Attraction, Distraction and Chaos Theory

I was at the college this afternoon printing my syllabus(es) for the semester and cleaning up my office.  The printing went fine, the cleaning, well that is another matter entirely.  Something kept sidetracking me, attracting me, distracting me.... And I think I figured out the culprit.

Humm, could it possibly be this collection of my favorite books seducing me with intoxicating words, phrases and ideas?

Okay, let's take a closer look:

   
Hard to compete with these sexy reads.  And I can always clean my office next semester.

Julija at College

Mac and I brought Julija her bicycle before Hurricane Irene hit.  Since then many of the roads we drove on are closed, due to the flooding.  Early yesterday Julija sent me a picture of the new athletic complex at Castleton - the first floor and three cars in the parking lot were underwater.  It was a shocking picture because Mac and I had been walking around in there just a few hours before.   Of course I gave Julija all the safety advice I could muster....here are some pictures that were on Facebook yesterday.  I am not sure who should be credited with the photography.

Julija told me they pumped out most of the water- where they put it is anyone's guess.  Here are a couple of pictures before Irene's devastation.

She is happy as can be at college, although it has been an interesting start to the semester with the first day of classes cancelled.   Tomorrow is Julija's 18th birthday, that is surreal, wasn't it just yesterday I was bundling her up to take her home from the hospital?  Happy Birthday Julija!

Below are some pictures of the sky on the way home from Castleton.

Vermont has a lot of hard work ahead repairing and healing from Irene- we will do it together.

Zen Mountains Necklace

Been thinking about the strength of mountains lately, they never cease to amaze and inspire me.  Mountains....

Muslin soaked in coffee, kimono silk, grommets, Egyptian glass bead, cotton thread from Tibetan incense, Indian ink printed mountain stamp, and wonderful red and orange thread.  

Zen Mountains....

It Has Always Been Like This

Hitchhiking inchworm.
How many miles have we traveled together?

Julija Goes to College

Taking Julija to college this past weekend was bittersweet.  There were some tears....but I stopped crying in a reasonable amount of time.  She is prepared and ready for this transition, hopefully I am as well.

I wonder if Penguin knows he's staying home

She took her "blankee" and gave me strict instructions to hide it while we were moving her things into the room.

Jacob helps her fill out her XC forms.

Note the books on the bed stand; she has always been a reader.

So lovely and kind, and on rare occasions, a bit grumpy.

As we were driving to school- Julija says "Mom, how can they let me go off to school, don't they know I'm just a baby?"

I am mindfully resisting the urge to text her every few minutes to see how things are going, so I am hyper-vigilantly living in the moment!  After all, this moment is all there ever is.  

Ballet triadico 1970 Parte 1: amarilla.m4v

Marcel Dzama Exhibition

Marcel Dzama: Behind Every Curtain

Chicken Day on the Farm

A quick visit to the farm to see Julija....it was chicken day.  Don't ask.

A Collection of Shots

Once a Year....

Flowers, homemade card, and a beautiful jade and tiger's eye mala.   A cake for later....smile.

Students and Coolness

Although it's the summer, for students completing internships, school has been in session since the end of May.  And so school has been in session for me all summer too.  It has all been worth it- the students had great placements and learned a tremendous amount.  Here is a link to a story about Abbey who completed her internship with the Community Garden and Food to School programs.  http://www.lyndonstate.edu/news-and-announcements/abbey-heimlich-discovers-the-power-of-plants/

you can also read this post about her placement: St. Johnsbury Community Farm

Another student, Courtney, completed her placement with the officers at Probation and Parole and spent some time with Governor Shumlin.

Last night the Psychology and Human Services faculty attended the senior capstone research presentations.  The students rocked it!  It's been a terrific summer and soon we'll be into Fall semester.  I'm looking forward to it.

A Luminous View

Yesterday at LSC and Chandler Pond Farm:

Enjoy

Sensory Overload

Some things I've seen recently:

Wollaston Beach -Quincy, MA from this weekend

LSC

Chandler Pond Farm

Julija at Chandler Pond Farm

Yum.