Swinging By A Thread, A Blog by Amy Climer

New workshop - Communication skills through Collaborative Art Making

2011-11-28T11:51:00.002-06:00

I'm teaching a new workshop this February at UW Madison.
Read all about it on the Big Learning Event blog.

Spread the word!

Teaching Photography

2011-11-20T08:29:00.004-06:00

Last week I was in Florida for a conference and spent a few extra days in Orlando visiting my family. My cousin Debbie set up a photo class for her friends that I taught. We spent the day at her house and I taught the students how to use their SLR cameras. In the morning we explored aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and white balance. Then in the afternoon we focused on various components of composition.

my cousin Debbie shooting from a worms-eye view

It was a fun day and I think the students learned a lot about using their cameras. If you are interested in me teaching a class for a group of your friends just let me know. Learn to use that fancy camera you have!

Here is the class description:

Photography: Moving beyond point and shoot

In this full-day class we will explore the technical and aesthetic sides of photography. Take your photography to a new level as you begin to understand composition, lighting, color, and how to adjust your camera to get the image you want. Learn how to move beyond the auto settings on your camera and control aperture, shutter speed, ISO, and more. Student will have time for hands-on practice and experimenting followed by critique, feedback, and troubleshooting of photos.

Course requirements: Digital SLR camera or other digital camera with manual controls

Habitat for Humanity in Ghana, Day 2

2011-03-24T21:01:00.004-05:00

The second day in Ghana Julie and I joined Semester at Sea faculty and students for a Habitat for Humanity service project. We piled into a bus and drove from Takoradi to Assan Fuso to help with a build involving five houses in various stages of completion.

There is something so intriguing about gazing out the bus window and seeing a new country, a new culture. Along the way I took lots of photos. The road traveled along the coast and we saw this group pulling in a fishing net.

Fisherman pulling out nets along Ghana's coast

Many of the houses in Ghana are painted by the local cell phone companies. The companies pay the owners a fee in exchange for using their house as a billboard. The companies include Vodofone, MTN, Tigo, and Airtel.

Village with electricity. Notice the red and white cell phone ad on the front house.

As you drive by various villages the houses look rather shabby with tin roofs some being held down by tires or haphazardly constructed plywood walls. However, Ghana is growing fast and the guides explained that one big improvement is that many houses now had electricity, evident by the many tv antennas sticking up out of the villages. In front of the villages the buildings along the road were shops selling food, hardware items, or fabric or beauty salons and repair shops. Behind that were the smaller houses and as you went further back into the villages the houses often got bigger and nicer. Really, not all that different from a U.S. neighborhood where the nicer homes are off the busy street and the shops line the main drag.

After a two-hour bus ride we arrived at the Habitat build site. It took a little while for them to get us divided and working, but eventually I was part of a crew of about 10 women who were responsible for moving bricks all day. There were large concrete/mud bricks that had been drying in the sun and needed to be moved to make space for the next house. We stacked a few hundred bricks for hours. It was hard, hot work, but we took occasional breaks to play with the kids, take photos, and drink lots of water.

Two students transporting bricks

Two students carrying water to be mixed to make mud for walls

Julie took a strong liking to one particular girl who was probably about 5 years old. She didn’t speak English and was a little shy, but she liked Julie. Julie kept asking me if we could take her home. I think her mom would have been very sad.

Julie's favorite kiddo

Julie with girl

By the end of the day our group had moved all the bricks and other groups had helped mud walls, dig trenches, mix mud, etc. It was a rewarding day of hard, sweaty work.

Our group in front of our pile of bricks

Takoradi, Ghana

2011-03-24T10:06:00.007-05:00

As is often the case, in Ghana we docked in an industrial port. Once we left the ship we had to walk about 20 minutes to the port gate. We passed large warehouses that housed the cocoa processing plant. The most notable part was the smell. Cocoa stinks! It has a sickly sweet smell that reminded me of dumpsters.

Daniel and Julie walking out of the port

On our first day in port we walked to the gate with a group of other staff. During the walk our group seemed to grow to about 15 people including faculty, staff, and lifelong learners (older, non-student passengers). Once we passed through the security at the port’s gate we were surrounded by taxi drivers all haggling to get our business. It was a bit overwhelming, but we divided up into small groups, negotiated prices, and headed to the central market.

Julie and I ended up in a taxi with a professor and two lifelong learners. During the taxi ride, the comments from the other three were so embarrassing we both wanted to melt into our seats. They were speculating about the people in Ghana as if our driver wasn’t there. Hello! Ghanaians speak English! None of us in the cab had been to Ghana so it’s not as if they knew what they were talking about. Julie and I just looked at each other and decided we needed to head off with some other folks once we got to the market.

Semester at Sea is vigilant about encouraging people to travel in groups. However, sometimes it gets out of hand. By the time we gotten to the market our group had grown to about 15 people. This is not a good way to travel. It’s cumbersome to keep track of so many people and makes you more of a target too. Julie and I decided to split off with two other people, who were less inclined to speak down about the locals. The four of us wondered around the market for a while, which was fascinating.

Market in Takoradi

The market is where the farmers and others bring their goods to sell. Some have stalls they set them up on, but most just lay our a blanket or small crates and display there wares in there. On one side of the street was all the food – carrots, tomatoes, salted fish, peas, etc. The produce was gorgeous. I’ve never seen such red, bright tomatoes and enormous carrots. Unfortunately, it wasn’t really safe for us to eat, so we could just look.

On the other side of the street was everything else – flip flops, belts, plastic storage containers, clothes, kitchen utensils, towels, cell phones, etc. The market was crowded and busy with so many locals buying what they needed. Many people walked around with their goods on a large bowl on their head. First, they would roll up a small towel and shape it into a circle and place that on their head. Then, they would get help from someone else to lift the large bowl or crate onto their head. They’d walk around balancing that on their head and selling their goods. A common product sold this way were buckets of coal chunks, which I assume were used for their cooking stoves, because they certainly didn’t need any heat in their homes.

After wandering around the market a bit we went back to the ship for lunch. We asked our taxi driver which beach he would go to. He told us about Africa Beach. After lunch nine of us took a taxi to Africa Beach. It was beautiful and the water was so warm, like bath water.

L to R: Bianca, Mark, Faith, Julie, Annie, Wei-man, and Dustin

Julie at Africa Beach

Walking to dinner shortly before sunset

L to R: Me, Wei-man, Julie, Annie, and Faith

We played around on the beach for a couple of hours swimming, sitting in the sand, and talking to some locals. It was an enjoyable and relaxing afternoon. Then, we decided to go to dinner. We asked a local where he’d recommend and he suggested the African Beach Hotel. Our taxi driver had dropped us off there and it looked nice so we headed over. As we walked into the backyard restaurant everything looked quite normal. There were a couple dozen tables with umbrellas scattered around the grass, a soccer game was playing on a tv, and the place was about half full which seemed like a good sign. The swimming pool and the trampoline situated amongst the tables didn’t even seem that odd at first. The wait staff pulled two tables together for our group of nine and we settled in.

Then, things got weird. Since we had been swimming I went to the bathroom to change my clothes and our friend Bianca came in a few minutes after me. While I was in my stall I could hear Bianca talking to someone, but I couldn’t hear what the other person was saying. Bianca was answering questions about our trip, but something in her tone seemed a bit off, as if she were uncomfortable. By the time I finished Bianca had left and the other woman was in her own stall.

I returned to the table to hear Bianca tell the group that this lady came into the bathroom and was blocking the door and started asking her lots of questions. She had on large fake eyelashes and a tight, short skirt. My first thought was that she was just a little off and not really an issue. We dismissed it as an anomaly and returned to the menus. Our waitress came over and we ordered drinks. I asked her if we could jump on the trampoline and she said yes. That made my day! Dustin, Bianca and I kicked off our shoes and scrambled on.

Me, Bianca, and Dustin on the trampoline

After our bouncing we all returned to the table and the woman Bianca met in the bathroom approached our group and started talking to Bianca. She was very flirtatious and walked around our whole table introducing herself to each of us. Felicia was clearly high and we were getting uncomfortable. We asked her to leave and finally she did. We all kind of looked at each other like “what was that all about?!” Some of us wanted to leave and some of us figured things were fine now that she had left. We tried to relax and enjoy ourselves. But then, another woman came over and the process was repeated again. To make a long story short, we paid for our drinks, canceled our food order and left. We had somehow ended up in a brothel.

I am not sure if we were in the African Beach Hotel or not. But, we all felt a little squeamish and were glad to get back to the ship. Julie ate a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner explaining that she just needed some comfort food.

Leaving Manaus via the Amazon River

2011-03-05T04:34:00.003-06:00

We spend the last day in Brazil wondering around the streets of Manaus and doing a little last minute shopping, mostly stocking up on snacks for our 9-day trip to Ghana. The supermarket we went to was enormous. It had two stories and was like a grocery store, Target, and Walgreens mixed into one. They even sold bikes.

We spent the next two days sailing back down the Amazon to the Atlantic Ocean. I loved the villages, little colorful boxes on a hill. They reminded me of Julie’s artwork.

A village on the Amazon River

On to Ghana!

The Amazon Jungle, Day 3

2011-03-02T04:38:00.011-06:00

Our third day in the Amazon Jungle started with a delicious breakfast of fresh pineapple, oranges, sweet bread, and bananas. It was more food then the 3 of us could possibly eat. Francisco threw the extra into the woods to be eaten by the monkeys. There's not exactly a Leave No Trace ethic here, but I'm sure the monkeys loved it.

Our breakfast buffet

After breakfast we packed up our hammocks and started our hike back to the lodge. Francisco led the way and in a few feet he stopped abruptly and jumped back. He was surprised by an injured bird sitting in the middle of the trail. It was so well camouflaged and hissed at him. The birds mouth looked like the inside of a snake’s mouth. An animal probably attacked it in the middle of the night. He poked at the bird so that it hissed and we saw it’s mouth. We left it there for nature to do her thing.

The injured bird

As we continued on we passed a tree with a large nest in the side. Our guide cut an “X” across the nest with his machete and then put his hand on the nest. In seconds his hand was covered in small ants. He slapped at them to kill them then rubbed them around. Natural mosquito repellant, he said. It did smell good, but I wasn’t game to try it.

A nest of ants that when crushed create a natural mosquito repellent

There actually weren’t really any mosquitoes around. Of course, we had heard horror stories about the mosquitoes in the Amazon Jungle, but we were on the Rio Urubu and due to the high acidity of the water the mosquito eggs can’t survive in it. Therefore, there weren’t many mosquitoes. It was great! We had insect repellent with us, but we barely used it. I did find two ticks on me though so long pants were important.

We continued on and Francisco stopped again and walked off the trail to a large vine. He cut a section of the vine and showed us how to drink water out of it. I was skeptical, but the water was delicious. It tasted so pure. It also sounded like a quiet rain stick when the water ran down. The vine acts as a filter and cleans the water. He said it’s a common source of water when you need it for survival.

Julie drinking water from a vine

We continued walking further and then got to swing from a vine. This made me very happy. Of course, it is the classic jungle thing to do and I love swinging on things.

Julie swinging on the vine

We continued on and suddenly Francisco just veered off the path to a pile of red wood. We watched as he picked up a piece and started hacking away with his machete. We had no idea what he was doing. Soon we saw a spoon-like shape emerging from the wood. We thought he was making a spoon for the chef back at the lodge. Then he came back, handed the spoon to Julie and said he’d carve it a little nicer for her back at the lodge. We were shocked at his generosity. Later, he did shape it into a gorgeous, large stirring spoon for Julie. She was very excited and appreciative.

Francisco doing the rough cut for Julie's spoon

As we got close to the lodge Francisco showed us how the roofs of the buildings are made from the palm fronds. The leaves are bent and then the fronds are layered together overlapping each other. Simple and genius.

Bending the green fronds to form the roof

The underside of the thatched roof

We arrived back to the lodge safely, sweaty, and very happy. We showered, ate lunch, repacked our bags and headed back to Manaus via boat and bus.

We had a wonderful trip and Francisco was an excellent guide – professional, knowledgeable, intelligent, and funny. We are very thankful to have worked with him and the other staff of Amazon Antonio Jungle Tours. I would highly recommend them to anyone traveling to that area.

South African Homestay

2011-03-02T01:10:00.002-06:00

My Resident Assistant, Candace Stone, wrote a great article for the Semester at Sea Blog discussing her experience during a South African homestay. Click here to go to the SAS blog. She's a great writer. I'm so proud of her!

The Amazon Jungle, Day 2

2011-03-01T09:46:00.011-06:00

Francisco woke us early for a sunrise paddle to look for dolphins. It was a gorgeous morning even though we never did see dolphins. The water was a little choppy which made it harder to spot their fins cresting the water. Their fins don’t come out as much as saltwater dolphins like the Atlantic Bottlenose. These are freshwater species called Pink Dolphins or Grey Dolphins. You can probably guess their color.

After a delicious breakfast of fresh pineapple and sweet bread we went out for another paddle with the UK couple. They have a great sense of humor and loved to tease Francisco about all sorts of things and he dished it right back. It was fun.

After lunch we had a nice siesta then packed our bags and Julie, Francisco and I headed out for an overnight hike in the jungle. Another guide drove us down the river to our starting point. We hopped out of the boat with our backpacks and he sped away. The only way back to the lodge was to walk. There didn’t appear to be a trail, but Francisco was confident in where we were going. Eventually you could see a faint trail, but I was glad to be with him. We would have been in a heap of trouble without a guide. It’s not like going hiking in a U.S. National Park or somewhere with nice marked signs or trail cairns along the way. This seemed to be more remote than most places in the lower 48. We carried our hammocks, food, and a soot covered cooking pot. Francisco carried a machete and we soon saw how adept he was with using it as he cleared large leaves out of our way and chopped at vines. Later I was carrying it and realized it’s not as easy as it looks.

As we hiked he taught us about many of the plants we passed. We saw the trees that make Vick’s Vapor Rub and Tiger Balm, quinine for tonic water, the natural malaria prophylactic, the medicine for rheumatism, and many more. It’s amazing what’s growing in there. I imagine there are many benefits from the plants that no one knows about yet.

As we passed a small hole in the ground Francisco stopped us and picked a palm tree frond. With his machete he shaved it off except for a few little fronds on the end. He stuck the frond in the hole and wiggled. In a moment a huge tarantula crawled out!

Francisco holding the tarantula

He expertly picked it up from the back so he didn’t get bitten, like picking up a lobster. He said a drop of the poison would kill you and held up the spider so we could see the poison dripping out. Perhaps I shouldn't admit this, I didn’t realize they were actually poisonous. I just thought they were big, hairy, and ugly. I guess since people have them as pets I had gotten the wrong impression. Now I know better!

We arrived to our campsite in the late afternoon. We gathered firewood, set up our hammocks, and Francisco cooked us an enormous meal of rice, potatoes, sausage, and veggies. I think he forgot it was just us three. He cooked enough for at least six people!

Our dinner cooking over the fire

We used large leaves for plates and Francisco cut spoons out of wood with his machete. He’s amazingly adept at using that thing.

Dinner with our machete-cut spoons and leaf plates

I was a little nervous about sleeping well in a hammock, but it was surprisingly comfortable. I just missed having a pillow.

Julie in her hammock

Francisco forgot the ropes to tie up his hammock so he used his machete to strip some bark from a tree and used that as rope. It was quite impressive. I think he was a little nervous about it's strength, but it didn't break in the middle of the night. He was very happy about that!

There were candles set up around our camp. They added a nice touch.

The Cape Town Blues

2011-02-18T01:53:00.004-06:00

Cape Town, South Africa

I’m way behind in posting about my travels, but I’m jumping ahead in order to share what’s been happening in the last 24 hours here. Yesterday morning we arrived in South Africa in time to see a gorgeous sunrise over the continent. Unfortunately, that was the best part of the day. The winds were too high and the sees too rough for us to dock. We paced back and forth along the coast at Cape Town all day long. At first we thought things would die down by noon, but they didn’t, they actually seemed to pick up. Then they thought maybe by the late afternoon, but no. Then they said by 8pm, but same story – no. Finally, we went to bed sure we’d be on shore by early morning. Unfortunately, we woke this morning still at sea. It was a very disappointing day. We could see Cape Town, but couldn’t get there. The waves weren’t that bad, maybe 2-4 feet, but the winds were at around 40-50 knots yesterday.

