Author Archives: scillagrace

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: It’s a Wild Life!

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“To see a world in a grain of sand
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand
And eternity in an hour…”
– from Auguries of Innocence by William Blake

Calypso bulbosa, or Fairy Slipper orchid

Wildflowers are beginning to bloom in Oregon. When I first discovered that there are species of orchids native to this area, I was delighted and astonished. I felt privileged to live in a place that contained such exotic beauty!

Trillium

“…The wild deer wandering here and there
Keeps the human soul from care…” – more of Auguries

The wild life that is natural, undominated or shaped by humans, is what keeps me sane these days in a world that is often wild in another way – unrestrained and violent. I have been fortunate enough to have visited wilderness areas around the country, and I contribute to protecting them. The portion of my blog dedicated to those stories and photos can be found HERE. I find the wisdom of the Wild to be one of the best teachers. Those Spiritual Lessons from Nature can be found HERE on my blog. If you care to explore those links, I would be honored, dear Reader. In the meantime, I’ve been given permission to post five more images on this Challenge, so here are some of my Wild favorites.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver
You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting –
over and over announcing your place in the family of things.

Thanks to Egidio for this worthy challenge that has inspired the sharing of so many beautiful images! Please visit his post HERE.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Personal Favorites, Portraits, and Life Changes

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The portrait above is one of my favorites, taken while I was doing the photoshoot for my son’s wedding. These are my daughters, hamming it up for a selfie. My oldest, on the right, turned 40 years old in January. That’s a life change, for me as well as for her.

Photo credit: Richard O’Dell

It has been a busy month, Reader, and I have not participated in the last few LA Challenges. I’m attempting to make up for that now. What have I been up to? Thanks for asking! I was onstage for six performances of the play Amadeus with my youngest child in the title role. I am immensely proud of my local community theater for the vision, excellence, and creativity that went into this production. My kiddo’s spouse was also in the production, so it was quite a personally significant experience – an opportunity to work and play with them and their best friends. The respect, the trust, and the love that we built in this process will stay with me forever. I do believe that it has changed our lives.

Life has changed a lot in the last 40 years. I still take photographs, and my family is still my favorite thing about life.

I’m still in awe of the beauty of the world every day.

And the intersection of personal favorites, portraits, and life’s changes is still personified in this photo I took of my late husband in 1980. Our kiddo dedicated their performance to him, and we miss him very much. He would have been so proud of us, so full of laughter and appreciation. And always, full of love.

Thanks to Tina for this week’s Challenge, and a shout out to Ritva (Portraits) and Anne (Life’s Changes) as well.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Bold

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“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

puddle

There’s something incredibly bold about a toddler. If you’ve ever seen the pure joy on a youngster’s face when they’re beginning to walk, it might surprise you. They’ve fallen down a million times, but still the prospect of being upright and moving forward is so compelling that they are happy to try again. Maybe it’s the exhilaration of satisfying a primal urge; maybe it’s the encouraging smiles and excitement from a care-giver. Being able to do what the grown-ups (or slightly more grown up) are doing is a huge accomplishment, and it is so thrilling to know you belong. With the proper footwear, you feel invincible. Mud puddles aren’t hazards, they’re opportunities.

“Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Perhaps there’s an element of play in boldness as well, a courageous experimenting. Toddlers who are given permission to play boldly learn quickly. As we get older, we’re expected to mitigate risks, be more efficient, fail less. I feel the constraint in my body. Perhaps I will strap on my bright green boots of invincibility today and stride out on muddy paths to stomp in some puddles. There are mountains to climb, hard rocky roads to traverse, wrongs to be set right.

Thanks to Sofia for this challenge: a worthy theme to ponder. Do visit her site for more inspiring, bold images.

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Lens-Artist Photo Challenge: Only One Picture

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“This week it is my turn to present a challenge – and I mean to give us all a real ‘test’. I tend to use several pictures in my posts, and some of us often do – so the challenge is to use only ONE picture. One that you find important, meaningful to you, maybe sending a message – and then explain why you picked just that picture. It is not meant to be a ‘favorite’ picture of yours…” ~ Ann-Christine of the blog “Leya”

What an inspired challenge! I love that this plays right into the wheelhouse of making meaning, not just making images, and that is a place where my mental gears can turn all day long. Especially in a time of confusion, worry, chaos, and sorrow. What a great question to ask repeatedly: “What is important and meaningful now?”

As one who is instinctively visually inspired, I knew that if I scrolled through my media library, one photo would jump out at me. In this case, quite literally.

This is a favorite photo, in fact, because it means so much to me, personally. For the moment, though, I’m imagining I don’t know the specific story, and I’m taking a first look. I think this is an emotion-packed scene. The brooding clouds; the flat, gray shore; the piercing light; the reflection in the puddled foreground; and the exuberant kicking up of the silhouetted figure’s heels. It suggests defiance, courage, enthusiasm (being filled with the Source of Life, which some call God – theos in Greek), hope. The fact that the action is reflected provides even more momentum. These powerful feelings continue and have unimagined after effects. I want to shout “Yes!” when I see it, feel a bracing ocean breeze in my face and a surge of energy. I want to be part of the revolution or revelation that inspired this scene.

