On a happy note, my summer Sculpture 1 class is going along wonderfully. I have a delightful group of students with a large age and skill level range. They enjoy each other and have a great time working with one another. Their work has been inventive, humorous and clever. When I have a student tell me that he is going to remember the skills that he has picked up in my class forever because they are so smart and useful then I must be doing something right! When I see people who would have never crossed paths in any other situation or never spoken or become friends, sitting together and talking about their work and then about their lives and making a true connection... then I know I am doing something right. And when I hear a student tell another student that they are proud of what they made and that they can't wait to show it to their family and friends, then I know I have done my job well. I may go home tired in body and mind but my soul (to sound a but cliche) is invigorated and happy! Now if the administrative side of my job was that fulfilling I would have nothing to complain about!!!!

I have another full week of my summer sculpture class then I get to go home and see the family for a few days before I am back to the chaos of being Acting Chair of my department. I hope to get to do some art in there somewhere but I am less and less optimistic about that at this point. Speaking of art, I did this little carving while trying out a new carving material for possible use in my classes. I call him George.
He took me just under 3 hours to carve which was pretty good considering that carving usually takes me a long time because I am always worried that I am going to screw it up. He will be living at CC Lowell's art store on Park Ave in Worcester as of the end of this week so drop in and say hi to him:)

I hope you are all doing well and having wonderful experiences, creating lasting, lovely memories and living life to the fullest!

Till we meet again.... 

Sparker

The picture to the left is from my Instagram and if I am correct I titled it "Post swimming BLISS" Getting back into the pool has been a blessing in many more ways that I thought it was going to be. The obvious one is that I am more active and getting healthier by the second (hopefully) In general I feel better though my shoulder is a bit sore thanks to me over doing it just a bit and I am sleeping better. Those are benefits that I knew would be coming my way if I started swimming again. The kicker is that I also seem to have less chaotic mood swings and my even keel is happier than my norm. Of course, that makes me sound like I am normally an emotional, moody wreck which I am not (generally) but everyone has their own baseline for mood and emotional stability. Mine seems to be changing for the better. YAY swimming! 

There is also something about being in the water that is simply profound. For that bit of time I don't feel heavy. I don't feel the pull of gravity on my body, the weight of my body doesn't stress my joints and I can move easier, almost effortlessly. To say that it is the same for my mind would be an understatement. For the time that I am in the water I don't have the lists of things that I should be doing running through my head. I'm not playing "What if" scenarios in my mind and wondering what new issue is going to land in my lap. I can hear my breathing (sometimes a bit too loudly) and the movement of the water around me and that is enough. Besides the odd mental reminder to swim using full strokes or tighten my stomach or watch out for the wall, all I hear is water and breathing. It's elemental and calm and exactly what I need every day. Unfortunately I can't go every day, but at least 4 times a week is a pretty good start. YAY swimming!

In other news...

I am still working on the stone. It seems that we have come to a place in our relationship where things are a bit strained. I don't want to say that we are taking a break, or that divorce is in the future, but we might need to do a little therapy to work through our issues. I am sure in the end it will all work out... 

My digital photo class is over and I think it was a resounding success. My goal was to learn how to use my camera, take better photos and know what to start looking for and paying attention to when I am taking photos. I can say without a doubt that I met all those goals. Would I call my self a photographer at this point? No. But I can take some pretty decent photos and for what I need right now, that is a good place to be. I have more confidence and more fun when I do take photos because I can be more assured that I will get what I want rather than just hoping and praying that at least one of my shots will be worth looking at. In short, I'd love to take more classes in this area (especially if it were with the same professor as he is a wonderfully great friend and amazing teacher) and hopefully I will get better and have more fun documenting my world as I see it:)

Next time I will put up a picture of "The Scarf" It's my "I'm sitting here watching TV and I have to have something for my hands to do or I will go mad so I am going to knit but I don't like to follow patterns so I will make something simple with random patterns and yarn" project. I am almost done with it and I find it absolutely hilarious. It's almost wide enough to be a small blanket and is completely random in pattern. I am sure that come next winter it is going to be fabulous but for now all I can do is laugh. 

With that to look forward to for next time I will say goodbye, hopes for health and happiness and please for all that is worth anything in this world do something silly at least once a day!

SParker