The Gift of a Day

I am so pleased my sister and her friend are here having a retreat. It has allowed me to stop, slow down, and let my creativity flow also today. What a perfect way to greet the first day of summer.

With perfect weather of sunshine and a little breeze Carol has already taken a series of photographs, done some reading, and began a new journal. Her friend is ready to set up a blog today with some assistance from me. In a conversation today we were saying how just a day like today is what women sometimes need. Whether a wife, mother,widow, girlfriend, sister, single woman, or friend women need  time to call their own.

In preparation for this retreat I have been exploring poetry on the subject. Here are perfect words to share today.

Women's Retreat

And so it is
good and right
to laugh and sing
in the dark
Travel away
and come back stronger
living how we were
meant to live
In friendship
In community
To walk our path
with other women
never alone
To journey at night
arm in arm
and come upon
all our poems
Set in circles
lit by candles
To place a prayer shawl
knit in grace
placed by grace
We are the threads
gathered by holy hands

by Sue Kunitz

Published in The Caller (November 2007)
a Mount Calvary Lutheran Church publication

©2007 Sue Kunitz

Time to Retreat

retreat: a quiet or secluded place in which one can rest and relax.
             a period of seclusion for the purposes of prayer and meditation.


How rejuvenating to find time to retreat. Retreating can nourish the soul, provide rest and reflection, and allow a person to be still. A retreat provides a gift of time. It doesn't have to be miles away in a lodge somewhere with a bunch of people. It can be in a study, a quiet campsite, an easy chair. In the past I have loved attending writing retreats. The time was ours, but workshops were provided. I loved those gatherings because of the freedom of time, bonfires or readings in the evening, and the companionship of other writers sharing and learning.

Tomorrow my home will become a retreat for my sister and a friend. I am more than pleased to provide space, resources, unscheduled time, and support as they spend time on creative projects. I look forward to sharing meals, enjoying a fire in the gazebo, and being inspired myself. I may sneak off into a chair in the garden also to write and have my senses put in order.

"I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order."    John Burroughs

Teaching From Home: Five Tips for Capturing Memorable Photos

I am not in front of students now every day, but I am still constantly teaching and learning. Blog and social network friends often ask me questions about photography, gardening, books I am reading, or linking to a  recipe I've used. This hatched an idea of sharing some tips and learning I have picked up along the way with my varied hobbies and passions. The posts will be entitled  "Teaching From Home." My hope is that throughout the summer you can learn something, or a post may inspire a return to a passion or a desire to something new.

For those of you that have been following this blog, it is obvious I love photography. Digital cameras opened a whole new way of seeing the world. As I place photos into online photo albums, it also provides a timeline of moments, events, and places I have experienced.
Today I will share Five Tips for Capturing Memorable Photos

 1. Always, always, always carry a camera. Whether it is my digital camera, tablet, or phone I always have a way to capture images. Also, I don't have expensive equipment, but  I do  keep all my equipment together and ready to grab or go. When Gracie and I encounter a doe in the driveway, I was pleased I had my phone. The photo at the top was taken while shopping at my favorite nursery. Again, so pleased I had my phone.

2. Keep Your Eyes Open. I am always looking to capture simple examples of beauty. Actually, I have trained my husband well. I had my back to the clothesline when the sun came out after a rain shower. He pointed it out. I love the image.

3, Capture People In Unique Ways. We are experiencing the era of selfies.  I like faceless photos. I started these images to provide privacy for my students. I explored more about this technique from Chris Orwig. My brother has mastered the faceless photo concept with black and white photos he captures on photo walks. The picture above if of two sisters from my class on a walk. I was so pleased I was behind them with my camera.

4. Wait Until Evening. If it isn't a "have to capture this moment" photo, the light of evening works well for me, especially with gardening pictures. Not as many shadows and weird colors to deal with. The bridal wreath spirea in the garden.

5. Frame the Picture: I work on this all the time. I examine what is around the image I am trying to capture. What kind of background will it create? I still have to crop, but it is important for me to frame a photo just right. My front porch works well for bouquets of flowers.

I highly recommend the book Visual Poetry by Chris Orwig. His motto is "savor every second". That he does. You can find his book here.

Is there another topic you would like me to share what I have learned along the way? Leave me a comment.

The Forest Calls My Name

A year ago today we invested in a used-but-perfect for us Winnebago. That day was a trip meant to be. On Craig's List we found kittens that needed to be rescued and a Winnebago that was looking for a home in the same area. We traveled to Newport to get the RV and Diamond Lake to rescue the kittens.

The forest is now calling my name. We haven't been camping yet this year. Week-ends have been filled with other events including a wedding, a graduation, and a time to rest and recuperate at home. This week we are getting ready to begin our camping season. Someone last year asked me, "What do you do all that time when you are camping? " I rest, read, take pictures, hike, join Everett in a walk with the dogs, eat, sleep, sit by a fire, and do it all again. Bliss.

I know I live in a place many people  love to come and rest and retreat. I love my home also, but sometimes I just need to leave the floors that need cleaning, the room that needs organizing, the weeds that need pulling and take up residence in a campground in the woods, by a creek, or near the lake.

I think at the end of this week we will head up to Sherman Pass to a favorite campground near the top. It is quiet, there are great hiking trails, it will be a bit cooler, and the dogs can run a bit more free. I feel more relaxed just thinking about it!

Still I Rise: Honoring Maya Angelou

It is hard to remember when I first discovered Maya Angelou.  My best guess was finding her poetry. She inspired me then, and continued to inspire me as I read many of her books, volumes of her poetry, articles, an amazing cookbook/memoir, and listened to her recite her words over and over. Each of her poems tells a story in my mind. Her repetition of words and sounds and her unique rhythm draws any reader to her words. Her words will always be with us. She will continue to inspire many. The selection below was the poem I decided to share today.

Still I Rise

Maya Angelou, 1928 - 2014

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops,
Weakened by my soulful cries?

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I’ve got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I rise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that’s wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.

Passionate Gardening

 I am passionate about gardening. When I moved to my house it started as a challenge. I lived alone and I was determined to create a place that was surrounded in beauty. I did okay the first year, but once I met my husband, another passionate gardener, it was easier and more pleasant to work together.

The things I love the most about gardening are planning spaces, creating color schemes that may work, and finding plants that work in our soil and temperature zone. I have also learned that if plants are in big pots, you can move them around to fill in holes, dead spots, or cover weeds. I am the one that wants things to look pretty.

Everett is the vegetable gardener, orchardist, head fertilizer guy, and chief waterer. He knows well how to plant seeds, hoe, divide, and harvest vegetables. He knows how to prune fruit trees the right way. He also has a perfect system for watering. All that we are thankful for in our gardens is because of his watering. I remind him of this every day. We don't have a sprinkler system or anything scientific. He just drags hoses, sets up sprinklers, and walks around and waters by hand.

Together it is our passion. During the summer we are home mostly. We can travel to a campground close to home and one of us can come home to check on things. No long vacation trips for us in the hot summer, but that is okay. We find satisfaction in gardening. Sitting on the deck after hours of work yesterday, we felt our sore muscles and knew it would be an early night to bed. As we looked around and took in the sights and smells of the gardens, we knew it was all worthwhile.