Our path during the last 24 hours

Me with Cape Town in the background

Here’s how it works when we get to a port. As we arrive a small boat comes out to greet our ship and comes along side us, our crew opens up a little platform and a local expert jumps on our ship while we are still moving. This person is called the pilot. The pilot steers our ship into the dock. Apparently, the harbor at Cape Town is very narrow and rocky so they have to be more cautious then usual when landing.

This morning when I went out I was surprised we were still at sea because the waves and wind seems rather calm to me. Of course, what do I know about steering a ship? Anyway, it’s always to the pilot’s discretion if we can land or not. From what we heard our captain was getting impatient and trying to convince them to take us in. The latest news is the pilot is coming on board that we should be landed in a couple of hours. The biggest bummer about all this is that we miss a day and a half in South Africa, which for me it was one of the ports I was most excited about. I doubt we’ll get to make up the time on the other end due to costs. We have to pay for the berth space even if we can’t get there and apparently, it costs a fortune. I just learned yesterday that it costs a half a million dollars just to fill up our gas tank!

Staring out the window, wishing we were on land

Since yesterday was an unexpected free day I took two naps, played Apples to Apples with some students, tried to repair my broken camera (with no luck), wrote on my blog, took photos (with my functional camera), and generally lazed around. Everyone was doing the same thing. I’ve never seen so many card games and board games happening at once. I think everyone had at least one nap. For the most part the students were very patient and understanding about everything. However, if we don’t get off today I think there might be a mutiny. I might even participate.

The Amazon Jungle, Day 1

2011-02-17T03:46:00.016-06:00

The Urubu River

We spent three days exploring the Amazon and didn’t see an American the entire time! It was great! It’s one of the challenges when traveling with Semester at Sea. When 700 Americans embark in a city at once you’re bound to run into each other, so we were excited to find a place where no one else was at.

We started the morning early rushing around to pack last minute items for a 3-day excursion in the Amazon Jungle. We met a driver from Amazon Antonio Jungle Tours at 7am for a quick ride to the bus station. There we boarded a public, intercity bus for a 3-hour ride to Lindoa. The bus was one of the nicest I’ve ever been on and was so comfortable, not what you’d think of for a public bus in Brazil. We were especially appreciative, because we were so tired. By the time we arrived in the tiny town of Lindoa we were well rested and ready for a 40 minutes boat ride upriver to our lodge.

A fruit stand in Lindoa (notice the young boy with a coconut)

When we arrived we were introduced to Francisco our guide. He showed us to our room in the tower. We had a nice view of the Urubu River, a tributary of the Amazon River. Our accommodations were simple, but clean and adequate. We had a private bath with a toilet and sink and a shared shower downstairs. They pump water right out of the river. It goes through a filter system to remove any particles, but it’s not potable. There’s no hot water it just sits in tanks in the sun and warms up a little, but not much. The good thing about having swam in Lake Superior and living in Wisconsin is that your concept of cold water shifts drastically. It was quite hot out so when we did take showers the cool water felt great.

The tower we slept in

In the afternoon we went out canoeing with our guide and an English couple who was also visiting. They were great fun. All the canoe paddles were handmade and quite heavy. I was surprised at how heavy they were. Later our guide told us they keep them thick and heavy because the tourists break them if they don’t. Made me miss my nice lightweight canoe paddle at home! Fortunately, our guide was such a strong paddler we could slack from time to time and take photos of the gorgeous trees growing out of the water. The water was about 2 meters deep and would get up to 8 meters during the rainy season making the trees look like little bushes sticking out of the water. It would be cool if you could scuba dive under there and see all the trees trunks under the water with fish swimming through the leaves.

Strong, heavy, hand carved paddles

On the way back to the lodge we stopped for some piranha fishing. It’s a very simple process, just a hook, a line, and raw chicken. No pole or reel needed. The toughest part is snapping the line when the piranha bites to secure the hook in it's mouth. When we put our lines in Julie and I both caught a fish almost immediately.

The piranha's sharp teeth (shown with a leaf in it's mouth)

Julie and Amy with our piranhas

I though, wow, this is going to be fun. Well sadly, my luck ended there. I couldn’t seem to get the snap just right again. Julie, however, proved to be quite the fisher and brought in at least 7 fish. The English couple we were with caught a few as did the guide. We took them all back to the lodge and we ate them for dinner. They were great! Who woulda thought piranha would be so tasty.

A plate of grilled piranha and the rest of our meal (rice, pasta, veggies, chicken)

After dinner we grabbed flashlights and went out again to look for caiman (alligators). This time is was just Julie, me, and Francisco. It was a beautiful clear night and the trees were reflecting in the water. We sped along in the little boat as Francisco shined the light along the base of the trees. He was looking for the reflective eyes of the caiman. After a while we saw some. I couldn’t see them as clearly, but he was so well trained to spot them. We motored into the trees to the shallow spot where the eyes were. He stopped the motor, pushed the boat along with the paddle, then stepped over us to the front of the boat, and hopped barefoot into the water. He slowly and sneakily crept up to the caiman then WAM! He reached in and grabbed it around the neck, yanking up a young, two foot caiman. He carried it back to our boat and sat down with us to show us the little guy. With Francisco’s hand around his neck he was very still, didn’t struggle at all. He figured the cayman was about a year and a half old. They grow to be several feet long. We each got to hold it and feel it’s smooth belly and rough back.

Amy holding the young caiman

Francisco and Julie with the caiman

Then Julie gently released him back into the water.

Swim caiman, swim!

We went back to the lodge and quickly fell asleep. It was a long, but wonderful day.

Manaus, Brazil

2011-01-23T20:03:00.004-06:00

Today we arrived in Manaus, Brazil a bustling city of 2-3 million people that is Brazil’s gateway to the Amazon Jungle. Before arriving we were bombarded with information about how dangerous Brazil can be. Violent crime on tourists is rare, but muggings and theft is common. It has been drilled into our heads to travel in groups. So, we headed out with a group of 12. Before we were even out of the port it seemed like a bad idea. Within the first 500 yards we stopped four to six times for photos, someone peaking into a store, the group getting too spread out, etc. This was definitely not making us safer. If anything we were now a more obvious target. We soon found a bank with 15-20 ATMs inside a lobby. While some people were getting money we decided to split into two groups and meet up later at the Opera House. That worked really well and the six of us who already had money left.

We headed to the Amazon Teatro or the Opera House. It’s the most beautiful building in the town. As we stepped inside we saw other people were filling the seats. We followed the crowd and in about 20 minutes a beautiful classical performance started. Wow, were we surprised! What great timing! We had no idea. The conductor was wonderful to watch. He was really a dancer with a baton and all the musicians responded to his moves. Manaus is considered the classical capitol of Brazil and they are very proud of their beautiful building.

The balcony in Amazon Teatro

After the performance Julie and I split off from the group because we wanted to go to the Manaus Hostel to inquire about another hostel in the jungle. We wanted to sign up for a tour and we had found the place online. There are a lot of tourist scams and everything we read about Manaus and Amazon jungle tours says to book tours in person at a hotel or the tour office. We were glad we followed that advice because apparently the place was fake. Hostels generally know about each other and they had never heard of the place. We went to three tour operators and ended up booking with the one located in the hostel called Amazon Antonio Jungle Tours. Our trip goes up north a couple hours from Manaus up the Rio Urubu. This river is more acidic which means fewer mosquitoes, which will be particularly nice in malaria country. We leave in the morning for 3 days and two nights in the Amazon jungle.

We came back to the ship for dinner because there is not much open on Sunday in Manaus and I am not feeling well. I picked up a cold from Julie last night. She’s fine now, but I’m stuffy and tired. She went out Samba dancing with some other friends, but I’m staying in tonight and hoping to rest up and feel better before our jungle tour.

The Amazon River

2011-01-23T20:02:00.001-06:00

We spent the last three days sailing up the Amazon River. It’s a wide, mellow, brown, muddy river. It’s the largest freshwater river in the world flowing through the largest tropical rainforest in the world. The Amazon River has a flow ten times the size of the Mississippi with a watershed almost the size of the continental U.S! Every day it dumps 1.3 trillion gallons of water into the ocean. We are going 1,000 miles inland to Manaus, Brazil where we will get to explore the Amazon.

Shortly after we entered the Amazon from the Atlantic some Brazilian dignitaries and U.S. Ambassadors came aboard and sailed with us to Manaus. They gave talks and panel discussions about the Brazilian economy and other things. To be honest, it was pretty boring so I didn’t listen to most of it. The best part was the night before port the two U.S. Ambassadors to Brazil joined us for a game of Mafia in the faculty/staff lounge. Now, that’s good stuff.

Dominica

2011-01-23T19:33:00.007-06:00

We spent two days on the beautiful island of Dominica. Dominica is nestled in the Caribbean and most Americans have never heard of it. This is probably because there are no resorts on the island or direct flights from the U.S. It’s a more popular travel destination for Europeans and we did meet two Swedes while we were there.

Middleham Falls, Dominica
The two-day stop was much too quick and we only saw a tiny bit of this fascinating country. The first day we hired a taxi driver to take four of us, me, Julie, Bianca and Dustin - 2 other LLCs, to a large waterfall called Middleham Falls. I think it was about 150 feet high and beautiful. One of the women with us, Bianca, has never seen a waterfall. She said ever since she was a little kid she’s wanted to see a waterfall and a unicorn. I hope I get to be there when she sees the unicorn too.

Bianca, Dustin, Julie, and me in front of Middleham Falls

When we arrived at the parking lot the driver told us he would wait since it was only about 45 min hike each way. There were four of us and we were a bit slow so the round trip hike took us four hours. We stayed at the falls for a bit and I jumped into the pool in my clothes. No one else wanted to – I can’t imagine why. We took lots of photos, but the forest created a dark canopy that made photos difficult, even with the ISO set to 800.

Julie hoping on some rocks to keep her feet dry

When we returned our driver Charles seemed perfectly content that it had taken us so long. This style of waiting for clients is apparently quite common. On the drive home we stopped at a view over the city and Charles talked with us about Dominica and recent changes that are happening with the Caribbean as the Chinese get more involved in their economy. See Julie's blog for more on that topic.

Champaign Reef, Dominica

On Monday we went to Champaign Reef about 30 minutes south of Roseau near Point Michel. We were going to take the city bus, but Charles agreed to drive us there for the same price, $2/each. He dropped us off at Irie Safaris where we rented snorkeling gear for $12/set. There were five of us, but we just rented three sets to save a little money. The tourist office in town told us it was $4/set so we were a little surprised, plus one person wasn’t sure she was going to snorkel. We listened to a short orientation then walked down to the beach. The beaches in Dominica are covered in gray and black rocks so shoes are a must. It rained most of the morning so we nestled into a little cave-like overhang on the beach to stay dry. Julie, Alyssa, and I put on the snorkeling gear and waded in. Like my dad always says – it doesn’t rain underwater! The reef was amazing! We saw lots of fish and beautiful coral. There was one brain coral that was at least three feet in diameter. It must have been very old.

The brain coral

My favorite part was diving down to get closer to the coral. When you get closer the colors are much more vibrant and interesting. From the surface things look more blue and green, but when you get up close you see more variation. This fan coral was huge, about 2 feet high and swayed back and forth with the waves.

The fan coral

Me diving down to check out the reef up close

Our friend Raja had never snorkeled before and he did great. There was a funny moment though. At one point I got stung by something on my ankle. We were told there was something called sea lice that floats in the water and you can’t see it. It can sting if it’s touched, but isn’t very common. The sting was very minor and felt like an ant bite, but nevertheless I uttered a four letter word and Raja immediately wanted to know what happened. I reluctantly told him, reluctant because I knew he would want to get out. Sure enough he was swimming to shore so fast. For someone who wasn’t a good swimmer and had never snorkeled before he zoomed to shore so fast I couldn’t keep up. It was so funny. Needless to say he was snorkeling pretty well by then. The pain from the sting went away in a few minutes and I went back in for round three.

Julie & I snorkeling

We left after a couple of hours, but I really would have been perfectly fine staying for several more. I love snorkeling and diving. When I was a kid we had a pool in our backyard and I can remember snorkeling in circles around the pool for hours looking at every little variation in the tile. For me, it’s so peaceful and relaxing being underwater.

Our ship docked in Dominica

I look forward to the opportunity to go back to Dominica someday. Preferably to stay longer. It's a wonderful, beautiful place with kind, generous people.

Setting Sail

2011-01-20T06:18:00.003-06:00

We made it! We set sail last Wednesday night the 12th at 8pm. We were supposed to leave earlier, but the closing of the Atlanta airport caused many students to be delayed to the ship. Because of the high number who would have missed the ship, the captain delayed our departure as well. (Has anyone else been thinking that Atlanta needs to invest in some additional snow plows?) Anyway, when we left there were about 100 parents and ISE staff on shore waving us off. Students were yelling their last “I love yous” to the parents and a few tears were falling. It was a neat moment. It’ll be even more emotional when we pull into San Diego at the end. More on that in April.

The faculty and staff were on the ship from Jan 9-11 for faculty/staff training. We were busy getting ready for the students so didn’t have much time to get off the ship and see the Bahamas. It was a fast training. Last time I sailed the training was 5 days and this time around I didn’t feel as prepared when the students arrived. I believe the change was entirely financial, but it’s definitely made it a little tougher for us.

MV Explorer docked in the Bahamas

During the four days we were docked at Nassau we saw new cruise ship neighbors each day, mostly Carnival ships with rock climbing walls and water slides and dwarfing our 7 story, 600 foot vessel. The cruise ships would arrive in the morning and leave at dusk. It’s really impossible to see The Bahamas or any country in eight hours. I couldn’t help but wonder, “what’s the point?” It reminds me that we are definitely not on a cruise we are on a voyage, and for that I am very thankful.

our home for the next four months

Planning, sorting, organizing, and packing

2011-01-19T19:17:00.000-06:00

We left for our big Semester at Sea trip around the world a week ago! The first week has been great! Of course we are both very excited and for Christmas I got the book Creative Camera and that made me even more excited. Playing with new photography ideas, further exploring Miksang photography, and being in new places to inspire are some of the things I'm looking forward to during this voyage.

Months ago when we were invited on this voyage around the world the preparations began. We had to figure out what to do with our house, where to store our cars, who would take care of our dog, and figure out how we could make this trip as economical as possible. We suspended our cell phone service, cancelled our home phone, downgraded our car insurance, bought foreign currency for 10 different countries, bought visas for 4 countries, and set up a packing station in the spare bedroom so we could pack over time.

In the couple weeks before we left I found myself going back and forth between being really excited about the trip and being bummed with all the packing, sorting, organizing, and planning that goes into it. Of course it's worth it, but it was really draining.

There were piles of stuff getting organized in most every room in the house. The office/spare bedroom has bins where we've placed various things we collected during the last month - shampoo, the mosquito head net, the new super tiny, lightweight sleeping bag (called the Atom - isn't that a great name?), Malaria medicine, flashlight, tent, binoculars, etc. I realized why more people don’t travel around the world. The logistics can be overwhelming! Fortunately, we made it and now that I’m here looking out at the ocean I can barely remember the stress of that week. The highlight was hanging out with some close friends at the Harmony a couple nights before we left. It was a great time and a much needed break. I realized how much would miss my close friends while we are gone. We love you!

the bins that we used to stay organized while we packed

A few days before we left we laid out all the clothes and started weeding through what to put back. The guideline we heard was to layout everything you want to take and then put half of it back. Good advice. It's so hard to decide what to bring because you don't know what situations will come up and what you'll need to wear. Plus, the more clothes I bring the fewer toys I can bring like fun camera gear and art supplies.

sorting all our clothes

When all the packing was done we each had a large duffle and a small duffle to check and two carry-ons. We booked our flights with Southwest so our bags could fly free. No need to pay those silly extra fees.

our luggage for the next four months

When we told people about our journey around the world we experienced a wide range of reactions and got lots of questions. I wish I had written them all down, because some of them were pretty funny. Here were the most common ones.

What are you doing with your house?

