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Yesterday,  I had a sense he was leaving, that it was time, and that the business of life meant he had to go … however hard his leaving might be for those not ready to follow. 

We had a brief conversation last night.   I told him I loved him.  He said nighty-night – the same way he has said goodnight to me for as long as I can remember.

I am left with a vision of a twinkly smile and a feeling of being loved.  It is enough. 

To honour my Grandfather, the life he lived, and the love he gave me, I am posting a link  to a blog I wrote four years ago:  http://curlygirlcapers.typepad.com/blog/2011/05/west-point-reunion.html. 

I hope you enjoy it.

 

 

 

 

Here, at this time of the year, there is 16 hours of daylight and the sun sets around 10pm – I suppose that this is the "glass half full" time of year.  In a few months, daylight dwindles to around 8 hours, it will get much colder and rain more than it does now…ahem…which is pretty much daily now.   Ok, so good news – I have a bit more time before that happens so best to take advantage and build up vitamin D stores.

Anyway, I digress.  Back to what this post is about…the blue light of Galway…

I had a few of those perfect moments last night – where all the non planned events and distractions (you know, the things I bitch and complain about) –  somehow conspired in a fantastic way; allowing me to be in a place, at a time, with a camera, and witness something amazing.  A little bit of magic happened with the various sources of light…

These pictures were taken around 11:15 pm on a walk back from town.  They are in time sequence so the last one is a good demonstration of how the camera was struggling toward the end ( a lot more grainy).  

 

New Paper Mural In Town

 

Main Stage for Galway Arts Festival:

 

Fishing The Corrib

 

Towards Galway University

The alchemy of an oven and some simple ingredents is a beautiful thing – in this case, blueberries, a couple pears, some spices, sugar, butter, and of course, a prepared sour cream pastry (yeah yeah, can't claim it was completely homemade).

Galette is just one of those french words I love – meaning cake (or very roughly translated) a free form pie.  My affection for the word has to do with the fact it is  just as much as fun to say as it is to tuck into.  

I often marvel at how satisfying it is to bake – particuarly on cold winter days when delicious aromas wafting from the oven take away a bit of the chill.  

There is something truly wonderful about the tangible outcomes of making – be it pottery, food, or whatever else takes ones fancy.  Not to mention, you can share results with friends.  

Just maybe, for my next bit of oven alchemy, I will concentrate more on the oven than writing a blog post – ah well, a bit of carmelization never hurt a tart:

 

 

 

"In pottery, by developing sensitivity in manipulating natural materials by hand, I found a wisdom which had died out of the concepts I learned in the university… The life I found in the craft helped bring to a new birth my ideals in education.  Some secret center became vitalized in  those hours of silent practice in the arts of transformation."

 - M.C. Richards

 

This new bowl and my recent experiments with copper oxides are proving to be pleasing.   Returning to pottery after many, many years of absence has been a remarkable experience.  I have been fortuante to meet some amazing teachers (yep, that is a shout out to the CPS community and Chris Harford in particular) who have challenged, encouraged, and guided me. 

I practice pottery because of what it teaches me – patience, resiliance, openness, improvisation, the importance of presence and being able to let go – of the things I make and my ideas of what something needs to be…

Plus…pottery has proven great distraction from the papers I should be writing 😉

 

 

The 'blue hour' (or twlight) is a spectacular photographic opportunity occuring twice a day; just before the sun peaks above or just after it dips below the horizon.   Photographs taken at these times of day capture an incredible depth of blue light that is both dreamy and vivid.  While traveling, this has been my favorite time to take photos – magic just happens by pointing your camera at a light source and clicking.

So, why get up so early on a Wednesday morning when I had no classes?  Why go to a lake, covered by fog, in the freezing cold you ask?  

One word – yoga.  

What an invorgating start to the day – even if my toes were numb (truly, it was really cold depite the multiple layers, borrowed gloves, and a hoody).  Practicing yoga outside as the sun rises is the best and worth braving the cold!  This is particularly true when you have a great group of ladies, a fantastic teacher – check out Sam's blog here - and a nice cup of tea after.  Sadly, it will be the last early morning lake class (or anywhere else outside before sunrise) until the weather warms up.  

 

While the below is taken with my phone,  it is helpful to have a tri-pod and a decent camera…As an aside, I am pretty pleased with the photo given numb fingers and a cell phone.  One of my favorite blue light photos can be found here.

Intrested in doing this yourself?  Check out this site which has 'blue (not quite an hour) timeframes' for wherever you are on the globe.  

It has been a while, I know.

Instead of bore you with my philosophical musings about why it as been almost 2 years since I have penned anything on this forum…let's just say I have been makin' hay while the sun is shining.  For those of you wondering – yes, the sun is stronger here as evidenced by my prolific use of sunblock (85) and sunnies (sunglasses in Australian speak). 

We have managed to stay out of trouble – surprise – busying ourselves with traveling, diving, and enjoying the wonders of the electricity 24 hours a day.  Other general mucking around has included a new hobby (pottery – a whole post will be needed for the fabulous Canberra Potter's Society) and working on finishing my masters (whoop whoop ANU).  Settling in took a while but we love it here – pretty hard not to given the plethoria museums, amazing nature, and ease of living …oh and let's not forget the occasional sighting of skippy – even if the clan diaspora keeps me too far away from family and friends.   

Getting back to the camera and writing (a few lines, a few times a month) should prove a tempting study break – like right now…  Oh and thanks to everyone for all the email queries asking 'WHEN' I was going to update.  They did light a fire – albiet a slow burning one…here is the to return of the curly girl blogger…with a lot adventure musings to make up for….

And because I can't post without a picture, here  couple of friends who frequent our yard…

 

Waiting for the sun to go down on the 4th of July is about the hardest thing for a kid to do – especially after "holding a sparkler" has been a topic of conversation for a few days.  

This was the first time the kids got a crack at it  (under adult supervison of course!) Tenetative at first, they were soon asking for two at time!  The whole evening was a ton of fun – some cool photos – click HERE for the album.

"Every child comes with the message that God is not yet discouraged of humanity."                                                                                                                                                          -Rabindranath Tagore

This amazing, beautiful girl is my new niece.  While I was busy packing up to leave India, she was busy getting ready to make her own transition – into the world.  I have been anxious to meet her since the news of her arrival in late June.  

It is impossible to "squeeze in" all the love I have for her during my short visit.  Taking full advantage of the time I had, I sang her a few songs, told her a story or two, held her while she slept and gave her some of the kisses I had wanted to from the day she was born.  She is incredible – a reminder of all the possibilities that surround.

The photos in the album – New Arrival – document a few moments while I was visiting.  Here is hoping her parents find there way onto a plane headed down under – ok, maybe a couple of planes – fingers crossed.