The backstory: I traveled to the Oregon coast to visit my adult children in October of 2019. I was considering moving from Wisconsin to the west coast to be closer to them and my family of origin in California. The cross-country move would mean a lot of change, a lot of loss, an unknown step into a new adventure – everything that being alive requires. Playing on the beach with my 30-year old daughter was a timeless and time-filled joy. She has always been physically expressive and unpredictable, laughing and cavorting at any moment. And she has been through the hardest struggles imaginable; the list would astonish you. I hold her entire history in my memory and see her, here, triumphant.

Yes, I moved thousands of miles to be with her and her siblings. I moved during the COVID pandemic when isolation, confusion, and fear effected every decision and every moment. Being on the west coast meant that I was with my mother for her two months in hospice and her death. It means that I have a chance to build a closer relationship with my siblings and my kids. It means that I can be engaged in supporting those I love through hard times and celebrations. It means that I have a lived experience of making another big life change and following it through. Each time I do that, I feel more confident, more hopeful in my ability to continue to do hard things. When I face those challenges and celebrate the outcome, the ripples travel to distant shores I can only imagine.

I share this photo with you with the hope that you will recognize inspiration, courage, and joy in your lived moments.


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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Cats and Dogs

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“The cat is such a perfect symbol of beauty and superiority that it seems scarcely possible for any true aesthete and civilized cynic to do other than worship it.”
― H.P. Lovecraft, Cats and Dogs

When I was a tiny child, I harbored the belief that all cats were girls and all dogs were boys. I’m not sure how I formed that notion, but when I mention it in conversation, sometimes there’s another person who also remembers thinking that. The first family pet we had joined the household when I was about seven years old – a male cat – and I had to abandon my theory.

“The dog appeals to cheap and facile emotions; the cat to the deepest founts of imagination and cosmic perception in the human mind.” ― H.P. Lovecraft, Cats and Dogs

I was afraid of dogs for many years. When I was five or six years old, I was running on the shore of Lake Michigan in front of our family cottage when an Irish setter spotted me and presumably thought I was a potential playmate. He started running toward me, and I started running away, probably screaming. I could hear an adult voice in the distance yelling, “King! King! Come back!” When the dog caught up to me, he jumped up and knocked me over. I was sure I was about to be eaten. The dog’s owner finally appeared and told me that King was a friendly dog and calmed us both down a bit. But I wanted nothing more to do with dogs for a long, long time. In fact, it wasn’t until my adult children had their own dogs that I really began to learn to trust and bond with canines.

At this point in my life, I find myself stepping in to care for friends’ pets when they are traveling. I have learned a lot from my kids about pet care and pet psychology. There’s a sweet reality TV show produced in the U.K. call “The Dog House” which films the matching of rescue dogs with people searching for canine companions. The backstories on each episode illustrate that we are all searching for safety and love, even as we are all uniquely quirky.

Dogs and cats provide a very important service to us humans by teaching us compassion and responsibility. Learning to love and care for a living being that doesn’t look like you, speak your language, eat the same foods or behave in the ways you would is a very important developmental process. I think it helps us be better parents and citizens of the world.

May I update my theories when evidence proves them inaccurate. May I be at least as kind to other humans as I would be to pets.

Our Challenge host this week, Tina, has put together a stunning display of photos of cats and dogs both tame and wild. Do visit to see for yourself! Click HERE.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Complementary Colors

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“All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.”

― Marc Chagall

My thoughts this week have been stirred by images and headlines in the news that illustrate and announce an intolerance for opposites and others. How appropriate to contemplate the word ‘complementary’ with this Challenge. Here’s one definition: “combining in such a way as to enhance or emphasize the qualities of each other or another”. I think of my four adult children who gathered online with me for a virtual celebration of my eldest’s 40th birthday on Friday. Their similarities and differences have always amused and fascinated me. Any delusions that they might be “mini-Me” are long gone. They are themselves, each unique and distinct, offering something invaluable and inimitable into the ripples of Life. Our small family circle is a microcosm of the interconnected web of existence. We need each other, we help each other, we protect each other, we nourish each other, we support each other, we encourage each other to be our best selves. It is not unimaginable that this dynamic could extend to the entire human family.

Our highly evolved brains are wired to notice difference, to compare and contrast. That skill can be used to be aware and appreciative of variety – in texture, color, personality, culture – and to understand nuance. And that skill can be applied to dividing, sorting, separating. It’s important to take care how we use our tools, where we use our tools, and on what we use our tools.

Thank you, Egidio, for reminding me of the beauty of this spectrum and the dynamic of the contrasts in it.

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Lens-Artist Photo Challenge: Shoot From Above

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From space, the Earth is just a precious little blue marble. From five and a half feet above Earth, here in the temperate rainforest, the Earth is a carpet of soil and leaves and moss and mushrooms. Decomposers are hard at work, seeds are swelling in the damp. Soon the wheel of the year will turn to Imbolc, halfway between the winter solstice and the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. Looking down at the ground beneath your feet where you are, what is happening?