Fortunately, a friend of ours is living in our house and paying us a small bit of rent. It was a challenge to find someone for the short time, especially because we wanted to leave most of our stuff in the house. We needed someone we could trust and who wouldn’t need us to move everything out. Although we still had to empty our dressers and bedroom closet, move two couches, and remove a lot of stuff out of the kitchen. The good thing is that all this packing has led to a garbage bag full of clothes and other things that are heading for the thrift store or perhaps the next garage sale. We have too much stuff. I know I'll feel that even more when we get back, after living in a tiny room and meeting people who live with much less than we do. We also have a great next door neighbor who is always willing to help and keep an eye on things.

What about your dog?

Jake, our adorable floppy-eared Doberman is staying at Julie’s brother’s house. They also have a dog named Maggie so this was an especially generous offer he and his family made to us. Before we left we needed to make sure the dogs would get along. Therefore, Maggie visited Jake for an afternoon and Jake spent a long Thanksgiving weekend at their house. All went well. Then, the day before we left the country we almost had a crisis. We dropped Jake off at their house on Thursday night in Milwaukee. We flew out Friday morning to Orlando to attend my cousin Mark’s wedding on Saturday evening. On Saturday afternoon Julie called her brother to find out how things were going with Jake. The two dogs had gotten in a fight! Jake attacked Maggie and latched on to her ear and wouldn’t let go then did the same thing to her tail. Fortunately, no blood was shed or physical damage was caused, but Maggie was really nervous after that. We were nervous that we would need to find a new place for Jake to stay and made a few calls. However, Julie’s brother and his family decided it was a fluke and really wanted to keep Jake. He’s a very sweet, calm dog and it sounded like Maggie provoked him. We were incredibly relieved, but our blood pressure did go up for a few hours. Thank you Mark and Kristi!

Be careful of pirates.

Some people say it in jest, but some are very serious. Really? First of all, how does one recognize a pirate? Do I look for an eye patch, a Jolly Roger tattoo, and a wooden leg? Then, what would I do? For those of you who are genuinely worried about this Julie’s dad had a great point. Pirates wouldn’t attack a cruise-type ship like ours with 1000 people because it’s too many people to manage. There’s not really any precious cargo and it would extremely difficult for them to keep that many people captive without some people thwarting their efforts. We also are not sailing in those areas where the pirates have been attacking. So rest assured, we aren’t going to get attacked by pirates. Argh!

Caving in Popp's Cave

2010-11-23T19:29:00.009-06:00

A couple weeks ago three of us, Julie, Kate, and me, drove out to Richland Center to check out Popp's Cave. I'd been there before, but it had been a few years and Kate had never been caving I was eager to show her how cool it was.

a drip in a small pool

cool formations

We wondered around the cave for a few hours, took lots of photos, explored various openings, and ended the day with a trip to the infamous Mud Room.

me, Kate, and Julie after venturing into the Mud Room

We also saw lots of bats, probably 50. In the past I've only seen one bat so it was neat to see so many. We were careful not to touch them or shine our lights on them too long. We didn't want to disturb their slumber.

the bats all huddled together

Julie crawling through a tunnel

I'll be back at Popp's Cave next month with a group of Madison College students. It's going to be great muddy fun!

Get an email when new post is added

2010-10-28T13:34:00.003-05:00

Great news! If you would like to get an email when I add a new post to this blog you can. Just enter your email address on the sidebar to the right. You'll be sent a confirmation email to verify. Then, wa-la! You'll get an email anytime I post.

Enjoy!

New Photography at Manna Cafe

2010-10-04T13:17:00.005-05:00

I have a photography show up at Manna Cafe through the month of October. It's all new work from 2010 including prints from Alaska and some Miksang style work.

Here are two in the show:

Row Boat, Harbor Cove, Alaska

Jellyfish Dance, Harbor Cove, Alaska

Let me know what you think of the show!

I'm going around the world!!

2010-09-30T21:26:00.004-05:00

Eeek! I have some very exciting news and now I can make it public. My partner and I both get to travel around the world next year! We'll be working for Semester at Sea for four months and traveling to 11 countries. Some of you may remember that I worked for them in 2005 and, in fact, was the whole reason I started this blog. Scroll back to those early posts to read all about that voyage.

view from ship of sunset near Russia, 2005

If you are not familiar with Semester at Sea, let me fill you in. Basically, they have taken a cruise ship and converted it to a college campus complete with a library, computer labs, student union, classrooms, faculty, staff, deans, etc. While we are at sea, classes are in session and things move along like any college (well sort of), but then when we are in port (usually 2-6 days) everyone is free to travel and explore on their own. There are some optional coordinated field trips so you can be a part of a group if you'd like, but most of the time we get to explore on our own. It's all very cool. There will be about 800 students and an assortment of faculty and staff.

During the voyage I'll be a Living Learning Coordinator and also the Career Development Specialist for the students. We leave in early January and return at the end of April. Here is our itinerary:

Nassau, Bahamas
Roseau, Dominica
Manaus, Brazil
Takoradi, Ghana
Cape Town, South Africa
Port Louis, Mauritius
Chennai, India
Singapore
Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam
Hong Kong/Shanghai, China
Kobe/Yokohama, Japan
Hilo, Hawaii
San Diego, CA USA

If you've been to any of these places and have travel advice I'd love to hear suggestions. Personal stories are always better than travel guides. If you'll be in any of these places let us know - perhaps we can meet up (hey, you never know).

During the voyage I'll be posting stories, updates, and photos here on this blog. To get an email when I've posted you can "follow" the blog by joining on the right.

Bon voyage!! (well, not until January)

Join my newsletter!

2010-09-01T10:27:00.002-05:00

I'm starting a newsletter related to creativity, leadership, teambuilding - all things I'm passionate about. It's related to my business Climer Consulting - which continues to grow and gain speed.

I'm inviting you all to join my newsletter. To join click on this link and add your email address. Or you can just email me directly. You can unsubscribe or change your address at any time.

The first one is coming out in a couple of days!

Book review - Five Dysfunctions of a Team

2010-06-01T13:05:00.003-05:00

Recently, a colleague of mine was bemoaning about how new pop culture business books come out and everyone thinks they are these brilliant insights into life, when in actuality they are just the same stuff presented in a different way. She's right. She was particularly talking about the book Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. I was curious so I picked it up from the library. I was happily surprised with the book. It's a great book about an incredibly dysfunctional executive team and how they turn themselves around. I loved that it was written as fiction with a message - a leadership fable. I learn really well through stories so this worked for me. It's a short book, quick read, and great stuff.

As my friend said, there isn't anything new in this book, but the concepts are presented in a unique way that really make sense. It helps put the concept of teambuilding and the value of a team into a more concrete, graspable format. As Lencioni says, "...genuine teamwork in most organizations remains as elusive as it has ever been." I couldn't agree more. The more I work with different types of groups the more I see the behaviors outlined in Lencioni's book.

The book is less than $6 at half.com. What would happen if your whole team read this book then committed to doing the tough work to become a real team? I can imagine amazing results!

Join me - Door County Sea Kayak Symposium

2010-05-28T07:28:00.007-05:00

Only six weeks left until the Door County Sea Kayak Symposium! If you are a kayaker or want to learn to kayak this 3-day event is a ton of fun. I'm inviting you all to join me and 30 other instructors July 9-11 for a great weekend of paddling in Door County Wisconsin. The weekend involves land and water classes, kayak tours, slide shows, and some of the best kayak instructors from the region and the U.S. The fee includes dinner, which is served under a huge tent and usually involves a slide show of the day. You'll meet many other paddlers while paddling in beautiful, clear water. (If you are from Madison this is a nice change.) This will be my third year teaching at the symposium and it's a great experience - relaxing and engaging.

Check out the website at www.everyonepaddles.com for details about class choices, cost, photos from previous years. There is a limit of 200 paddlers and it's nearing capacity so sign-up soon!

Hope to see y'all on the water!

LeaderShape 2010

2010-03-20T18:17:00.004-05:00

I just finished leading a LeaderShape session with Georgia Southern University students. It was a great week! I co-led with Khadish Franklin, a PhD student at University of Maryland. We had a blast!

In case you aren't familiar with this amazing program...LeaderShape is a 6-day leadership program designed to help college students become amazing future leaders with a strong emphasis on living and leading with integrity. It's an intense, rewarding week that leads to profound change for many of the students.

I am honored to be a part of LeaderShape as one of their Lead Facilitators. I get to help young adults build their leadership skills and develop a deeper understanding of themselves, a truly rewarding task.

Thanks to all the students and the other faculty who made the week so great!

In Our Heads Art Show

2010-02-26T15:07:00.002-06:00

In Our Heads - reception March 6, 2010

Joint show with Amy Climer, Julie Koenke, Amy Mietzel, and Jo Jensen.

Dates: March 1-8, 2010, Artist reception Saturday, March 6, 5-8pm. Come visit!

Location: Commonwealth Gallery, 3rd floor of the Madison Enterprise Center, 100 South Baldwin St, Madison, WI 53703

view map

Come visit us at the reception! We'd love to see you!

Climer Consulting is open!

2010-02-09T11:25:00.004-06:00

It's official! My new consulting business is open! A few months ago I opened the doors of Climer Consulting, my consulting and training business and I am proud to say it is growing and gaining speed. Through the business I primarily focus on the human elements of organizations and groups. I facilitate programs around teambuilding, leadership development, creativity, and strategic planning. I also consult on topics such as experiential education and program design, leadership development programs, and creativity. I'm putting my expertise to work and it feels great!

To learn more, visit my new website at www.climerconsulting.com.

I welcome your thoughts, feedback, and questions!

My etsy.com store is open!

2010-01-26T10:16:00.003-06:00

Last week I opened my etsy.com store and the sales have started!
Below are images of a few items in the store.

detail of "Untitled No. 1"

detail of "Twenty-two"

"Martini"

kids tie dye t-shirt

detail of hand dyed silk scarf

At the store you can buy my fiber art, tie-dyed kids t-shirts and onsies, silk scarves, hand-dyed fabric, and more. If you've never been to etsy.com it's a great source for all sorts of art and hand-made items. It's easy to buy and if you are in the Madison area you have the option to pick up your items and avoid shipping charges. The address for my store is www.aeclimer.etsy.com. Enjoy!

Swimming with the Manatees

2010-01-02T11:14:00.010-06:00

Julie and I went to Florida over Christmas to see my family. One of the highlights was swimming with the manatees at Crystal River Springs. The water coming from the spring is 72 degrees year round. In the winter the rivers and oceans drop below 72 degrees so the manatees come to the spring where it's warmer. It's super cool to swim with them.

Here we are just about to get in

Setting out

The adult manatees seem rather indifferent to the people, but the babies come right up to you and love to get petted.

Young manatee with another snorkeler

This baby was coming right up to me. It clearly wanted to get petted. I was trying to take it's photo and had to keep backing up in order to get it in focus. Their skin is really rough and covered in barnacles.

Young manatee

Getting a breath

Julie swimming along

Manatees are pretty slow moving animals. They primarily use their tales, but also have fins on the side to help propel a bit, especially if they are going slower or turning.

The water from the springs is crystal clear, but b/c there were a lot of people some of the silt on the bottom got stirred up.

Boats are one of the major dangers to manatees. The one below had part of his tail cut off, likely from a boat propeller. Most manatees have some physical scars from boats, either missing parts of tails or big scars on their backs.

Manatee with part of tail missing

The weather was about 50 degrees and overcast. The water was 72 degrees, which fortunately was warmer than the air, but we were pretty chilled after swimming.

Julie and my dad on the way back to the dock

In order to protect the manatees boats must maintain idle speed or slow speed in the entire area around Crystal River Springs. Here's a sign stating the law.

No wake zone

Pelican

It was a super fun day, although a bit chilly. Next time we'll bring the full wet suit instead of just shorts and a Hydrosilk top. I hope we can go back next year!

Winter Storm

2009-12-10T16:09:00.004-06:00

We had lots of snow yesterday. The whole city shut down, in fact most of the state shut down. The governor ordered all UW schools to close and even the Madison military base closed, per military orders. We got about 16 inches in 24 hours. That is a lot of snow to deal with!

Our next door neighbor's tree split in half in the middle of the night. It missed Julie's car by about 2 inches. Julie and I started shoveling about 8:30am and finished around 12:30pm. We were so tired. My shoulder was really sore so I took an afternoon nap. :)

The neighbors contemplating how to cut the tree up

The tree after being stacked and piled

The neighborhood the day after the storm.

Today the sun was out and it was beautiful out, but soooo cold, probably 10 degrees.

A beautiful tree in the snow.

New photos on my website!

2009-12-06T22:37:00.004-06:00

My photography website is updated with new photos! There are about 70 new photos and info about purchasing prints - framed or unframed. These make great gifts and there is still time to get them for Christmas.

The link to the gallery is:
http://amyclimer.com/photo/gallery.html

Enjoy!

Madison Area Open Art Studios

2009-10-12T14:29:00.007-05:00

You are invited to our Art Studio for an Open House next weekend. Here are the details:
Amy Climer's photography and fiber art
Julie Koenke's mixed media art

Madison area Open Art Studios
October 17 -18, 11am to 5pm
49 Lansing St. Madison, WI 53714 map
Refreshments provided

This is a super fun event where ~130 artists open their studios up to the public. The Open Art Studio website has an interactive map, photos of each artist's work, and other details. Many of us will be doing demonstrations and/or have hands-on art opportunities. It's the debut of my photography!

Feel free to stop in, just say hello and join us for a snack. It would be great to see you!

You can see our art on our websites:
Amy - www.amyclimer.com
Julie - www.juliekoenke.com

Paddling the Wisconsin River

2009-08-17T16:22:00.004-05:00

This past weekend Julie and I paddled the Wisconsin River from Spring Green to Muscoda. It was a wonderful, mellow weekend.

We got a late start on Saturday and didn't get to Spring Green until 2pm! I did the shuttle which meant driving our car to Muscoda and biking back to Spring Green. It was 22 miles and I was reminded that I'm out of biking shape! Next time I'm limiting the bike shuttle to 13-14 miles, otherwise we take two cars! I was so tired before we even got on the water. We finally got on at about 5:30pm. Our friends Jerry, Greta, and Lan Lan were in Spring Green for the weekend and had come to the boat launch/beach to swim. It was fun to run into them and they offered to take my bike back to Madison for me so I didn't have to leave it locked up at the boat launch. That was super nice of them.

Somehow we managed to paddle to the Lone Rock bridge by 7pm. 8 miles in 1.5 hours. That seemed fast even with the current, but it was a nice surprise to see the bridge. We camped a bit beyond it just as the sun was setting. Below is a photo of Julie paddling up to our campsite. Once in camp, Julie made some delicious chicken quesadillas for dinner and fueled us up for the next day.

sunset on Saturday night

We woke up to rain falling on Sunday morning and we waited for a lull around 8:30am to get up. Our timing was perfect. We were on the water at about 9:45am right when it started raining again. Paddling in the rain is much better than trying to pack up in the rain. With a paddling jacket and a brimmed hat you can barely tell it's raining on the water. Kayaking is a water sport after all, which means you're gonna get wet anyway!

We took a loungy break on a sandbar over the lunch hour and decided we much prefer outdoor vacations to city vacations. We were in Chicago a couple weeks ago and while that is fun, it's not rejuvinating like being outside is.

After lunch Julie learned to tow. Really it was just my excuse to get towed. hee-hee.

Julie practicing towing me

We finally mossied into Muscoda by 3pm. A great weekend!! Over the weekend we saw several bald eagles including one feeding it's babies in the nest. We also saw Sandhill Cranes, Great Blue Herons, turtles, a few minnows, and people tubing, canoes overflowing with garbage bags of gear, but mostly people just out having fun like us. On Wisconsin!

The Latest Updates

2009-07-16T17:38:00.000-05:00

My posts have been random lately so here is a real update of what's happening in my world...

I had a wonderful year teaching Adventure Education at Fort Lewis College. My colleagues, my students, the location was all fantastic. But, Julie (my partner) wasn't able to find a job in Durango. It's a small town and the economy forced the college into a hiring freeze and the school district was laying people off. It wasn't looking too good. And, she has a great job in Madison that she was hesitant to leave. Anyway, so after a year I bid farewell to my friends in Durango and loaded the U-Haul to head back to the midwest. Hopefully, I'll have the opportunitiy to teach a summer course there in the future or help out with some half semester courses. It's a great program!

