I am behind.  I went to Hawaii (shame on me!) and have yet to catch up on the weeks I missed for the 52 week challenge.  Each week goes by, and I am ever so aware that

I

am

falling

behind.

The A+ nerdy student in me does not like this.

So, I’m gonna have to cheat a little bit.  For me, the 52 week challenge is about getting out there and shooting each week.  Stretching your mind and trying to be creative.  But, I also have to recognize that I am a bit of a geek, and just skipping the weeks I’ve missed when I was in paradise just isn’t.gonna.cut.it. And I’m too busy to catch up.

So, I’m cheating.  Nerds don’t usually do that, but I’m a bit of a rebel nerd.

I’m too behind.  I have to catch up.  So, here’s my entry for CHAIRS.  It was taken back in May before the challenge started.

I love this chair.  This was my chair.  I probably sat in this chair when my daughter was this age.  This chair was my sister’s desk chair.  And then it was my desk chair.  And until recently, this chair was sitting in my dad’s house with a pile of books on it.  Heeeey, that was the last week’s theme.

I digress.

So, I love this chair.  And I just so happen to love the kid that is sitting in this chair.

A lot of learning happened in this chair, and that kid that is sitting in it now has taught me a lot of things.  She has taught me that love comes from deep within.  She has taught me that unconditional love is real and true.  She has taught me just what it feels like to have my heart outside my body.

That kid in that chair has made me a better person.  I love that kid in that chair.

…

Gosh, I love books. I will admit that it has been way too long since I have read a book for myself.  Now, it’s all about reading books for the kids.  But I love books.  We have books scattered all around the house.  I love grabbing a pile of books, putting it on the floor, and watching my son start devouring the images in them.  I love that books can entertain, spark the imagination, make you smile, laugh, think, cry, wonder, pontificate, analyze.  Books are cool.

When I thought about this week’s theme, the image posted below immediately came to mind.  Looking at this image makes me cry.  This was taken just days after my mom’s diagnosis of brain cancer.  It was the darkest time in my life.  We didn’t know what was going to happen and were all prepared for the very worst.

When I took pictures that day, I didn’t know if I was capturing the last moments my children would spend with their grandma.  Looking at this image brings me back to that day.  The sorrow that I felt.  The sense of impending loss.  But, what I see in this picture is not sad.  It is my daughter loving my mother.  It is my mother loving my daughter.

My mom is singing her the words to “What a Wonderful World” from the book she had given her for her birthday.  For my daughter, it was a time of joy–to see her grandmother, sit on her lap, and listen to her voice.  My daughter loves this book and loves her “Bama.”

That book holds a special place on our bookshelf.

It’s amazing what an image can conjure up in our hearts and minds.  It is images like this that I will always, always treasure.

I am so happy to be able to report that my mom is fighting this cancer with an inner strength and makes me proud.  The chemotherapy has shrunk her lesions, and I can’t wait for the day that we hear the words: “Cancer-free.”…

This week’s challenge was “trees.”  I thought good and hard on this one.  What message did I want to convey with this theme?

What are trees?   They have  roots.  They clean our air and provide us life.  They give us shelter in a storm.

It reminded me of being a mother.  I am teaching my children to have good values, good morals, love one another.  I am giving them the strength they need to handle adversity.  I am giving them deep roots–showing them how to be grounded.   My idea was born:

I would do a self portrait.  Me, sitting at the base of a tree.  Me, a mother, with my deep roots, feeling and conveying the strength of that tree.

Yes. It would be perfect.

I was ready with a quote too, from Storypeople:

When I die, she said, I’m coming back as a tree

with deep roots & I’ll wave my leaves

at the children every morning on their way to school

& whisper tree songs at night in their dreams.

Trees with deep roots know about the things children need.

I grabbed my tripod, my remote, and my camera.  And began my search.  Only, er, I couldn’t find a good tree.  Hahaha!  But, a tree with deep roots is also flexible.  It can move in the wind.  It can shoulder a storm, as long as it has deep roots.  So, keeping that in mind, I remained flexible and with resolve, continued my search.

What I found was an old tree.  A gnarled tree. A strong and quiet tree.

Lying underneath that tree, I realized that not only am I grounded–grounded like a tree–but I have dreams.  I am a grounded dreamer.  I looked to the blue sky and the parting clouds revealing the shining sun, and I realized one of the gifts I give my children.

I teach them to be grounded and teach them to dream!

Yes.  It was perfect.

…