In these confusing and difficult times, I head for higher ground when the outlook is obscured. When I shoot from above the fog, I can often see more light on the horizon. I see that the fog has edges, that rising ridges and upright firs can penetrate it. I need that perspective now.

Last night I saw the movie “A Complete Unknown”, the Bob Dylan biopic. I recommend it. Edward Norton’s portrayal of Pete Seeger is spot on. I am inspired by the poet activists who help us shoot from above when the times, they are a-changin’. May we each try again to be our best selves and remember our highest purpose.

Thanks, Ritva, for leading the Challenge.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Resilience

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As changes in our modern world grow more extreme and dramatic, resilience has become a hot topic. This past Fall, I was on a planning team for a women’s retreat that made resilience their theme. We dove into creating a tool kit for personal, relational, and community resilience and discussed everything from sleep hygiene and earthquake preparedness to communicating gratitude and love. It was a rich arena for growth and intention.

When I searched my blog archives, I came across this essay about weathering a summer storm at the 19th Century living history museum where I worked, Old World Wisconsin. You can read that entry – “We Amid the Flood” – HERE.

Resilience in nature seems to be all about the interdependent web of life. Ecosystems like forests and coral reefs are complex and dynamic places of shared resources and symbiotic relationships. Humans have barely begun to understand the processes that sustain life through time and change in these arenas. Perhaps we have greater understanding of personal and societal resilience, which is why our species is dominating the planet. However, that domination could create the collapse of the very planetary systems that sustain us.

“If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” ~ African proverb

In the Dunn Forest along Soap Creek, old growth trees benefit from mycorrhizal networks underground and sustain ferns, mosses and lichens above ground. They provide habitat and food for a host of creatures. They bend and stretch towards the sun in order to produce food from its energy. When limbs break and fall to the ground, they are turned into rich soil for the continued growth of new trees. They are a wonderous and appropriate illustration of RESILIENCE.

Special thanks to Anne Sandler for hosting this week’s Challenge.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Favorites from 2024

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My favorite things about 2024 are probably my favorite things about every year I get to be alive. I love Beauty and that my eyes can detect it – sparkling, natural, unusual, colorful, delightful to touch, balanced, calm or surprising. I see Beauty everywhere, and that is my favorite way to view Life. I love connection, and that is my favorite, too: connecting with family, with Nature, with living beings of any description, with ideas and culture and history. My trip to New Orleans, Louisiana, and the chance to hang out with 10 family members there was a definite highlight of the year. I am so grateful to be able to look back at this past year and remember the specific moments of beauty and connection that I got to enjoy. It’s wonderful that photography helps to do that. And it’s wonderful to share that joy with others. Thank you, Lens-Artists, for sharing your joy with me! Thanks to Tina for this week’s inviting challenge.

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge: Last Chance

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“Look, I want to love this world
as though it’s the last chance I’m ever going to get
to be alive and know it.” ~ Mary Oliver

I haven’t posted on this blog since the November election. Today is my last chance this year to share my thoughts in words and pictures here. I have been reviewing the reasons I started this blog in my 50th year and continued it for a dozen years so far. It has served me well as a platform for family photo projects. Today, particularly, I am grateful for the opportunity to revisit the projects I did for my mother, who would have been celebrating her 90th birthday today. Ten years ago, I did an eight-day series from Christmas Eve to New Year’s Eve that I called “80 Years in 8 Days” (you can see it HERE). I also created The Grandparent Project on this blog primarily for her.

However, as my mom passed away in 2020 and I live within an hour’s driving distance of three out of four of my kids, I no longer rely on this blog as a way of sharing stories and photos across the miles.

I have really enjoyed exploring creative photography over the years through the weekly photo challenges I’ve done with WordPress and later Lens-Artists. Recently, I’ve been taking more photos with my cell phone rather than my Canon Rebel T3i. I also got a new laptop and lost the photo editing software that had been installed on my old one. The technology involved in creating a photo blog post has changed for me, therefore, and I haven’t really spent the time yet to figure out how to do it at a level that I find satisfactory.

“We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent co-annihilation. This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos and community.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

All that being said, I have the opportunity today to consider what I want this blog to be going forward into a brand new year. “Scillagrace” is still me striving to navigate life gracefully, showing in words and images the beauty of the process. Right now, I’m finding the progressive edge of my purpose in serving the local community. I’m volunteering with several different organizations: the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Greenbelt Land Trust, Ankeny Hill and Finley National Wildlife Refuges, the Benton County Historical museums, and the Majestic Theater. (I’m currently in rehearsal for a production of the play Amadeus with two family members!) My goal is to build community by growing in compassion and resilience and helping others. I am not sure how I will incorporate creative photography and story-telling into this, but I will be exploring the possibilities.

I want to thank Tina and the other Lens-Artists hosts for supporting this part of the blogging community. Thank you for the thought-provoking Challenges and for sharing your beautifully crafted images!

I journey into the New Year with appreciation and gratitude for the past and with the resolve to try again each day to let Love move in me and through me. May it be so.