This summer I am guiding sea kayaking trips in the Apostle Islands on Lake Superior. I work for Living Adventures out of Bayfield, WI. It's a great company and I love the people I work with. It's been a lot of fun and Lake Superior is gorgeous!! It's the largest lake in the world and almost more like an ocean without tides. The water is crystal clear and there are tons of wildlife. Nearly everyday I see bald eagles and loons. The other day we saw a bear crossing the road. I saw a baby and mama skunk one day, a baby loon sitting on the mama's back two days in a row, and two bald eagles locking talons in mid-air one day. All super cool!

Also, I am working for the Madison School District's ropes course this summer a bit leading team building and rock climbing trips. This may become a more permanant job in the fall - I hope so, just waiting to learn about some funding.

My experience at Fort Lewis has motivated me to go back to school to get my PhD. I loved teaching at FLC and I know it's somewhat rare that I had that opportunity w/o a PhD. Getting a PhD will give me more opportunities to teach at the college level. So, I am starting with two classes in Education this fall at UW Madison. I've connected with one of the faculty there who I think will be a good fit as an advisor for me. There's quite a bit of flexibility in the program and at this point I am planning to study creativity in adults, something that's fascinated me for years.

I am also prepping for the Madison area Open Art Studios in October. It'll be the third year I'm exhibiting, but this year instead of fiber art I am doing photography. It'll be my first photography show and I am very excited. I've gotten a lot of positive feedback about my photography and look forward to seeing what happens. If you are in Madison add it to your calendar - Oct. 17-18. My website has some photography, but hasn't been updated to the latest - soon enough though. There's also a lot on this blog.

I am taking my new kayak out to Cherokee Marsh now. Hopefully, I'll have some new photos for ya soon!

Summer Flowers

2009-07-01T12:36:00.004-05:00

During my week of LeaderShape at Ghost Ranch in Abiquiu, NM I met a wonderful new friend and fellow photographer Dave Blandford. He's inspired me to get the camera back in my hands. (I haven't been that excited about photography lately - having a bit of a dry spell).

Yesterday and today I wandered around the neighborhood taking photos of flowers. There are some great gardeners around here, especially my next door neighbor. it was a little breezy which made it challenging since the flowers were swaying. Many were out of focus, but here are some of the highlights.

Lily 1:
1/200 at f/5.6, ISO 100, 190mm

Lily 2:

1/250 at f/5.6, ISO 100, 190mm

Coneflower:
1/1000s at f/5.6, ISO 250, 190mm

Dandelion:
1/250s at f/11, ISO 250, 190mm

Mourning Dove:
1/250 at f/6.3, ISO 100, 300mm

I'd love some feedback if you have any! What do you like? What can make them better?
Thanks y'all!
-a

Tandem Kayak Roll

2009-06-15T10:48:00.004-05:00

I am guiding in the Apostle Islands this summer on Lake Superior. During a staff training overnight trip another guide and I successfully rolled a tandem kayak. It was a first for both of us. Here's the video...

Snowshoeing at Andrew's Lake

2009-02-01T21:24:00.008-06:00

Today I went snowshoeing at Andrew's Lake with a few friends and four dogs. It was a gorgeous day - classic Colorado, blue-sky day! We hiked for about 4 hours and had a great time. Here are some highlights.

Crossing the bridge over Andrew's Lake

View of Engineer Mountain

My favorite of the day!

Windblown snow on the side of a ridge

Around mid-day we came upon this snowcave/igloo (which I later learned is actually called a quinzhee) and realized it was built by the Adventure Education Mountaineering class. They were out for the weekend. Inside was their sleeping bags and to the left (not pictured) was a bench they built out of snow including shelves to store their pots & pans. Quite fancy! Most of our group decided that as cool as the quinzhee was, we'll stick to the summer camping.

Quinzhee built by Adv Ed Mountaineering class

On Monday at work I told Tim that we saw his class's quinzhee. He said it was so strong that five guys were all standing on top of it jumping and it didn't fall through. Impressive!

Crystal & Mark running through the thick snow

On the way back it was mostly downhill and running through the thick untracked snow is a lot of fun. Crystal particularly loved it!

Snowshoeing in the fog

2009-01-25T22:17:00.002-06:00

This afternoon I drove up to Coal Bank Pass and went snowshoeing for a bit. Once I got up there it was really foggy and gray - very cool looking. Here are a few of the photos I took.

The snow depth marker - 5 feet deep!

A view on the drive home

You'd think these were taken with black and white film! Even in the fog it's so gorgeous here!

I learned to knit!

2009-01-25T11:13:00.003-06:00

In October I took a knitting class at our local shop called Yarn. We learned to make hats. My first attempt was too large and as soon as I put it on it fell to my chin, so I ripped it out and redid it (i love that about knitting). The second attempt looked all wonky so I ripped that out and finally got it on the third attempt. By then I had learned to switch colors so I made it striped. Then made a second (or fourth) one for Julie.

My knit hat on left and the one I made for Julie on the right

I wanted to learn to knit because it's portable artwork. You can take it anywhere, even backpacking!

Now I am working on a scarf and then some felted knit Christmas stockings for 2009.

Grand Gulch Backpacking Trip, Sept 18-24

2008-10-01T23:22:00.002-05:00

Since we were all a bit cold in the evenings on the backpacking trip around Engineer Mountain we decided to head to the desert in Utah and hike Grand Gulch Canyon. It was gorgeous!!

At the trailhead - the "before" photo

Ancient Pueblo handprints

Our campsite the first night

There were no bugs so we were able to use these open floor tent/tarps that are much lighter and cooler than regular tents.

the rock

Excited about the second day

Mid-way through the second day at the top of a dried up waterfall

Crossing the dried stream bed

View from our campsite as the sun was setting

Same photo - just goofing around in Photoshop

Ancient pueblo pictographs at the Green Mask spot, near our campsite

The Green Mask site with various drawings including some indicating "springs"

The Green Mask site with the two headless Basketmaker figures on the left

Taking a siesta during a day hike along a side canyon

View from our campsite

Making pizza

Animal tracks seen on the last day - coyote?

day hike

Canyon walls

Canyon walls -
you can see how the river has wound around and carved out the walls over the years

Canyon walls and blue sky

Ancient corncob from the Pueblo people - ruins in the background

Pueblo ruins

Gorgeous canyon walls

The trip was beautiful! The biggest challenge was having to carry a lot of water in the heat. I seem to have an higher tolerance for heat than most (and conversely a lower tolerance for cold) so the heat didn't bother me much. I hope to go back soon.

Hiking around Engineer Mountain, Sept. 6-9

2008-09-16T23:18:00.000-05:00

This semester I am teaching the Block Semester at Fort Lewis. The Block Semester involves students taking 5 classes/15 credits together. The first nine credits are taken in the first half of the semester and allow us to go out on three extended backpacking trips ranging from 4-10 days in length. The format for the three classes - Wilderness Expedition, Adventure Leadership, and Adventure Instruction - allows the students to get hands-on experience planning all aspects of the trips, practicing leadership skills, and teaching their peers. It's a great design, but makes for a very intense semester for them and for the faculty.

The first trip we did was a four day backpacking trip around Engineer Mountain which is between Durango and Silverton, CO. It was a beautiful weekend with perfect sunny, clear weather. The nights were a bit cold, but still nice. The students were awesome and for some of them it was their first backpacking trip!

View of Engineer Mountain

My low point of the whole trip occured in the first five minutes of the hike. I had my small camera with me, a Canon SD750, and the lens jammed as soon as I took it out for a photo. I replaced the battery and was able to get the lens back in, but something was wrong and all the photos turned out blurry. The four here are the best of 'em, but they are a bit out of focus. After the trip I sent the camera back to Canon and even though it was 13 months old (one month out of warranty) they still repaired it for free and I had it back within a week just in time for the third trip.

View of nearby mountains

Hiking towards Jura Knob

Jura Knob in the background

The whole hike was such beautiful, lush green and it looked stunning against the red rocks of Jura Knob. The photos don't quite do it justice. We were planning to hike to the top of Jura Knob, but the group decided against it in favor of a bit more down time. I thought Jura Knob was more stunning than Engineer and I would love to go back and cimb it. It's a fairly simple climb and could even be done in a day.

Working at Fort Lewis College

2008-08-31T13:31:00.008-05:00

I started my new job about two weeks ago and tomorrow is the first day of classes. I've been very impressed with Fort Lewis College since I arrived. Everything from the philosophy, the way they treat faculty and staff, the openness and camaraderie between staff, faculty, students, etc. Their vision is to be the best liberal arts school west of the Mississippi and I think they are well on their way. I am glad to be here!

Fort Lewis College sits at the top of a hill above town. Vehicle access to the hill is only from one side. I live at the base of the other side and can walk to work by going up a trail. There is a small little rope tow ski area called Chapman Hill near were the trail is.

Chapman Hill

This photo was taken at the top of Chapman Hill from the edge of campus. I circled the area where my house is. The trail I take goes off the right side of the photo and weaves down. It's a good way to help me get in shape, especially in the mornings hiking up.

View from campus

Another view from campus

Both these two photos I took on my way home from work one day last week. It's a great way to end the day to walk home and see this. The walk is about 15-20 minutes.

View from Hog's Back hike

Yesterday, I went hiking with a new friend Sheryl, another FLC Adventure Education Instructor. We did a town hike, as it's called, since it starts right in town. We climbed up Hog's Back Mountain. It was super cool.

View of Fort Lewis College and Durango taken from Hog's Back Mt.

Sheryl walking/running down Hog's Back

The mountain was pretty steep at the very top and covered in a scree/gravel. Sheryl thought it was easier to just run down, but I'm not quite that sure-footed yet.

We ended the day with a stop at Homeslice Pizza which was very yummy. Classes start tomorrow and next Saturday we do our first 4-day trip with students. Until then...happy trails!

Durango & Silverton Train

2008-08-30T23:49:00.011-05:00

Last Saturday Julie and I decided to be real touristy and ride the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad Train. Naturally, it goes from Durango to Silverton along the beautiful Animas River, which is about a 3.5 hour trip each way. Fortunatly, a friend told us not to bother going all the way to Silverton so we were let off in the Weminuche Wilderness at Elk Park, about 15 minutes before Silverton. We hiked for a couple hours then flagged the train down as it came back.

At the Station

We opted for an open car so we could take better photos. The train was built in 1880's and was used to transport gold and silver from the San Juan Mountains. The narrow gauge railroad was finished in only 9 months and because of the terrain that was quite a feet. Shortly after it opened they started transporting passengers too, mostly because people were so interested in the incredibly scenery.

Durango Cows

This one is for our Wisconsin friends. Julie took this shot just a few miles north of downtown. The grass color was really that bright - no color editing on this one. There is more grass and greenery here than I expected, especially as you head north or east of Durango. Durango is considered the gateway to the Southwest, so if you go south or west it's more dessert-like.

The shaded left side of the train

We signed up to ride the train the day before so we didn't have much choice in seats. We wanted to sit on the right side, but only left side seats were left. Because you sit on the same side each way and the train turns around in Silverton you get to see the scenery on both sides. However, the right side is better for photo-taking because of where the sun is in the sky in the morning/afternoon. Unfortunately, we were always on the shady side. I was able to sneak over to the other side a bit for photos though.

Coming 'round the mountain

The trip offered amazing views! It was a lot of fun to ooh and aaah over the scenery.

Moon over mountains (see the little white spec)

San Juan Mountains

One of the great views from our hike in Elk Park.

Goodbye train!

Here's Julie as the train pulled away. It was a little eerie to be left in the middle of nowhere by ourselves, but it was also neat that way.

Julie hiking in Elk Park

Me hiking in Elk Park

The sun is very intense up here. I was wearing long pants, long sleeves, and a bandanna under my hat to cover my neck and ears and of course, sunscreen.

Beautiful Colorado!

Julie sitting at Elk Creek

We made the hike pretty leisurely since we didn't want to get too far in and risk missing hte train (wow, that would have been a bummer!). We ate lunch here at Elk Creek. I love this photos of Julie, it might have to go in my office.

Walking the tracks to the trail

The train stop

This was taken as we hiked back to the tracks. The golden yellow comes from a plant that actually looks a bit like corn. The leaves were turning yellow brown and created this golden field.

Playing in the Animas River

As we waited for the train we played in the Animas River. The water was so cold (about 35 degrees F) it took your breath away, even just sticking your feet in. Well, at least that was my experience, but then again I am a Floridian.

The L.L. Bean pose

Julie was taking photos and made me do an L.L. Bean pose. Of course, I was making fun of her for that, but then the photo actually turned out pretty good. What do I know!

Engine 481

The train slowing down to pick us up at Elk Park. To flag down the train you have to wave your hands across your knees. That way they don't think you're just waving to say hi.

Train smoke along the Animas

The train uses 6 tons of coal a day and we got a good portion of it on us. At the end of the day our clothes and belongings were all covered in a layer of soot. When we blew our nose it came out black! I don't know how those guys that work on the train can do it.

The Animas River

I really want to raft this in the spring. It's so beautiful. A friend of mine who lives here kayaked it this year and said it's really fast with non-stop rapids. Makes for a tiring day, especially in a kayak!

Julie leaning out

There were spots were you had to be careful about leaning out. A couple times the train was only a few inches from a rock wall. One of the train guys told us that about a month ago someone was leaning out with a long telescope camera lens and he didn't see a wall coming up. The camera hit the wall and the big lens was smashed to pieces.

Just north of Durango

Riding the train made for a great day, but a long one too. We left around 8am and got back about 6pm. It's one of those things you should do at least once in Durango. I am so glad for the opportunity to live here. It's awesome!

Arriving in Durango and Four Mile Trail

2008-08-30T22:54:00.003-05:00

Julie and I left Madison on August 16 for a long, 1300 mile drive to Durango, CO. We left a little later than we hoped which meant we arrived in Durango around 10:30pm on Sunday the 17th. The good part of the late arrival was that we got to see this super cool rainbow, somewhere east of Wolf Creek Pass.

Colorado rainbow

Colorado is like Florida in that it often rains while being sunny, which leads to rainbows and other neat things.

I had faculty orientation starting Monday at 8:30am. That was a little tough, to get up so early after the long two-day drive, but it was ok.

Later in the week Julie and I drove over to Pagosa Springs and hiked the Four Mile Trail which had this beautiful 300 foot waterfall along it. The guidebook clearly explained the waterfall, but I didn't read the three numbers "300" in front of it so I was thinking a little 25 foot cascade or something. What a treat when we stumbled upon this!

Lower Falls on Four Mile Trail

A close-up shot

The rocks at the base of the falls were this turquoisy-blue color. I think it's some sort of algae. It made the falls even more gorgeous. We played around at the base for a while taking photos and being awed.

Turquoisy rocks

Humongous dandelion-like flower (about 4" in diameter)

grasshoppers were jumping everywhere

Julie took this photo along the trail. I liked the angle. It's one of my favorites of hers.

Four Mile Trail by Julie

During the hike we were definitely feeling out of shape! It was about 6.5 miles round trip and took us about 4.5 hours. There are some good hills out here! They sure make for some gorgeous scenery.

The next day we did the tourist thing and took the Durango-Silverton train. Check out the next post for more.

Movin' out west

2008-08-01T12:57:00.005-05:00

That's right, I am picking up my boots and heading out west - to Durango, CO that is. I am very excited to be starting a new job in mid-August as an Adventure Education Faculty member at Fort Lewis College. I get to work with some wonderful folks, including a good friend Lee Frazer. I think the position will be a great fit for me and I certainly hope I do a good job teaching for them.

I interviewed for the position back in April and here are a few photos from my trip.

downtown Durango

just outside of Durango - taken from my car while I was traveling around

the view from Fort Lewis campus just before a storm

I get summers off in my new position so it is likely that I'll be back in Madison next summer. Hopefully, I will do some art fairs around Madison.

Friends - come out and visit! yee-haw!

Teaching at Rhinelander School of the Arts

2008-07-31T07:46:00.004-05:00

Last week I left the Boundary Waters Canoe Trip two days early (see previous post) so that I could teach at the Rhinelander School of the Arts in Rhinelander, WI. I taught two week-long classes: Fabric Dyeing and Surface Design on Fabric and Jump Start Your Creativity. Both classes were fun, but I particularly enjoyed the surface design class. The creativity class was the first time I had taught it in 5 consecutive days and I think it works better as a once/week class, unless I really change up the format which is a possibility.

