be easy and I might just use trimmed index cards (super cheap, but sturdy) as the foundation for the pages.

It reminds me of " brown paper packages tied up with strings ..."

There's still undeveloped film from December that I want to include with my Holiday '07 story, but I've written down some thoughts to remember and include.  I plan to change the binder rings from silver to red and use a torn paper edge for some of the inside text blocks, but truth be told I've lost steam on this right now.  I'm setting it aside 'til I feel motivated for this again and I DON'T FEEL GUILTY about it.  I usually have a couple of things going at the same time, and other interests are calling me away. 

I'll share the finished book sometime before next Christmas, to be sure.   

Oh, and the side pieces of the crate, with words -- they are really nothing more than thick balsa wood -- nothing special, but I'm hanging on to them for a little while just in case an idea strikes, or until a discard rampage come March.

Have a great weekend.  Make it count.

 

"MY Mama"

Today Paul hugged me in the kitchen.  Marty turned to see this from his lunch chair and firmly said "Papa OFF."  We both just looked at him and smiled, to which he replied: "MY Mama."  We are still smiling over it.

more on morning

photo: part of my daily, morning project

"I have always felt that the moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot. The possibility is always there."  -- Monica Baldwin

edited:  Just read that Princeton Architectural Press will publish A Year of Mornings, (fall 2008) based on the beautiful blog 3191, by Stepanie Congdon Barnes & Marie Alexandra Vettese. 

this weekend

... was about:

• fitting new supplies into my cupboard:  Making Memories foam stamps, Karen Neuberger rubber stamps, stampendous cube, Art warehouse clear stamps, assorted ribbons, cool papers, rub-ons.  (I'm not a big shopper but 40% clearance (GOB sale) allowed me to branch out a bit)
• sketching a couple of characters + a project idea for valentine's day
• soup, salad, homemade bread and bread sticks
• Ratatouille (for kids; I can't sit still through a movie anymore)
• cleaning up some messes and making some new ones.
• supervising new kid crafts, and most importantly ...
• Paul came home after 3 days away (YAY!)

Plus, after only a few days I'm really getting into my photo-a-day project.  It's already adding something special to my mornings and I'm paying more attention to how the light effects things during my daily tasks.

morning

I woke before the kids today.  And not with the sort of "oh shit! what time is it?" race to prod them free from warm beds ... rush to dress ... hurry pack the lunches rigmarole.  It was peaceful, and still, and soft; I didn't have to speak or answer, only do.  That's the way now.  The horizon was aflame all along my vantage point.  The eastern sky called for a photo.  In that moment a new project (motivated simply by wanting more of the same) was born.  Others have done it.  Now it's my turn to explore the beauty of the early hours.  Yes, I can get used to this.

time

Clearing out our third floor is an ordeal.  It's slow going.  Apparently I have to look at and touch everything and then I have to reflect on it.  There's my Dad's old Latin text book, children's books belonging to my Grandparents from the 1930s,old things that have been touched by many hands; the hands of my family.  They are precious, intentionally preserved for one reason or another. Other, newer things like the seldom-used jumbo rice cooker can just go. 

Then there are the photos.  Among them two classic pictures of my Dad donning his plaid, wool tam.  None of us, nor he, knew when those pictures were taken that he only had a few short years remaining ... or that he would decline shortly thereafter.  Digging into souvenirs of the past is opening my heart wide.  There will be no new memories for me with Dad.  It feels like a fresh wound.  Tears come again.

In this emotion there is opportunity.  Time to take out these old pictures and do something with them.  It's time to write from this raw place what I feel when I see those faces, even my own face, having changed some now. There's no shortage of stories among our memories. 

This life is just racing along; day into day ... month to month. The message in the suitcase was clear to me today: don't delay.  Run when you can run; use everything you've got, when you've got it.  This is not a time for restraint.  Do it now.