Category: The Friday Photo

Rings and licenses

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
March 29, 2013

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I got this ring almost 29 years ago. It has a lot of miles on it.

There are millions just like it, some brand new and waiting to be exchanged, others worn thinner after decades of doing all the things that make up our adult lives.

The day I got my ring I also signed a marriage license in North Carolina to go with it.

This week we’ve heard a lot about who should, or should not, be able to get a marriage license.

What real benefits do we gain as a country because we deny consenting adults the right to be legally married anywhere within our borders?

And who are we fooling if we think we are better for it?

 

In this week’s mail

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
March 22, 2013

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This is one of the nice things about living in a rural community.
We don’t agree on Plant Washington, and Larry isn’t even my commissioner.

Putting happiness in a jar

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
February 22, 2013
Feb 22, 2013

I don’t keep a journal or diary, but when 2012 drew to a close
several of my friends said they were going to keep a jar to fill with
notes when they do something they would like to reflect on after 2013 winds down.

My notes include simple things (I found an oncologist I really like two years post diagnosis).

The notes also include big things like last Sunday’s Forward on Climate Rally and attending my first TEDx event last Friday (TED really is “ideas worth spreading.”
I’ll post the videos from TEDx Charlotte when they are online. Thought provoking and inspiring. Food for your brain and soul.)

Whoever said you can’t bottle happiness was wrong.

First World whining

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community and spontaneity
February 15, 2013

February 15, 2013

I’ve  taken allergy meds twice a day along with a calcium and Vitamin D tablet for years. No big deal.

Two years ago I had to add Tamoxifen once a day to my pill regime. That really got under my skin when I realized there were too many pill bottles to fuss with when I traveled.

I caved and got a weekly pill reminder box. Less than three months into my second half century I was filling a pill reminder just like the one my grandfather had used. I felt so middle aged.

I loathed filling the box. I wouldn’t do it when I exhausted the week’s meds. I would trudge to the cabinet and open the bottles doling out one pill at a time from three different bottles twice a day.

Late last year I spent a weekend with powerful and mindful thinkers to help a friend find a better way to be the author, artist, business owner, teacher, parent, daughter, wife and advocate she is/wants to be.  Fabeku Fatunmise shaped and led our discussions. Fabeku is a Force Field of Super Powers, and his life’s work is grounded in helping other people find their Super Powers (we all have Super Powers but most of us, including me, cover them up with a bunch of stuff we think is “more important.”)

Early last month, on a Sunday, Fabeku posted an online comment about doing the things you must do (pay the light bill, etc) but not letting yourself be weighed down by those things. If you’re going to pay the light bill, pay the bill so you can get on to the things that make your life Kapow, where your Super Powers can shine.

Kapow! I finally got it. Instead of dreading filling that stupid pill box each Sunday and hating every second it took (seconds, not hours, why was I so chewed up about it anyway?) I decided to look at the box as a First World blessing.

I’m not taking 20 pills a day to keep a full-blown case of AIDS under control. I’m not battling mental illness and hoping the meds keep me in balance.

I’m taking Tamoxifen because cancer is behind me now, not in front of me.

That isn’t a First World problem. That is a First World blessing.

Kapow!

Adventure gear

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
January 11, 2013

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This bag has been  a faithful companion on trips
I have made to the Southwest, DC, Miami, Maine, and Alaska.

It went on a mission trip to Peru with my friend Judy.

Last summer it went to Eastern Europe on a mission trip
with my friend Shelia and her son.

Yesterday I sent it to Julia, a brilliant and beautiful Guilford student
who will spend the spring semester studying in Italy.

Maybe The Friday Photo will have a photo from the hillsides of northern Italy in the coming weeks.

Impulse buy

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
January 4, 2013
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My first day of work in the New Year required some office supplies
(half and half is critical to worker happiness)
Fresh flowers were reduced to $5 per bundle
It was gray and wet outside, so I decided some fresh color would be nice
As soon as I put them on my desk, the sun came out

One step short of 1M

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
December 28, 2012
December 28, 2012

I took this picture in the fall and saved it as a reminder of what I can do when I stay focused. I didn’t know my pedometer had a maximum step count until I realized one day, after walking at least three miles plus the other steps I had collected that day, that my count hadn’t increased in several hours. Getting to 10K steps a day requires some planning and effort when your work allows, or requires, sitting in front of a screen all day.

I haven’t worn my pedometer in a while, too long. I would like to say that I was going to the three day a week 5:45 a.m. aerobics class I love, so I didn’t need to count steps every day. Or I was walking some known distance and then stopping at the Wellness Center to do some strength training. Or I was using the inexpensive elliptical in my home office during conference calls.

It is silly, not carving out some time to take care of myself. Just like it is silly to not get enough sleep because there is so much I have to do (have to do and want to do are not the same, but I have trouble seeing that too).

Maybe I’ve had just enough time away from my daily work routine over the holidays to realize that I don’t have to return to my usual work habits next week. Maybe I have finally realized that I can’t afford to waste the second chances at life I have gotten (one at 25 years old after a car accident, another at 50 years old with breast cancer). Maybe that homemade eggnog wasn’t low-calorie after all.

Maybe it doesn’t matter why I am making sure I get stronger and more fit as long as I do it. And there is no reason to wait until January 1.

I got nothing

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
December 14, 2012

December 14, 2012

I didn’t have a photo for today when I went to bed last night.
For me, the fun in doing this weekly photo is the “ah ha” moment.
I was counting on that happening today.
Then I turned on the television to catch up on the news while I ate a late breakfast.

The “ah ha” moment for me came along with a nation that has turned our hearts to a tiny rural community in Connecticut.

So today, I got nothing.

“I know it when I see it” Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
December 8, 2012

Pornography for gardeners

During the short days of early winter the seed catalogs begin to appear
among the Christmas offerings. The lush colors and ripe vegetables are
like the Three Sirens to avid gardeners.

 

Elvis sighting in rural Georgia

The Friday Photo
A weekly photo inspired by art, community, and spontaneity
November 3o, 2012


Elvis has been living at Schwabe Motors in Swainsboro, GA for about 10 years. The dealership owner, Charles Schwabe, says Elvis attends lots of social functions in the area.

 

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