I have a few photos from the Surface Design class below.

students washing fabric

Every morning students arrived early to wash out their fabric they dyed the day before. This sink scene was a common beginning to the day.

student screen printing

I use and teach a non-traditional screen printing style that allows the image on the screen to dissolve as you go so that each print looks a little different. It's tons of fun and the results are exciting and unexpected.

student adding more dye to her screen printed piece

Students were encouraged to do multiple processes on each piece of fabric. This produces depth and complexity to the fabric making it more interesting.

a proud student!

A wall of finished fabric

Rhinelander 2008 class! (I am kneeling in the front)

student work

more student work

show 'n' tell on the last day

It was a great week and I really enjoyed the students - they always make teaching so much fun. Students - I hope you all will keep dyeing, experimenting, and playing with fabric! Have fun out there!

Boundary Waters Canoe Trip

2008-07-26T18:41:00.010-05:00

I went to the Boundary Waters Canoe Wilderness Area on a 5-day canoeing trip with 4 friends. It was a great trip and my first multi-day canoe trip. The Boundary Waters are beautiful and we saw many loons and eagles, including a pair feeding their young in their nest.

Here we are on the first morning before leaving. Left to right: Julie, Liza, Ricardo, Mo, me. It was pretty buggy so we wore bug head nets a lot while on land, especially Liza, they like her more than anyone else.

We paddled a loop of about 50 miles or so. The first day we did 17 miles and then had to slow down so we didn't get to the end too quickly. This made for a rather relaxing trip. We got into camp on most days by 2pm and had time for swimming, reading, napping, etc. One day Mo even baked us bread over the fire. It was delicious!

Liza duffing (when you sit and the middle and don't paddle) and feeding Ricardo a peanut.

A perfect reflection in the water. This was a common view.

Ricardo sleeping in our hammock. We have this great, lightweight, small hammock made by Eagle's Nest Outfitters. I highly recommend one. It's awesome for camp!

Storm clouds coming in.

Mo, Ricardo, and Liza chilling out at camp.

Sunset at our campsite.

Mo enjoying the sunset on night four.

Julie happy in the stern of the boat.

Drying our socks on night four. Most of us wore neoprene socks in our shoes since our feet were wet most of the day. They kept us warm and the bugs can't bite through them.

Mo and Julie portaging the large packs. The first day we only had one portage, but the other days we had 2-5. The longest was probably 1/4 mile and most were shorter.

Two bald eagles we saw on Day 4. One was keeping watch and the other was feeding the young in the nest. We saw quite a few bald eagles, in fact it was the most common raptor we saw.

Julie chilling in the hammock on Night 4.

Ricardo and Julie making dinner. Ricardo is stoking the fire with a hose he brought along. It's a long plastic tubing with a short piece of copper tubing at the end. You put the copper tubing in the end by the fire and then you can get very direct air at the fire without having to get that close. It was a brilliant set up and made fire making much easier. We cooked over a small fire almost every night.

The last morning we got up really early so I could get dropped off at my car to drive to Rhinelander, WI to teach for Rhinelander School of the Arts (see next post). The rest of the group continued on for 2 more days. The morning paddle out was gorgeous and one of my favorite days. The sun was rising and Mo, Ricardo, and I were paddling behind Liza and Julie.

Mo paddling and Ricardo map reading with the sunrise hitting their faces.

What a great trip! The Boundary Waters are beautiful and very peaceful. I hope to go back again!

Nine Patch Series

2007-11-15T13:07:00.000-06:00

Geez, I've really got to post more often. Once/week would be great, but even once/month would be better. I did a show a couple weekends ago, the Elmhurst Holiday Art Faire. It was pathetic. It was like going to an old folks mall at 11am on a weekday in January. Hardly anyone was there. All the artists kept leaving our booths and going to visit each other, which helped pass the time and I did meet a cool art quilter Joan Lagendorf. She has great work and will soon have a website for all to see. Fortunately, I sold enough art to make a little money, some people didn't.

The good thing about any art show is it forces you to get in the studio and make art. Deadlines are great for me. In the last month I've worked more on the Nine Patch Series. The name is derived from a quilt block called Nine Patch or Nine Square. These are my variations of this traditional design.

Nine Patch #7
7" x 7" framed in a 12" x 12" frame

This was my favorite and it sold at the art fair. I like the depth and the colors - red, yellow, blue, and orange.

Nine Patch #8
7" x 7" matted on white and framed in a 12" x 12" black frame
$75

The colors are more muted in #8 and it turned out well.

Nine Patch #9

I haven't framed this one yet. It's about 16" square unframed. The colors are a bit funky, but fun - there is even fluorescent orange in there.

Nine Patch #6
about 8 or 9" square and framed
For sale at Indigo Coffee and Tea

I like the addition of the big circles #6 and the muted colors. I think I'll do some more Nine Patch series. I want to do a few really big ones. I've been working small lately and want to get bigger. I have a couple series going on and I like being able to work in series. It allows me to fully explore something and develop it further. Another series in the next post.

Open Art Studio

2007-09-30T17:58:00.000-05:00

You are invited to Amy's Open Studio...

Amy's studio will be open to the public on:

Saturday, October 6, 10am to 5pm
Sunday, October 7, 11am to 5pm

Location: 49 Lansing St. Madison, WI 53714

Part of the Madison area Open Art Studio tour

Come see new art work by Amy Climer and Julie Koenke.
A great time to think about holiday gifts!

Apostle Islands, Trip 2, Days 3 - 6

2007-08-28T12:22:00.000-05:00

On Day 3 we circumnavigated Oak Island, which is about 12 miles. It was a gorgeous day and I had enough sitting around on Day 2 so was ready to go. I had my underwater camera housing so I had tons of fun taking photos. I really love taking photos and I just love digital cameras!

Julie getting into her kayak

Julie

After the paddle I went swimming in the bay. The water was about 45 degrees, but with my wetsuit it felt great. Here are some photos from that.

me enjoying the water - the white spots are from water droplets on the lens

the water was so clear!

I climbed on the back of Julie's kayak while she paddled around and got some cool shots including this next one.

the end of a wonderful paddle

The end to a wonderful day

On Day 4 we left oak Island and headed for York Island for our final night of camping. It was cloudy and overcast, but the water was like glass.

me paddling in a borrowed Valley Aquanaut boat.

After taking my Vela on the trip the previous week I decided it's just not the right boat for me. It fits great, but it's too small for touring so I am going to sell it. I might buy a friend's Aquanaut so I borrowed this one from Rutabaga, where I teach kayaking. I really liked it.

leaving Oak Island

Day 4 was a nice, gentle paddle. there were crickets all over the water, even a couple miles from land - thousands of them. Apparently, they hatched the night before or something and were floating everywhere. It was quite odd and because of the large quantity pretty gross too. We asked several people about it, but no one really knew much.

On Day 5 we stopped at Sand Island to see the sea caves (a highlight for me) and the lighthouse and the junk that is still on sand from the first half of the century when about 100 people lived on the Island. Julie likes old junk so she enjoyed that part.

After getting to the mainland we found the last hotel room within 30 miles, showered, ate dinner, and slept in a bed. Then on Saturday, went back to Meyers Beach to see the sea caves that are on the mainland. There are about 1-2 miles of sandstone sea caves. It looks as though Arches National Park and the Canyonlands in Utah were transplanted to the clear, cold, blue waters of Lake Superior. It's super cool. Basically, overtime the water carves away at the sandstone and creates these cavernous openings large enough to enter. In the wintertime you can walk on the ice out to them and go exploring amongst the icicles and frozen waterfalls. It actually makes me look forward to February!

I actually don't have that many sea cave photos, despite how much I loved it, but here are a few.

Julie enjoying the sea caves

A view of some of the caves

I love this photo! - Julie entering a sea cave

Only in Wisconsin would you see someone dragging a
cooler (probably loaded with beer) in a separate kayak!
hmm...maybe we could do that with our dog Jake.

What a great trip!! The Apostle Islands and Lake Superior are really amazing and I hope to go back again next year. The crystal clear water, the interesting weather, and all the wildlife make it seem almost enchanted at times.

Happy adventures!
-Amy

Apostle Islands, Trip 2, Day 2 continued

2007-08-28T12:07:00.001-05:00

It was interesting to just hang out on the island in one spot all day. The weather was crazy, all over the place. At times we could see Bear, Otter, and Manitou Islands, each about 2.5 miles from our site. At other times it was so foggy you wouldn't even know they were there. I could see how Lake Superior had caused so many ship wrecks over the years. it was quite impressive.

Here are a few photos from the day...

This is definitely in the top five for the 500 photos I took over the week. Taken near sunset.

The next four photos were all taken from our campsite over about a 30 minute period, about 5-7 minutes apart. You can see how fast the weather was changing. It was fascinating.

more on the next post...

Apostle Islands, Trip 2, Day 1 & 2

2007-08-28T11:42:00.000-05:00

A few days after returning from my first Apostle Islands trip I left for my second one, this time with my partner Julie. We had a great six-day itinerary and were very excited. Unfortunately, the weather on our first day was pretty bad - waves 4-6 feet, small craft advisory, winds 15-20 knots. We were a bit anxious about the trip so we decided to postpone our departure by one day.

Julie organizing the gear the night before we left

So, we left on Monday, August 20 from Little Sand Bay and paddled the 10 miles to Oak Island. Since there was a 15 knot east wind we should have paddled along the mainland until across from Oak, done a crossing and skirted around oak to the North side, campsite #6, but that's what we know in retrospect. instead we decided to do three crossings and hop from York to Raspberry to Oak Island. The small craft advisory was dying down and waves were 2-4 feet with an east wind. The first crossing went well. We had 4 foot waves, but we were excited by how well we were able to handle them. However, the second crossing was were things turned for us. We were heading straight into the wind, which sometimes can be easier because you can see the waves and you have a nice perpendicular angle to them. However, the wind was kicking our butts. In calm weather the 2.7 mile crossing should have taken about 1 hour, so we figured a little longer than that. But, after one hour we were halfway across and stuck. We were paddling and not going anywhere for at least 20 minutes before we realized our predicament. At this point it was 4:30pm and I was really hungry and had to pee. We decided to cut north slightly and head to the lee side of Raspberry Island. That took another hour and by the time we landed I thought I was going to cry I had to pee so bad. I was contemplating just going in my boat, but I kept thinking it was just a little further I can make it. I did make it, but it was painful. After food and urinary relief I felt much better. We didn't stay long since it was now 5:30 and we still had about 3-4 miles to go to our campsite. We skirted around the south side of Raspberry and began the last crossing to Oak. As we got closer to Oak the waves mellowed out to about 2 feet and life got a little easier, well at least for me. The combination of eating mixed nuts and the more rhythmic, calmer waves led to Julie feeling sea sick. She looked a little pale, but we made it around Oak to our campsite by 8:20pm. It was great site (as you will see in all the photos). We were greeted by a friendly deer who Julie named Sophia (Julie names everything). She hung around while we unloaded our boats and changed into dry clothes. After a delicious mac and cheese dinner we slept very soundly.

The beach at Oak Island, campsite #6

one of my favorite photos from the trip

Julie throwing rocks on the beach

the fog from our campsite

Day two of the trip was cloudy, foggy, and rainy and we happily lazed around the campsite, reading, writing, walking along the beach and doing just about nothing all day. We were on vacation!

More details on the next posting (I can only post 5 photos/post so I have to break it up to add more photos)

Textures

2007-08-28T10:48:00.001-05:00

I've joined an online group dedicated to working through the book Finding Your Own Visual Language: A Practical Guide to Design & Composition, by Jane Dunnewold, Claire Benn and Leslie Morgan. One of the early exercises asks you to find textures and scan or photograph them. I went a bit crazy last week finding textures while on a trip. Here are five of my favorites.

rocks on Oak Island

I was particularly impressed with how good the macro setting on my point-and-shoot camera was (Canon Powershot SD750). It would focus when I was an inch away from an object.

Birch tree

Lichen

The side of an old gas can found on Oak Island.

The Apostle Islands were the site of lumber and quarry industry several decades ago and there is still some remains of these operations on the islands.

The red sandstone sea caves on the mainland off of Meyers Beach.

Don't hold your bathing suit too close to the fire

2007-08-27T15:23:00.000-05:00

At the last minute I was invited to join a family on their five-day kayaking trip to the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Lake Superior. They asked me to come along to basically be a safety boat, perhaps do some instructing as well. I was thrilled at the opportunity and quickly packed my stuff, ran last minute errands, rearranged some scheduling and 36 hours later I riding in the backseat of a car for the 6 hour drive up north.

The trip was organized by a couple who invited other people from both sides of their family and resulted in seven people, age 22 and up. They started planning months ago and hired me to teach some of them some rescues a few days before they were to leave. Towards the end of the lesson one of them commented, "wow, Amy this has been great. I wish you could go with us." i smiled and half jokingly said, "well I'd go if you'd pay me." Little did I know what that comment would lead to!

The trip was great. We had nearly perfect weather, calm seas, and really they didn't need me at all, which was exactly what some of them thought from the get-go, but others were more hesitant about the trip and felt better with someone more experienced tagging along. However, it was my first trip to the Apostles and my first trip in my new P & H Vela sea kayak and even before this trip I had another trip to the Apostles planned for only a few days after we returned. nearly two weeks in the Apostles in one month! So exciting.

me standing in front of my new boat

Anyway, the trip started with all of them taking a 3-hour lesson on Lake Superior that was required for them to rent their boats from Living Adventure. I stayed on shore and packed and learned how small the Vela boat really is (only 15'8"). I also got to talk with Gail and Grant, the Living Adventure owners who have a stellar reputation in the WI paddling community. They are great folks and hopefully our paths will cross again.

The first day we paddled one mile to Basswood Island, a distance that took about 20 minutes. For most kayakers a paddling speed is very similar to a walking pace, about 3 miles/hour. The short paddle enabled us to take our time packing and ease into the trip slowly. It was a nice beginning.

Days 2 and 3 were spent on Oak Island group Site B. Oak is a gorgeous island and well maintained by a volunteer ranger.

Sunset from the dock on Oak Island

On day 3 four of us paddled to Hole in the Wall and back. We would have gone all the way around the island, but we didn't have enough food with us. we were just planning to go out and play in the boats for 30 minutes and ended up deciding to paddle to Hole in the Wall, 5 miles each way, so we weren't prepared for lunch. It was a lovely paddle and one of the highlights of the trip for me. I love the rocky sandstone formations of Lake Superior.

Carrie and Ellen paddling near Hole in the Wall on Oak Island
(even though it looks tropical the water is 50 degrees!)

At the end of the day I was practicing eskimo bow rescues with a couple folks and got pretty cold, so that night decided to try to dry my bathing suit over the campfire so I didn't have to put on a wet one in the morning. Everyone else had been doing this all week. Justin was our fire tender and was happy to hold my bathing suit for me with his stick (that he carried with him all week on his kayak). However, at one point he got up to do something else and I figured I'd take over for a bit since it was my bathing suit and he didn't need to do all the work for me. the bathing suit was steaming as i held it over the hot fire. I kept checking to make sure it wasn't catching on fire. well, I should have known with nylon that it wold melt before it would ignite and sure enough it did - right in the center a 1" x 2" section melted! Oh well, at least it didn't create a hole!

Justin holding my bathing suit (before it melted)

After Oak we had a 10 mile paddle to Sand Island and stopped on both Raspberry and York Island. As we approached Sand the waves were picking up so we couldn't go in the sea caves, but the next morning it was like glass so I got up and headed out to the caves with two others before breakfast. The sea caves were another highlight for me and made me even more excited to return the next week.

paddling through the sea caves

I learned a ton during this trip and was very excited to apply some of that knowledge the following week for my vacation trip to the Apostles. See the next post for photos of that trip.

Color Play 4-8

2007-07-20T11:17:00.000-05:00

I've been playing with acrylics, duck cloth, pastels, and machine stitching. Here are a few pieces I've recently made. All small 6" x 6" or less.

Color Play #4
6" x 6"
$65 framed

Color Play #5
4" x 4"
$40 framed

Color Play #6
4" x 4"
$40 framed

Color Play #7
4" x 4"
$40 framed

Color Play #8
4" x 4"
$40 framed

I am looking forward to doing more. You can see these and other new pieces at the Appleton Art in the Park Fair on Sunday, July 29.

