317/365 Grateful for Unspoken Words

"Wise and Quiet"

"The good and the wise lead quiet lives."

Euripedes

316/365 Grateful for Simple Pleasures

"Perfect Match"

Someone who loves me left me a treat on my computer keyboard when I stepped away for a minute.  I had a lot to do tonight and was a bit on the stressed side.  It is not necessarily a pretty thing when I am trying to do too many things (like more than one) at a time.  I get grouchy.  It is very possible that this gift left for me was really an act of self preservation.  A little chocolate and peanut butter will settle me down for at least a few minutes.  Whatever the impetus, I enjoyed it!

315/365 Grateful for Freedom

"Not Forgotten"

This is the POW / MIA bracelet that I have had since 1969.  Though I was much too young to understand all of the politics of the Viet Nam war, it was very real to me because my dad spent a year in Viet Nam.  Thankfully, he returned home safely to us.

As a child, I wore two of these bracelets.  In 1973 while living in Hawaii, I had the honor of meeting each and every plane carrying the POW's who were returning home.  Stepping off the plane in Honolulu was the first American soil that these serviceman had stepped on since their release.  I was able to give me other bracelet to the man whose name was engraved upon it.  Like my father, he returned home to his family.  CDR. William P. Yarbrough did not.  To this day, I pray for him and his family.

On Veteran's Day, I give thanks for all of the men and women who have and are serving our country and protecting our freedoms.  And, I remember those who lost their life so that the lives of others would be better.

314/365 Grateful for Selfless Acts

"For the Love of Students"

Much of who I am today is the result of teachers that I had along the way, teachers who believed in me, nurtured me, and challenged me.  There is no doubt that they all imparted knowledge, but it is the wisdom of these most influential people that has remained with me, particularly in the case of those teachers who taught calculus and chemistry.  The greatest way I know to honor what each of these selfless people did for me is to give to my students that same kind of learning experience that I was given.

313/365 Grateful for Challenges

"How Do I Challenge Thee?  Let Me Count the Ways"

Challenges are a funny thing.  We seem like them when we choose them ourselves...better a run time, finish the Friday crossword puzzle, lose weight, finish a pair of socks, stay awake until we finish the book.  We tend to meet the  challenges that we set for with enthusiasm.  Is this because we know that if we are willing to set the challenge ourselves that we are fairly certain that we can meet and overcome it?  

Part of today's challenge was the monthly self-portrait.  After eleven months of doing this, it is now the technical aspects of it that challenge me a little more than the emotional ones.  Back in January, it was all challenging!  I am coming to grips with who I am and what I look like.  There is not a whole lot that I can do about that really.  (At least not until my Photoshop skills improve greatly.  Then, who knows, I could become six feet tall, tan and a size 4.)  I really am glad to have a few photos of myself.  Some of them are even OK.  I think that this one is the first head to toe shot that I have taken this year.

You may be wondering why I didn't dress a little more appropriately for a photo shoot.  Today's attire is actually part of my response to challenges.  When we were in Portland for the NOAH Adult Weekend, it seems that some of the locals were a bit taken aback by seeing twenty  adults with albinism walking through their streets.  One evening as we were walking back to our hotel after dinner, someone (probably a drunk someone) yelled, "What is it with all of you with white hair and pale skin?"  A quick thinker among us responded with, "We are the Swedish Bikini Team."  This seemed to satisfy the inquirer.  As we continued to walk, another curious soul asked if we were part of a cult. There was no question that this person was experiencing better living through chemistry.  Rather than engage her in conversation, our fearless leader encouraged us to "swim on."

As the weekend continued, several inside jokes evolved.  Someone decided that we needed a T-shirt to commemorate our weekend.  In a moment of unclear thinking having nothing to do with any mind-altering substances, I agreed to design the T-shirts.  Another challenge; I have never designed a T-shirt before.

I knew that it had to be simple, but I also wanted to include as many of the meaningful little moments from the weekend as I could.  Starting with the green...there was something about Portland and ducks and green:-)  Everyone seemed to be wearing green.  And, the shirts needed to be a good background color for pale people in bikinis.  

There are five women and one male on the bikini chorus line.  This is because one night as we were sitting in the lobby of the hotel, several women but only one male with albinism, another confused Portland party-er asked, "Are you all family?"  The lone male replied, "Sort of...they are all my wives."  I'm not sure whether the questioner was jealous or felt sorry for this guy.  His response, "I figured you must be Mormon."

The girls' bikini bottoms are heart-shaped.  This is simply a nod to the love and kinship that we all feel for one another.  There is comfort in being around people who understand through personal experience the most difficult struggles that we face in life.

The final challenge in today's photo is actually wearing the shirt out in public.  Why?  Because it is an invitation for people to ask, "What the heck is the Swedish Bikini Team?"  I have to be prepared to openly discuss albinism with this stranger, to risk being made fun of.  The flip side is that it may also be an invitation to educate and advocate not only for persons with albinism, but for anyone with any kind of differences.

I realized this final challenge when I was placing the order for the shirts.  (As an aside, I ordered them from CustomInk.com; they are an awesome company to work with!  I highly recommend them to anyone who finds themselves responsible for ordering shirts for a group.)  Both customer service representatives that I spoke with commented on how much they liked the shirt design and wanted to know what they were for.  Umm...they are a response to being made fun of on the streets of Portland?  I ended up sharing most of the story with the reps on the phone.  They were truly supportive of our message and our mission to educate the general population about albinism.

The shirts arrived this week and Weber and I got them all packaged and mailed to the rest of the team this morning.  That could have been a challenge if I had been responsible for creating the database with everyone's name address and shirt size.  Thankfully, my beloved husband did all that.  I truly have an artist's temperament when it comes to that kind of stuff.

312/365 Grateful for R&R

"Friday in the Park"

I am grateful that today is Friday and even more grateful that tomorrow is Saturday.  More and more I appreciate the weekend.  Yes, there are household chores to be done and a few errands, but none of that requires setting an alarm, only having time for one cup of coffee before heading out the door, or being dressed before 7am.  Life over the next twenty four hours is looking pretty darn good from my current vantage point!

This was a good week; it just never seemed to slow down - until now.  That may not be an entirely good thing, though.  I have had time to surf the Internet looking at photography books.  I purchased a couple of ebooks.  The others on my list will end up on my Christmas list.

I spent the day at school with Weber mentoring this morning and then staying to hear their Veteran's Day assembly this afternoon.  It is so much fun to hear those young musicians.  The band, orchestra and choir all performed.  These kids, many of whom have only been involved in music for a year or two, are only four or five years younger than some of my college students.  It is amazing to think about how much they will grow in those next few years.

We stopped by the park on the way home from school.  I knew that I only had about forty-five minutes of daylight to accomplish the day's photo.  I had a few ideas.  After quickly working through my list, I was most happy with the above shot.  I like its simplicity, its nothingness.  I have learned in the last few years that it is OK to take a few moments and do absolutely nothing.  That is the only way that I can truly relax.  For many, many years I never stopped.  Now I know why I was stressed all the time. 

We only spent a few minutes sitting at the park, but that was enough time for me to unwind from the stresses of the week and relax into the weekend.

311/365 Grateful for Quiet Times

"Going In Circles Is Not All Bad"

Most days I feel like a hamster on one of those exercise wheels...round and round I go only to end up right back where I started not knowing for sure what I have accomplished.   Feeling like there is something else that I need to be doing all the time makes it hard for me to slow down, take a deep breath and calmly and quietly reflect on the day.  One way that I like to celebrate my day is by drawing a mandala.  This sacred circle helps me to gain a better perspective on the crazy circles that I have run all day long.