Category: The Friday Photo

Label Yourself

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by spontaneity, art, and community.
June 1, 2012

photo by Patti Digh, John and Tess Ptak, Kim Joris

Our society spends a lot of time labeling people
Last Sunday my friend Kim Joris  wore the Peacemaker label
John, Patti and Tess didn’t put labels on
when peace, equality, love and respect underpin your daily life,
you label yourself with your actions everyday

 

 

Anonymous love letters

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by spontaneity, art, and community.
April 20, 2012

Every so often I get a reminder that the work I love so passionately matters to other people, and that in fact they want me to succeed.

The mail on Tuesday contained this envelope, and I knew immediately it would have  something meant to urge me (and my work partners) on to stop Plant Washington. And it did.

On the heels of the near-fatal injuries inflicted on Plant Washington last week, I was asked  what I will do once we “kill Plant Washington dead.”

I got a love letter this week, and I think someone is asking me to work on “old” coal next.

How sweet.

 

This should not be possible

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by spontaneity, art, and community.
April 13, 2012

This hibiscus should not be blooming on my patio. The tree should still be inside, waiting for warmer nights to arrive. In the 7-8 years since I bought a pair of hibiscus trees and decided to see if they would “winter over,” I have taken them outside in late April or early May. This year they moved outside at the end of March. And now they are blooming. I take no credit for being a great gardener. I am not. I am afraid the beginning of a very long, hot, dry summer is in bloom.

 

Huge energy spill can’t be contained

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by spontaneity, art, and community.
April 6, 2012

The headline for a solar energy spill could read, “Sunscreen manufacturers reap huge profits”

Roscoe, the unexpected puppy

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by spontaneity, art, and community.
March 30, 2012

We got out of the puppy “business” a few years ago when we adopted an adult dog.
Our daughter’s boyfriend got a much planned for puppy over spring break and quickly learned that a puppy is A LOT of work, more than he could manage with classes and work. So, we are in the puppy business again. I had forgotten how sharp puppy teeth are, and how high things must be to safely stay out of reach.

 

Flying my flag

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by spontaneity, art, and community.
March 23, 2012

I once introduced myself at a meeting of about 40 health policy/program directors and added, “Guilford College, Class of 83” for fun. A few  people chuckled (there was a concentration of University of Georgia people there). They stopped when another woman said, “I need to talk to you. My daughter just applied to Guilford.”

The more I wave my Guilford flag the smaller the world becomes by way of Guilford connections. Amanda, on the left in the photo, is a Guilford alum (Class of 97) who works as a health policy professional at the Georgia Health Policy Center. Had we not waved our Guilford flags, we would have been at the same meetings and never known both of us love the Fighting Quakers.

Jennette, on the right in the photo, is a friend made through the environmental work I began four years ago. Jennette once sent me an email, copied a Guilford alum, and said we at least needed an electronic introduction.

Then this photo was posted on Facebook and I learned that my health policy/program friend is connected to my environmental advocacy friend.

The world gets smaller every day. It shrinks with technological links all the time (like this photo posted on Facebook), but electronic links are no substitute for the human connection of playing Bocce ball on a hot summer day at a friend’s wedding.

Jennette is about to reach critical mass on Guilford friends. One of us needs to at least get her a t-shirt.

The Ken Burns Effect

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by spontaneity, art, and community.
March 16, 2012

 

K=Aaron DeMoss, E=Matt Haselton, N=nte Miller, !=Erin Burns, Ken Burns (coat and tie)

 Take eight brand new college freshmen, add a shared interest in documentaries, steep in a setting that encourages discussion, critical thinking, and creativity, add a little body paint, and you get The Ken Burns Effect.

What began as a common point of dining hall and sidewalk conversations among eight young students at Guilford College has grown into a documentary in the making based on Ken Burns, called, appropriately, The Ken Burns Effect.

The eight freshman are now alums making their way back to Guilford on Tuesday, March 27, to hear Burns speak again. And, like many free-lance film directors and producers, they need to fund their travel and production, hence a really creative fundraising campaign.

I smiled the minute I started watching the video, and laughed out loud too (you’ll have to watch the video, but I suspect others will laugh when I did).

You may know some young adults who are just as creative as these eight Guilford alums, and I hope you encourage them as they tell their stories.

I can’t wait to see The Ken Burns Effect on the big screen because I suspect, in addition to being an homage to Ken Burns, it will tell the story of the deep and lasting impact that Guilford College has on everyone who is lucky enough to be there. Maybe there will be a sequel, working title The Guilford College Effect?

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