Spring Green Art Fair

2007-07-08T10:02:00.000-05:00

Two weeks ago I exhibited at the Spring Green Art Fair in Wisconsin. It was a wonderful weekend, especially on Saturday. The weather was wonderful and my booth was nice and shaded. And, I sold stuff!

Here is a photos of the crowds on Saturday...

Here is a photo of my booth on Sunday.

On Sunday the booth looked much better than on Saturday because we had more time to set it up. Saturday morning was a bit crazy. Spring Green is about an hour from my house and at 6:30am we were about 5 miles from the art fair and my car overheated and died. Steam was coming out of the engine, it was gurgling, and was not looking good. We called AAA and another friend who was exhibiting, Aimee Reid-Rice. Aimee picked my up while Julie stayed with the car. I unloaded Aimee's stuff, set-up my tent, then went to the mechanics with Aimee's car to get Julie and all my artwork. It was one of those days when I was glad to be in a small town because the mechanic said, "What's your booth number, I'll just stop by after I look at it." Unfortunately, it ended up being a blown head gasket and I had to get it towed into Madison to get repaired (thank goodness for AAA)! The car is fixed finally, but certainly all my sales from the art fair went into the car. UGH! Hopefully, I've paid my car-trouble-at-art-fair dues and won't have to go through that again. Anyway, we got the booth set-up by 9am, but just barely. It was a stressful morning and Julie and I just collapsed in our folding chairs most of the day. Fortunately, the booth stayed fairly busy most of Saturday and that made it all worthwhile.

The next art fair is July 29 in Appelton, WI at the Art in the Park. Come visit me if you are nearby!

Lakes Gallery and new art

2007-04-27T13:03:00.000-05:00

On Tuesday I took my art out to Lakes Gallery of Fine Art in North Lake, WI and Teri Peterson, the owner, loved my work and took everything - several fiber art pieces and several sets of wine charms.

Two of the pieces I just finished last week. Here they are:

Candy Shop
16" x 16" in a 20" x 20" frame
hand-dyed fabrics, hand quilted
$225

Orbit

16" x 16" in a 20" x 20" frame
hand-dyed fabrics, hand quilted
$225

If you are in the Lakes region of WI stop by and visit the gallery!

Scraps #1 & #2

2007-04-09T15:48:00.000-05:00

Here are two new pieces I made recently. Finally got them framed today. Just having fun with my hand-dyed fabric scraps.

Scraps #1
4" x 6" in a 8" x 10" black frame
$45

Scraps #2
4" x 6" in a 8" x 10" black frame
$45

I am getting ready for the summer art fairs and so far I've been accepted to Spring Green, WI, Appelton, WI and Evanston, IL. More details as closer to the summer.

Snow playing in northern Wisconsin

2007-02-26T12:20:00.000-06:00

This weekend I went up to northern Wisconsin with some friends and our dogs. We cross country skied on Saturday and snowshoed on Sunday. I like snowshoeing better because you are a lot more mobile and since you don't have to carry poles it's easier to take photos, which is one of my favorite things to do.

I took about 150 photos, but here are just a few:

Bond Falls

Jake eating show. He has on a jacket and booties I made him since he gets cold easily.

Jake shaking it off. I love the flying ears. He does this all the time.

Heading back to the car on Sunday. Left to right: Julie, Natasha (the dog), and Greta.

The drive home.

When we got home on Sunday night it had snowed over 16" in Madison and it took Julie and I over an hour to shovel my driveway! Thank goodness someone had snowblown the sidewalk. I am always so grateful when the snowblower owners are feeling generous. It was that wet, heavy snow and was definitely the hardest snow shoveling I've done in my life, but then again I'm a Floridian. It was fun though!

Longbranch Gallery

2007-02-19T13:53:00.000-06:00

I am excited to announce that the Longbranch Gallery in Mineral Point, WI will now be exhibiting and selling my artwork. This year's first gallery night will be Saturday, April 7 from 5-9pm. Stop by and visit!

here are a few pieces that are at the Longbranch:

River Rocks #3
hand-dyed fabric, machine quilted
6" x 4" in a 10" x 8" black wood frame
$45

Twenty

hand-dyed fabric, machine and hand quilted
6" x 4" in a 10" x 8" black wood frame
$45

Pea Pod Playtime
acrylic paint on duck cloth, machine quilted
16" x 19" in a 25" x 25" black wood frame
$300

Wine Charms
fun at parties - hang one around each wine glass stem
several different themes and colors are available
set of 8 for $28

Book Strings
Fun bookmarks in a variety of colors and themes
$8

My Dog Jake

2007-02-05T14:35:00.000-06:00

I finally have my very own dog! I've been wanting a dog for years and now that I own a house and work from home the timing is good. After doing a lot of searching and educating myself I finally got a one year old Doberman from a rescue organization on Saturday. I've named him Jake. He's a wonderful dog - calm, but playful, crate-trained, house-broken, walks well on a leash and he is so danged cute! I just love the Dobermans with natural ears. Photos below...

My dog Jake

"Are we done with the flash yet?"

Merry Christmas Bro!

2007-01-05T09:32:00.000-06:00

For Christmas I gave my sister and brother each a piece of my art, but they got to choose colors, style, size, etc. I just finished my brother's yesterday and here it is.

River Rocks #2

Hand-dyed fabrics, machine quilted
6" x 6" framed in a 12" x 12" black frame

My sister's is next!

portraits

2006-12-19T11:43:00.000-06:00

Today in photo class we took portraits of each other - super fun!

Here's one I did of Carrie.

and me.

and me being goofy!

I am setting up a photo studio in my basement so maybe I'll do more of these.

Band Aids & White Privilege

2006-12-14T11:39:00.000-06:00

This semester I co-taught an undergraduate class at UW Madison's School of Business called Diversity & Business: S.E.E.D. The class explores various social justice issues such as racism, sexism, and homophobia.

One of the articles we read in the class is by Peggy McIntosh called White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack, where she identifies 50 aspects of unearned white privilege.
For example,

"46. I can chose blemish cover or bandages in "flesh" color and have them more or less match my skin".

This morning I went to coffee with one of my students and had a great conversation about the topics we discuss in class. Then afterwards I stopped into Walgreen's to buy a few things, including Band Aids. Well finally in 2006 there are clear Band Aids with the middle cotton part in light, medium, and dark to match various skin tones. Even though I am white, I was so excited I bought the medium box (they didn't stock the dark). To me this is just a small example of how a company can show more equity and be less focused on whiteness.

Thank you J & J, it's about time.

tear.glue.paint.stitch.nap update

2006-12-08T18:18:00.000-06:00

The opening last weekend was great! There were definitely over 100 people there throughout the night and Julie and I each sold several pieces. Here are a few that I sold. I took these photos at the gallery so they are pretty poor quality and a bit too yellow (should be more turquoise blue), but I thought I would just get them up here. They are all part of the Blue Swirl Series. They are all made with acrylic paint on duck cloth, then quilted with a thin batting and matted & framed.

tear.glue.paint.stitch.nap

2006-11-16T10:06:00.000-06:00

Julie Koenke and I are having an art show together.

The postcard is below, but here are the details...

Location: Sculptures, 1988 Atwood Ave. Madison, WI 53704
Dates: now until January 8, 2007
Reception: December 1, 5-9pm - come join us for food, art, and fun!

Recent Work

2006-10-12T21:50:00.000-05:00

Last week I was sooo busy creating work for the Madison area Open Art Studio tour (see previous post) and I am so glad I did, because it was a huge success for me. I barely had a break either day with people coming by including many friends and many people I had not met yet. I sold quite a few things and was very encouraged. Here are some photos from the day and of a couple pieces I made last week. The photos are a little blurry since I hand-held the camera and the lighting wasn't great.

My living room with a table of art - what do you think of my new blue wall?!

6" x 6" piece framed in a 12" x 12" frame
acrylic paint and machine quilted
$50

from left to right: Sunrise Swirl, Soda Pop Fizz, Sunset Swirl

wine charms, book strings and some framed pieces

a small piece that sold, 11" x 11"
acrylic paint, pastels, machine quilted

It was a great day! I hope to do it again next year. I am also excited about doing more painting and sewing. Life is good!

Madison area Open Art Studios

2006-09-30T17:45:00.000-05:00

I am participating in the Madison area Open Art Studio in Madison, WI next weekend. If you are in the area stop by. My studio will be open from 11-5 on Saturday, Oct. 7 & Sunday, Oct. 8. Additionally, there is an opening reception at the Overture Center on Friday, Oct. 6 from 5-9pm and all the artists will have a piece displayed and some of us have pieces in a raffle (a great way to buy art!). I'll be there from 5-7pm so stop by the reception or swing by my studio if you have time.

Studio located at 2526 Coolidge St. Madison, WI

My artwork at No Rules Gallery

2006-08-09T18:51:00.000-05:00

My art work was recently welcomed at a gallery in Spring Green, WI called No Rules Gallery! They have several small quilts of mine, some framed paintings, and quilted postcards. I'm very excited. If you are in the area stop in - its a great shop.

Gorgeous Ladies of Rock Climbing (GLORC)

2006-07-06T10:04:00.000-05:00

Let me introduce to you the Gorgeous Ladies of Rock Climbing (GLORC), not to be confused with GLOW – the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, although there are some similarities. Sunday was the first gathering of GLORC and included Smokey River, Daisy Dirtroad, Onyx 53, Clammy, and me – Daffin El Prado.

On Sunday we had our first GLORC gathering and went to Devil’s Lake State Park and set out to find the elusive Porkchop Buttress on the West Bluff. After wandering around over rocks, dense vegetation, and thorns and continually consulting the guidebook for three hours we finally gave up and settled on another location. We weren’t sure what it was called, but it was a great spot and worked well for us.

The neverending search for Porkchop Buttress

Smokey learning to belay, me helping her, Onyx chilling and Daisy tied-in ready to climb

Onyx 53 climbing and Smokey belaying

That's me climbing

Wow - look at those muscles!
Onyx 53, Clammy, Smokey River, Daisy Dirtroad, Daffin El Prado

More GLORC adventures to come in a couple of weeks!

spine doodle

2006-06-28T13:26:00.000-05:00

Here is a small quilt I did last week. It started as a doodle, I think inspired by my spine. The doodle was done a while ago so I can’t be sure. However, I am very aware of my back since I have a fair bit of lower back pain on a regular basis. Even though the spine was the inspiration this piece is not about pain. It’s happy, colorful, vibrant! It was fun to make. I don’t have a name for it yet. I dread naming my quilts. I'm not much of a word person. I made a deal with my girlfriend that I’ll hem her pants if she’ll come up with names for my quilts. She is a poet and more of a wordsmith than me so was quite pleased with the deal. More quilts are on the way, so soon I’ll have a stack of ‘em for her to name. Fortunately, I won’t have to hem many pants since she’s tall.

11" X 17"

Detail

This quilt is made with my hand-dyed fabrics, fused, and machine quilted.

Vented Dye Mixing Box

2006-06-20T13:44:00.000-05:00

i haven't been blogging for a while due to being crazy busy, but great. Hopefully, I'll be a regular now.

I made a little fume hood/dye mising box like they have in chemistry classes and industrial dye studios because I am worried about the carcinogenic affects of the dye powders or at the very least developing allergies to them like other dyers I know. When the dye is in powder form it isn’t good to breathe and of course the more you dye the more exposure you get. Once it’s mixed with the water it’s fine. So, I made this box with a bathroom exhaust fan in it and vented it out the wall. A friend of mine drilled the whole and installed the vent and also helped me with some of the electrical wiring on the box. I am not sure how affective it is, but I think it helps some. I still wear my respirator mask. It would be cool to be able to test it somehow, but I don’t know how to do that. Anyone else know how to test where powder is going in the air, to determine if it goes out the fan or not?

The fume hood in my dye studio.

A closer view

It has a plexiglas door that goes 3/4 down of the way. I just stick my hands in the opening when mixing.

Saturday Night Date

2006-03-19T09:43:00.000-06:00

Saturday night I had a date, with me that is, and 17 bottles of dye and 51 yards of white fabric. It was intense! A great artist’s date. It was the first time I dyed fabric in my new house and the first time I’ve ever dyed inside a house. Before I bought this house I always dyed outside on the back porch of my apartment. If I dyed at night I had to get out this big utility light and extension cord and then had to endure the bugs or the cold. Sometimes I would put on my long underwear, fleece hat, and glove liners under my rubber gloves and dye until I was too cold. Sometimes I would last up to an hour, depending on the weather, but it wasn’t near as much fun as my new basement. I love it! I can drip everywhere and no one cares!

My dye studio

Since it was sunny outside today and sorta warm (40-ish degrees) I went out to mix the dye. I know the neighbors thought I was crazy. I was sitting in the grass with two large buckets, lots of squirt bottles, little containers, measuring spoons and an industrial strength mask. They just stared and didn't say anything and it's hard to strike up a conversation when you are breathing through filters. Just wait until this summer when I have yards of fabric spread all over the backyard!

Once I got started with the dyeing I decided to do 50 yards, but after 38 yards I had to scrounge around the house for more buckets or containers to put the fabric in. I transferred the yogurt into a Tupperware, emptied two trashcans, and retired a couple Tupperwares I didn’t like anyway. Finally, at 11:30pm I got to 50 or 51 yards; I threw in an extra yard in case my counting was off. Here are some photos. Now tomorrow I get to do a lot of laundry and then a lot of ironing. It’ll be worth it! 50 yards of beautiful fabric! Oh, I can’t wait!

Dyeing Table

Rainbow gradations

The streaky, twist method

More buckets, each with two yards of fabric

Spouse Beater

2006-03-19T00:47:00.000-06:00

Last Thursday, an hour after my last post, my brother called me at work after getting two emails about his wife beater shirt and he said, “Amy, what did you do?” How quickly he assumes it’s me! I innocently said, “Greg, what’s the matter? What are you talking about?” while trying to stifle my laughter. I told him to look at my blog. He thought the whole thing was funny and his partner fell off his chair laughing when he heard what I did and then said that Greg and I were cut from the same cloth. See, a few months ago there was this email that went around from this lady who was appalled that the US Postal Service would print a stamp depicting an Islamic holiday; since all Muslims are terrorists and all (very heavy sarcasm here). So, my brother decided to email everyone he knew and have them send her a postcard with the stamp and a nice note or smiley face (who knows why her mailing address was on the email). Of course, I thought this was great and sent off several. So, see we think a bit alike. Although, in the case of our views about how language affects people we see things differently.

By the end of the day on Thursday Greg wasn’t laughing as much anymore since he had been inundated with emails (nice job everyone!). For some reason he felt compelled to answer them all and he signed them “give my love to Amy” which I, and my office mates, found hilarious. Being a stubborn soul he emailed me and said he was definitely not changing the name of his shirt now. Although on his website it is now called “spouse beater” instead of “wife beater” so we can have equal opportunity abuse. Wouldn’t want to favor the wives now would we?

Fortunately, my bro and I have a good enough relationship that we can tease and even be mad at each other and it’s all still good. I feel very fortunate about that. However, this has really made me think about how even though we grew up in the same house we had very different experiences that have probably shaped how we view things. For one, we went to very different colleges (Me – medium-sized, diverse public school in NC, Greg – small, private, yuppie college in FL). I’ve also lived all over the country and probably grown more aware of racism, sexism, and other oppressions than he has and I’ve tried to educate myself and read about it and talk about it with people. I’ve even facilitated groups on social justice issues. There is just a lot of crap out there and I feel like the people in the best position to make a difference are those in the majority (i.e. white, male, heterosexual). I don’t want to get on a soap box because there is so much more I could do to make this world better.

Another thing about Greg and I is that even though we are only four years apart we are in different generations. He is in The Millennials and I am a Gen Xer, which means that different events shaped our lives when we were growing up. I won’t bore you with all the details of our lives growing up, but I think that our experiences have shaped our perceptions of life and that’s partly why he doesn’t get the “wife beater” complaint. Hopefully one of his buyers will complain about it and that will carry a lot more weight than me, his lowly sister. Until then - there are worse problems to worry about.

That’s all for now. Adios!

wife beater

2006-03-09T11:08:00.000-06:00

My brother is a super talented, intelligent, courageous man who has his own business selling beautiful high-end men's clothing. He recently released his Fall line and posted it to his website. Being his proud older sister I checked out the new line beaming with delight at the great designs until I got to the shirt titled Black "wife beater" shirt. What! Wife beater! Of course I knew immediately why he named it that because it has white stitching simulating an outline of a man's ribbed undershirt which has been dubbed the terrible name of a "wife beater" shirt.

Photo of model wearing Black "wife beater" shirt

I sent my bro, Greg, an email kindly suggesting that he change the name of the shirt to something less offensive. He responded to me saying that since that is what those undershirts are called and everyone will be calling the shirt that anyway he just named it that, but that the name doesn't matter anyway. Well I disagree. Personally, I think language is huge.

Meanwhile, unbeknowst to me, my sister sent Greg an email suggesting he change the name as well. His response was, "did Amy put you up to this?" That gave us both a chuckle, but sparked the idea that maybe I should put some people up to emailing him and calling him on his insensitivity to domestic violence langauge.

So, here's where I need your help...first, check out Greg's website at: http://www.godspeedthewelldressedman.com/Menu.htm click on Fall 06 and scroll through until you find the Black "wife beater" shirt so you'll see what I am talking about. Then, email Greg at: thewelldressedman@gmail.com and tell him he should change the name of this shirt and be more sensitive towards the serious issue of domestic violence. And, if you have additional, more appropriate suggestions that'll great.

Eventually he'll figure out that I started all this and then I'll just tease him and tell him he should have listened to me in the first place. In the meantime, my sister and I can enjoy our joke on our little brother. hee-hee.

p.s. I should add that my brother is not violent at all and certainly doesn't condone domestic violence, but he just doesn't yet see why this shirt name is inappropriate. Of course, part of it is male privilege, but that's for another post.

Photo of model wearing Black "Wife beater" shirt

Washington D.C.

2005-12-08T20:14:00.000-06:00

I was in Washington D.C. for a conference the last few days. I went a day early to explore the sights since I’ve never been to D.C. It was interesting to be here after traveling in Europe all summer. I was so used to not knowing the language that I was almost surprised when I asked a metro employee a question and he spoke back in perfect American English. I smiled to myself thinking how easy it would be to navigate a large city in my own country. Earlier at the airport someone came up to me and asked me if I spoke Spanish. I don’t, but tried to help her as best I could since I know how she was feeling. I felt that way many times over the summer.

After landing at the airport I took the metro to the hostel and then went to the new National Museum of the American Indian. It opened last September and is down by the capitol.

Several American Indian People from UW went to the opening in last September and after hearing their stories I have been wanting to go. It was fabulous! It’s a beautiful building and I am so glad I went. They have free tours and I stopped to listen to one guide. She was Navajo and told us about the U.S. policies and practices towards American Indians over the years and today. What we have done and continue to do is on par with the way Hitler and his regime treated Jews, gays, and others. It’s genocide. I kept wiping away my tears as she talked. All American Indians are required to carry a document stating they are an American Indian, even today. This requirement is no different from Hitler making Jews wear yellow Stars of David’s and gays and lesbians wear pink triangles. Reservations are similar in many ways to concentration camps. As humans we have an incredible ability to be cruel to one another. We just tell ourselves they are not like us, less than human, and that makes it all OK. It’s appalling! It is so sad. I cringe at the way our current government is handing things such as the reaction to the Hurricane Katrina damage. The racism in our country is so pervasive, so ingrained, us white folks don’t even realize it; it’s our privilege to not notice or ignore it when we want.

After visiting the NMAI I had a little time to see the National Gallery of Art before it closed at 5pm. I was so impressed that so many things were free. I breezed through the East wing with Picasso, Van Gogh, and others. I learned a lot about art while traveling in Europe and it was neat to be able to recognize a painter from across the room.

The outside of the gallery looked like a minature pyramid that is outside the Lourve.

I loved this piece by Gerard Richter. I can't wait to unpack my paints! (I just bought a house and moved).

I love the way the light created these shadows on this piece. I have been thinking about doing some wire scultpure stuff - very inspirational!

Since everything was closed I went down to the Pentagon City Mall area had some food and wondered around Borders and looked at house magazines for a while. It was a relaxing evening and I wondered back to the hostel around 9:30pm and then talked with my mom for a while. I slept well (thanks to my ear plugs – never leave home without them!). The next morning I leisurely woke up and headed to the conference, which was great.

Photography Class

2005-11-18T07:22:00.000-06:00

My apologies to everyone who actually reads my blog for taking so long with this post. Life just got in the way. You know how it is.

I've been taking a photography class through the UW Art Department. For my final project I am doing a study of a friend of mine who is a falconer. He has a red tail hawk and I've been out hunting with him several times. I am trying to take a photojournalistic approach and take photos of all aspects of the process. I have about nine rolls at this point. A few of the pieces were selected for a student show that opens this weekend so I thought I'd stick them up on my blog, as well as a few others, for all the world to see.

Food Prep

Arrow

My First Art Fair

2005-09-25T14:09:00.000-05:00

This weekend I had a booth at a small, local art fair in Madison. It was the first one I've done. I learned a lot, but we got rain both days so I didn't sell much. In fact, Sunday we all left by 11am. I kind of enjoyed the process of setting up, getting everything together, talking with people that stopped by. A lot of my friends stopped by and that made it much more enjoyable, especially since we didn't have many customers. I am so glad I had a tent. I almost didn't buy one, but fortunately it was on sale and definitely worth it.

My booth actually turned out pretty good. Here are some photos...

This is the back wall of the booth. There is another table perpendicular to the left, see below.

This photo was taken in my living room. I did a mock set-up to make sure I had everything figured out. It certainly helped things go smoother.

New Quilts

2005-09-23T07:59:00.000-05:00

Here are two new quilts I made in the last couple of weeks. Both are canvas painted with acrylic paints and machine quilted. They are small - 11" to 12" square.

Tie Dyes

2005-09-23T07:37:00.000-05:00

This weekend I am doing my first art fair. I'll be selling some of my art quilts, these tie-dyed onsies & kids' t-shirts, wine charms, quilted postcards and more.

infant onsie

Kids t-shirt

The show is in the backyard of a gallery I have some stuff at here in Madison, WI.

Absolutely Art
Art Fair in the Backyard
2322 Atwood Ave. (next to Cafe Zoma)
Madison, WI 53704

Saturday, September 24, 10am - 5pm
Sunday, September 25, 10am - 3pm

Stop by if you are in the area!

Back at Home

2005-09-03T23:04:00.000-05:00

The 10 day voyage across the Atlantic from Spain to Ft. Lauderdale was wonderful. The first day we set sail from Bilbao, Spain I was feeling eager and just wanted to get home. But, after a few days I found myself really enjoying life on the ship. It was the longest stretch we had sailed and I found it to be relaxing, comforting, and peaceful. The ocean was so blue, the color of ultramarine blue paint just out of the tube. Even though we were on the ocean so much I am sad to say I never saw a single dolphin or whale all summer. I really wanted to. Other people did, but I was never in the right place at the right time. Most people don’t know this about me, but I almost became a marine mammal biologist. I even toured the grad school at the University of Washington, but later decided experiential education was better for me.

It has been a rough transition home. Several things I was looking forward to upon my return are not happening or have dissolved away. I’ll spare you the details, but often I wish I was still back on the ship sailing across the Atlantic. Things are getting better the longer I am home, mostly due to the wonderful, supportive friends I have. Close friends were what I missed the most about being away. There is something so wonderful about being with people who know you, who like you, who love you, and you just feel comfortable with. Of course, by the end of the summer I had met many wonderful friends and I truly hope we stay in touch and get to see each other again someday.

I’ve made a 20 minute video with my photos set to music. Once I show it to my friends I’ll post it on my blog so all of you can see it if you want. I had a great time making it and I think it turned out pretty good.

This summer we traveled 10,500 nautical miles and visited 10 countries. I can’t wait for the next trip!

Spain

2005-08-26T09:22:00.000-05:00

August 6-10, 2005

Sarah and I were hoping to do some serious hiking in the Spanish Pyrenees, but the transportation to get there was too difficult from Bilbao, especially since we were already planning to spend a couple of days in Barcelona. I really wanted to go to Barcelona to see the Gaudi architecture. I first learned about him a couple of years ago while taking a Design class at UW and ever since I have wanted to see his work. At first Sarah wasn’t that excited about another city, but then she had a great time and even liked the architecture!

We spent part of the first day figuring out train, buses and hotels to Barcelona and then in the afternoon we took the metro line to the last stop to hang out at the beach. Another RD, Gary, was with us and the three of us had a great time. Jim joined us for the trip to Barcelona and the four of us had a blast. We got a rough start since we took an overnight bus to Barcelona; it was about seven hours on the bus. The buses in Spain are very different from the U.S. They are much nicer and traveled by the average person. We had an interport student trying to explain this to us. She was contrasting Spain’s buses to the U.S. and she had first hand experience. While traveling in the States she took a bus from Pennsylvania to Michigan and was scared the whole time due to the odd folks aboard. On the way to Barcelona we were sitting in the second to last row and there was a very large man sitting behind us. He got up many times to use the bathroom and kept bumping Gary and I since we were had the aisle seats. He was so large he couldn’t help it, but it was tough for sleeping, especially for Gary. We arrived at the bus station at six-something a.m. and then had to wait until the bus company office opened to buy our return ticket. We had a nice breakfast of chocolate crepes and real, fresh squeezed orange juice while we waited. In the meantime we figured out the metro and bought a two-day pass. After stopping at our hotel we went to the Picasso museum since it was free that day. It was an okay museum. The security made you go through the museum in order and you weren’t allowed to just wonder, which was very annoying since we got there right when it opened so we were crowded in with everyone else. Anyway, it chronicled his life work, but didn’t have much cubism or any of his famous works. We were all glad it was free. After the Picasso museum we wondered around and stumbled upon this playground and this cool swing set thing.

Gary and Jim on the rope swing set thing

Later, walked down to the water via La Rambla to catch the sights. La Rambla is a long car-less street in the center of town. Kind of like a huge State St. in Madison. Since it was Sunday morning things were a bit quiet and we all appreciated that. We found a restaurant for lunch and then went back to the hotel for our swim suits and towels and took the metro to the beach. We were all ready for a nap so we spread out our towels on the sand amongst the locals and promptly fell asleep. Later Sarah and I went in the water. It was very warm and clear. You could see your toes even when the water was up to your chin, not what I expected for a city beach. While we were swimming a building down the way caught on fire. We heard sirens and saw lots of black smoke and big flames in the upper story window. We never did find out what it was. I just hope it wasn’t anyone’s home. The beach was so relaxing and exactly what we needed after our long night. Once we were rested up I dragged everyone to the Sagrada Familia church by Gaudi that is still not complete. It has been under construction since the late 1800’s. It was really neat, very different from the other type of art we have seen. Sarah decided not to go and enjoyed a snack outside while Gary, Jim, and I wondered around inside.

Sagrada Familia interior

For dinner we went to a tapas bar, which turned into a rather complicated and expensive meal. The biggest expense ended up being our drinks, which were way overpriced (and of course the price wasn’t listed in the menu).

The next morning Sarah, Gary, and Jim went to the Olympic stadium while I wondered around and shopped a bit. We met before lunch and Sarah and I headed off to see some more Gaudi art. We first went to the Park that has buildings that look like gingerbread houses and many, many escalators on the sidewalk leading up to the park. It was funny to see them outside like that. It was a neat place and rather revolutionary for his time (early 1900’s) since he used so many curves in his buildings. Later we went to the apartment building he did called La Pedrera. It is a very fancy place these days.

La Pedrera

Roof top of La Pedrera

Park Guell

We met Gary and Jim for dinner and then headed to the bus station. We all slept pretty well on the way back to Bilbao.

On the last day Sarah joined with a few other departing spouses and took a cab to the airport. I went back to sleep for a bit then went into town to see the Guggenheim museum and go shopping. The museum was pretty good. The building was pretty neat, very different. There was one exhibit that I liked by Serras. There was a large Aztec exhibit that I might have enjoyed more had I not been to so many museums this summer. I sort of breezed through it and went outside to take photos of the building.

I gotta say I loved Spain! Barcelona was my favorite city we went to all summer. I hope I get the chance to return and do some hiking. There is a 23 day hike in the Spanish Pyrenees that looks fun. Maybe someday I’ll return and do that.

Ireland

2005-08-25T19:31:00.000-05:00

July 31 to August 3, 2005

We had one day on the ship between France and Ireland which is barely enough time to recover.

My mom and step-dad were meeting us in Ireland and staying on the ship while were in port. I called my mom on her cell phone while we were in France to just touch base and she was in Ireland when she answered. I am telling ya, technology is awesome. I didn’t even know she was there yet. We never know our exact docking specifics until the night before the port so I sent her an email with all the details so she could find the ship. The morning we arrived in port she was supposed to be there between 9-10am. Well shortly after 10am she still wasn’t there and I was about to call her on a borrowed cell phone when I saw them pull up in a taxi. She never got my email, but fortunately thought to call the Port Agent and ask where we were docked, so only sometimes technology is awesome. They came on board and got settled into their room. After lunch we took the bus to town to see the Book of Kells and then the Kilmanheim Gaol, which is an old jail. Both were very neat. We wondered around looking for a place for dinner and finally found a nice place that wasn’t too loud. We were all pretty tired by then and a bit bedraggled after a day of adjusting to each other’s traveling style.

Inside the Kilmanhiem Gaol

downtown Dublin

The next day we took a train to a town north of Dublin called New Grange. We saw these monoliths which were about 1,000 years older than Stonehenge - 3,000 A.D. I thought they were really neat only because they were so massive and old. They had stone etchings which were done before the Iron Age so they didn’t even have metal to do the carvings. There were a lot of spirals and circles in the carvings.

It was a long day and we got back to Dublin kind of late and after wondering around for what seemed like a long time we found a restaurant. Unfortunately, it wasn’t that good and was very loud, but it was food.

One thing that I really wanted to do in Ireland was go hiking. Sarah and I wanted to go to the west coast and hike there, but I didn’t realize my mom and step-dad were staying in Ireland for about 10 days after we left to travel over there so of course they didn’t want to head west. Anyway, Sarah and I did split off on the third day and went hiking in the Wicklow Mountains, which is about an hour south of Dublin. It was absolutely gorgeous! We hiked about 11 km or so and had a great time. Because of the timing of the buses we had to stay overnight and ended up in an overpriced hostel that didn’t include towels in the price (which of course we didn’t find out until about 10pm). At least it was clean and safe. We woke up very early the next day and were back in Dublin for breakfast. We met up with my mom and step-dad and shopped around for a bit before they had to leave to pick up their rental car. Sarah and I met all the other RDs for a delicious, but slow lunch. We then just wondered around Dublin a bit. I must say Dublin was one of my least favorite cities of the summer. It was OK, but nothing really stood out for me, although the Irish countryside is gorgeous. I was looking forward to Spain.

Taking a rest on our Wicklow Mountain hike

France

2005-08-21T15:11:00.000-05:00

Monday, July 25 to Friday, July 29

With only 48 hours notice we diverted course and headed to France. We were slated to spend 5 days in England, but due to the bombings in London it was determined we shouldn’t go there. It was probably a decision based only partly on true safety and more on perceived safety and politics, primarily to ease the parents of the students back at home. Regardless of the reason I was looking forward to France. French is the only language besides English that I know at all. I wish I had more notice so I could have brushed up on my French, but I actually did pretty well. The most frustrating times were when I had no idea what words to use or worse was when I knew I was using all the right words, but my pronunciation was so poor that they had no idea what I was saying. It was neat when I would remember words out of the blue and to feel my French getting better each day.

The biggest challenge with the last minute change was that my partner was flying into London and had to divert course and pay extra money for a flight from London to Paris. In the long-run it was worth it. She stayed until Spain and we had a great time.

We docked in Le Harve, France an industrial port about 2 hours by train from Paris. The first day I took a train to Paris with some other RDs. We booked a hotel before we left Le Harve and headed there first to drop off our stuff. We lazed around a bit figuring out what we were doing and finally, Dayna and I headed out. We went to the Lourve thinking it was open late on Mondays and Wednesdays only to find out it was open late Wednesdays and Fridays and we were there about 15 minutes shy of closing time. So we headed back to Notre Dame Cathedral since it was open until 7pm. When we arrived mass was in session so I jumped in line for communion. I felt a little funny joining mass just in time for communion, but I think it would be OK with God. Dayna is Jewish so she wondered around with the other tourists. Mass was not very crowded, but there were a lot of people milling around the edge of the church during the service. It was a gorgeous building and actually felt holy. After Notre Dame we got an ice cream cone and walked to the Eiffel Tower. It was about an hour walk and Dayna’s feet were pretty sore by the time we got there due to her high heel shoes. That morning I was in a hurry packing my things and once we got to the train I realized I forgot my camera. By the time we got to the Eiffel Tower I was feeling pretty naked without it. I love taking photos and fortunately Dayna let me use her camera for a few cool shots of the Eiffel Tower at night. Fortunately, I was able to contact my friends on the ship who were joining us the next day and they brought my camera with them. I felt so happy when they arrived the second night with my tiny camera. Anyway, the Eiffel Tower was awesome at night.

The Eiffel Tower at night

We stood in a long line and took the elevator to the top. It was a nice view, but we should have listened to the guidebook and just gone up to the second level, the third level wasn’t much different from the first, just more crowded and windy. After the trip to the top we walked across the street to the Trocodoro for an excellent view of the whole tower and some dinner, eating at the typical French time of 10:30pm. We were back at the hotel exhausted, but happy by 1am.

The next day we slept until 9am, went downstairs for breakfast, and then Dayna and I headed to the Musee d’Orsay that houses the Impressionism and Art Noveau work. It was amazing!!! I look forward to the day I get to go back. We were there for 2 hours, but I would have been happy to spend half a day there. It was awesome and is now my favorite museum in the world. It is an old train station renovated and converted to the museum. The center section where the trains come in is a huge, open sculpture room with lots of natural light. I like the work of that time period and was feeling a bit disappointed that I didn’t have my camera to record this beautiful place. After the Musee d’Orsay we brought some bread and fruit, mango juice for lunch and went to the Jardin du Luxemburg to eat. It was a gorgeous park, but we didn’t stay long since I wanted to get back to the hotel to meet Sarah. Well of course her flight was late and she finally got there about 6pm. It was so great to see her! I had been pacing the lobby and wondering around the sidewalks wondering where she was. Next time I travel to Europe I am going to adjust my cell phone so that it works wherever I go. There were so many times throughout the trip that I wished I had a cell phone. Of course, on the other hand it was a reminder of how dependent we are on our technology. As I write this on my laptop I am sitting on the deck of the ship basking in the sun and starring out at the Atlantic. I must admit that for the most part I love technology – laptops, cell phones, iPods. They have their problems, but more benefits if you ask me.

Anyway, back to France…
Sarah I finally arrived a little late and without her luggage. It was still in Chicago, but fortunately arrived the next day. That night Sarah and I joined another RD and some students for dinner and drinks. We didn’t last very long because we were so tired, especially Sarah who was experiencing jet lag.

On day three Sarah and I went to the Notre Dame and St. Chapel. I was happy to be back with my camera and with Sarah, of course. I couldn’t convince Sarah to go to the Musee d’Orsay, but we did make it to the Lourve. At that point Sarah was tired and I was a bit sick of old art so were there for all of 90 minutes, just enough time to see the Mona Lisa and the mob in front of her, the Winged Victory, and some ancient Egyptian mummies, including a mummified cat.

The Lourve courtyard

I dragged Sarah back to the Eiffel Tower and the Trocodoro for views. We had a chocolate crepe and were too tired for dinner. We made it back to the hotel pretty late. For Sarah it was a one day whirlwind of Paris since we headed back to the ship the next morning.

Our fourth day in France was a relaxing contrast to the whirlwind tour of Paris. We took the morning train back to Le Harve (after nearly missing it), napped on the ship, then took an hour bus ride to this nearby coastal town of Etretat that has these huge rock cliffs. I saw it in a guidebook and really wanted to visit. Due to the bus schedule we only had an hour to visit, but as soon as we stepped foot on the beach we looked at each other and decided to return the next day and we did.

We returned to Le Harve in time for a wonderful dinner on the beach. We had a delicious meal of mussels and wine and wondered around the beach watching the sunset. It was a wonderful evening.

Me in Etretat, France

Sarah relaxing on the beach at Etretat, France

Le Harve, France

Belgium

2005-07-31T15:45:00.000-05:00

Belgium is a great place and Antwerp was a perfect city for our port. We were fortunate enough in Antwerp to have a superb docking place right downtown. It’s a fun city to walk around in with lots of shopping, delicious food, and beautiful buildings. I spent the first day wondering around Antwerp with a couple of friends, and then later went off to see Ruben’s house and the Museum of Contemporary Art. Ruben’s house was neat although there has been so much great art on this trip that I have become a bit desensitized and I am feeling less and less excited about religious paintings and icons. Not that it was a big draw for me in the first place, but I was enjoying them more initially. The Museum of Contemporary Art was also a bit of a disappointment. It was mostly conceptual art which I often don’t understand.

Antwerp, Belgium

The next day I went to Gent and Bruge with Laura the art history professor, another RD and her partner. It was a lot of fun. July 21 is Belgium’s Independence Day so there were a lot of festivals and parties. We stayed in Gent for only a couple hours, just long enough to see the Gent Altarpiece which Laura demanded we all see. It was very impressive. Painted by Jon Van Eyck and his brother in the 1500’s the style is very detailed and realistic. There is also debate about which part Jon did and which part his brother did. Either way it’s impressive. After a lunch of mussels and beer we took the train to the charming town of Bruge. Laura and I went to enjoy some art work at a Cathedral and then I left Laura at the Memling Museum because I was just too tired to enjoy it. I wondered around on my own and had a delicious waffle with chocolate poured over it, although it was so rich it gave me a stomach ache. Later on we all met up and wondered around some more before dinner and caught the final train back to the ship in Antwerp.

The train station in Antwerp - on the way to Gent and Bruge

Me eating delicious mussels in Gent

On the third morning I took a 2-hour train to Amsterdam on my own. I spent the day by myself in Amsterdam and had a great time (don’t worry mom even though I was traveling alone no one attacked me). J First I took the tram to the Van Gogh museum. Van Gogh is from The Netherlands and they have a gorgeous museum dedicated to his work and other work from the same time period. I spend nearly 3 hours in the museum and really enjoyed it. This was quite refreshing considering I was getting so tired of museums. I think part of it is that I like Van Gogh’s work more than the 15th and 16th century oil paintings which we keep seeing so much of. I might have to breeze through those in the Lourve (oh yeah, by the way, we are skipping London due to the bombings and going to France instead). After the museum and lunch I wondered around the many shops in Amsterdam, did a little shopping and made my way to Anne Frank’s house.

Anne Frank’s House was amazing. It was not what I expected. It’s been a while since I read her diary, but the place was bigger and more urban than I expected. Her family and four others lived there for two years and shortly before the war ended. Someone leaked their existence and the Nazis caught them. Everyone except the father died in the concentration camp only one month before liberation. It was very powerful and sad to see Anne Frank’s house and museum only a few days after visiting Auschwitz. It helped me appreciate more fully what they went through.

Anne Frank's House

Belgium is a wonderful place. I enjoyed the mixture of traveling by myself and with friends. I am looking forward to France and seeing Sarah!

Semester at Sea Olympics

2005-07-31T14:47:00.000-05:00

July 17, 2005

The Olympics are a tradition with Semester at Sea. Classes are canceled for the day and the eight Seas compete in various games ranging from the hot dog eating contest to the talent show. A Sea is similar to a Hall on a land based campus – in our case a group of cabins in a certain section of the ship that join together in a proud union. I am proud to say I am the Resident Director for the Bering Sea (in case you as geographically ignorant as I was I will spare you the embarrassment of having to pull out an atlas and tell you the Bering Sea is between Alaska and Russia). The motivation for the competition is that the winning Sea gets to be the first Sea off the ship when we return to the States. This means first to catch their planes and first to see their family and friends who are greeting them on the dock. We were awesome and got first place in the Spirit contest, first in Trivia, second in the synchronized swim contest, and more. It was an awesome day! Overall, we fared very well in our Olympic escapades and took third place! We were really excited about third because we didn’t want to be first off the ship because then we would just be standing on the dock while everyone else was still getting to hug and say goodbye on board. But, anyway, it’s not about the competition – it’s about the camaraderie, the smiles, the laugher, and the memories (although I know my soccer-playing buds in Madison would debate me on this one).

Synchronized Swim Competition

Big Hair Contest

Bering Sea Rocks the Boat!!

The Orange Pass

The Tug-o-war

Poland

2005-07-31T14:41:00.000-05:00

Poland

is a gorgeous country, much more impressive than I expected. We docked in Gdnask, a very quaint active city in northern

Poland

. I spent the first day in Gdansk wandering around and seeing the sights with a couple friends.

me in Gdansk, Poland

Gdansk, Poland

Wednesday night we hopped an overnight train to Krakow. Since it was a Wednesday night the train wasn’t very busy and we were able to each lay down on our own bench and I was actually able to sleep rather well (thanks to my trusty earplugs – never leave home without them). We arrived in Krakow first thing in the morning and three of us rushed over to catch the train to Auschwitz. We spent the day in Auschwitz and the larger concentration camp called Auschwitz II. The day was filled with a mix of emotions – one minute I would feel tears in my eyes just thinking about the magnitude of evil and horrors that happened within the concentration camps and all of Europe during those years and then a bit later I would forget where I was and think I was just wondering around another historical museum. I think what amazed me the most was how well planned and thought out the Nazi’s were in their attempt to exterminate Jews, gays, and others. They went to great efforts to hide what they were doing and to make the prisoners initially think they were going someplace good. I have a couple photos of the camp here.

barbed wire fence at Auschawitz

After the long day at the concentration camps we went back to Krakow and joined our other friends at an apartment flat we rented for the night. It was in a beautiful, suburban area of town and the house was gorgeous. We didn’t quite know what to expect since we made the reservation on-line and we were so pleased. The family who owns the house lives on the top floor and rents out the first floor. We invited them down for dinner and had a fabulous time. One of our friends is from Italy and was very excited to cook us an authentic Italian meal. We were equally (if not more) excited to eat it and enjoyed it immensely. It was delicious. However, the best part was talking to our new Polish friends. The wife and two kids (aged 18 and 10) joined us for dinner and we asked them many questions about Poland, the fall of communism, and compared Polish and American life. They were very thankful about the fall of communism however, pointed out that not everyone was. In Russia we talked with many people who were not very happy about it. She said it was because if you are lazy then communism is much preferable because you will always have enough money to eat and live. However, that’s it. If you have any ambitions you can not pursue them. I imagine some of the difference between the feelings of the Russians and the Poles is that the Poles have a much better infrastructure than the Russians. The rails, the roads, the phones, everything was similar to the rest of Western Europe and very modern.

me on top of a church in Poland

The next morning we slowly woke up and after photos, goodbyes, and email exchanges with our new friends we headed into Krakow. We spent the day the wonderful city of Krakow. It’s a fun, beautiful place. I went off on my own for a bit and went to St. Mary’s Cathedral, Cloth Hall, and did some shopping. We all met up for a yummy dinner and then took the overnight train back to Gdansk. The overnight train back was not near as pleasant as they way. It was very crowded and we almost didn’t even get a seat. However, we did have to sit up most of the night and that was rather miserable. I didn’t sleep much and as soon as I got to the ship took a shower and fell asleep.

I woke up around noon in time to join three students for a trip to Sopot, a beach town that was 15 minutes by train north of Gdansk. We had a great time. We layed around on the beach and then before we left jumped on this really cool bungy-trampoline thing. We were doing flips and bouncing about 20 feet in the air. I loved it!

me flipping on the bungy-trampoline thing

I had a great time in Poland! It’s a beautiful country. The people are friendly, the streets are clean, and the food is cheap and good. I think it is still a bit of an undiscovered gem in Europe, but it won’t be for long.

Russia

2005-07-23T13:35:00.000-05:00

St. Petersburg, Russia greeted us with a beautiful, blue sky and warm, sunny weather. For a city that only gets a few days of sun each year we were really lucky that every day was gorgeous. Our ship was parked in the Neva River about 5km from town so we did a lot of walking, which I enjoyed. The city is beautiful and very different from what I expected. The first morning I went on a bus tour of the city and to the Hermitage. The Hermitage is an enormous museum on par with the Louvre in France. Walking through every part of Hermitage would cover 27 miles! If you spent one minute looking at every piece in their collection it would take over 11 years! (These are the types of useless tidbits you pick up on guided tours). I started on a guided tour and then branched out on my own. It was amazing. There isn’t even any Russian art in it – that is all housed in the Russian Museum (which I didn’t make it to). I saw two Da Vinci’s, Michelangelo, Picasso, Monet, and much more.

The Interior of the Hermitage

I’ve always viewed Russia as a poorer country and while there are many people living in poverty I was shocked at the riches – the Hermitage, the palaces, the ornate churches, and the beautiful architecture. Although many of the places look wonderful on the outside and then when you wonder into the alleys between the buildings it is falling apart, however still beautiful in the way old brick can be.

In Russia the women are very fashionable in a 1980’s type of way and wear a lot of mini skirts and high heels. It’s rather amazing because the streets are often cobblestone or cracked up concrete. They also have these floor mats at many doorways that have holes just big enough for a high heel. Of course being less practiced at heels than the Russians, when I was leaving the ballet I got my heel stuck in one of the mat holes and then while trying to pull it out the other got stuck and then got it stuck for a third time and finally just walked out barefoot and laughing. Fortunately, I wasn’t the only American that had this problem.

The second day I spent time in St. Petersburg wondering around and visited the Church on Spilled Blood, which was incredible and is what I picture when I think of Russia.

the interior of the Church on Spilled Blood

The third night I traveled to Moscow with Semester at Sea. I was one of three trip leaders for the 93 participants. The experience was pretty crazy only because we were traveling with so many people, it was like herding cats. We had a few Russian tour guides with us – one was fabulous and the rest were only okay. Since we are not used to trains most of us didn’t sleep much on the way to Moscow. The day we spent in Moscow was very busy seeing the Kremlin and various other sights. By 11am I had probably had 30 people complain to me about something – always something I could do nothing about – the toilets, the tour guide, the bus, the heat, the itinerary, you name it people complained to me. Finally, I told them all to keep their negative thoughts to their selves that I wanted to enjoy the day and would not be able to if everyone complained to me. Well, then everyone had to come up and apologize to me which usually went something like this, “Amy, I am so sorry I was complaining to you. I didn’t realize you were getting so many complaints. It’s just that my camera ran out of batteries and I want to go back to the bus to get more. Do you know how much longer we’ll be at the Kremlin?” The whininess in their voice increasing with every word. What can you do? What I don’t understand is why would someone travel via a second class, overnight train in Russia and expect the Holiday Inn? You would think people would understand what they are getting into or at least just go with the flow, even if they have never been to Russia. Geez, very few Americans even get the privilege of traveling to Russia. The elitism of some of the students is my biggest frustration here. I think maybe some people are just never happy, no matter what they are doing or where they are. Those are the people I struggle with the most. Granted this particular trip was difficult because it was so structured. All of us were craving some free time to just wonder around Moscow. Finally, before dinner we had about 45 minutes in Red Square, which relaxed people a bit. Then we went to the Moscow circus, which was a highlight for me. It was excellent! Unfortunately, there were no trapeze flyers even though the bars were hanging. That was a disappointment, but a minor one. On the train ride home everyone slept very soundly. We were so tired after our busy day. Moscow is a beautiful city and much cleaner than St. Petersburg. I would love to go back and be able to explore more.

St. Basil in the Red Square in Moscow

Me in Red Square

Russia is an interesting country. It is an enormous country spanning 13 time zones and dwarfing the U.S. With the end of communism in 1991 the Russians have experienced so much change. Many people we talked with said they preferred communism over the current situation. I think part of this is because they do not have the infrastructure that we have in the States. There are very few roads outside of the cities, many people are very poor, and the police are corrupt and can be paid off easily. One example of their lack of infrastructure is their phone system. There are pay phones throughout the city, but you can only use a phone card from the company that owns the phone. Imagine if you had an MCI calling card, but could only find AT&T pay phones. You would be out of luck. It might not be so bad if phone cards were readily available, but no one I knew could ever figure out where the phone cards were sold. I imagine it will take at least 20 years for the infrastructure to match western Europe and the U.S.

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