State X-C Championships 2011

P has been quite sick since Tuesday night but nothing would keep him from running in the state championships today! The doctor rather reluctantly okayed it, as long as he brought his inhaler.

P ran far below his norm, but finished honorably, middle of the pack.

Naturally he was disappointed,  but we're all very proud of him!

My X-C Kids!

Saturday was a gray day but a good one for the Cross-Country team...P came in second in the district conference (with his team-mate and co-captain coming in first) and H made a Personal Best!

My guys 

Strong start for H and he stayed steady!

P and his co-captain took off from the pack at some point

Coming in to the finish! 

Cupcake Social

Netta with Cupcake

There is a seemingly never-ending barrage of social and instructive events for us students at PAFA. There are so many opportunities and offerings that  I am almost finding it a bit distracting. But it's all very fun, tempting stuff, like today's Cupcake Social at 4 pm. Hundreds of cupcakes, scores of toppings to customize them, and gallons and gallons of strong coffee. End of day bliss! Could I have squeezed in an extra hour of painting instead of consuming empty calories and socializing? Yes! But it was darn fun.

My Town

Off the evening train,
stopping to drink in the sight-
my town at sunset

Fifteen!

My baby turned FIFTEEN today! Warm with happiness, at the same time frozen with horror at the speed the years are winging past...

I'm 15 for a moment
Caught in between 10 and 20
And I'm just dreaming...


100 Years, Five for Fighting
(This song is one the biggest tear-jerkers on the radio! Sometimes I just have to turn it off when I hear the opening bars, sometimes I let it happen...)

First Fire

the first fall fire:
its muffled roaring and hiss
suddenly remembered

Goodbye Henry

Yesterday Paul, Henry and I took a quick trip downtown. Henry really enjoys the city, walking around, taking in the scene. Today he has gone back to his school deep in the country. I miss him already!

Earth-Shaking!

Evacuees from the PAFA Hamilton Building await the All-Clear

So, wow, this was an eventful day! I went to school to discuss my semester's critic choices and turn in that form. While I was there I dropped a few things off in my new studio too and then wandered around the studio floor a little, trying to get more acclimated. I was standing in my studio chatting with another first year mfa student (we were having an animated discussion on the work of Judith Schaecter) when the floor started vibrating and the lights started swinging gently. I assumed it was just some construction work and kept talking but the other student at once said "What is that? Is this an earthquake? I think this is an earthquake." I replied somewhat lamely, "Oh, don't you think somebody is just using power tools?" but yeah...turned out to be an earthquake. Totally bizarre! We so rarely get earthquakes in Philadelphia. 5.8!

People swarmed out into the corridors and there was a lot of nervous laughter and many expressions of astonishment.  Then we all calmed down and went back to what we'd been doing.  About a half hour later though the alarm system sounded and we were told to evacuate the building! All very weird and exciting.  People hung out on the street (some of the students started a game of kickball) and talked and stared up at the tall buildings and felt very keenly the bizarreness of the whole situation! It was a gorgeous day, with bright sunshine and refreshing breezes, while overhead News choppers hovered and police and fire sirens wailed in the distance. At one point I happened to be standing next to a school administrator  who wise-cracked that they had arranged this specially to make it an unforgettable Orientation Week! Aw, what a school! Seems like nothing is too much trouble for us MFAs. ;-)

Took me a while to get home. Turns out that SEPTA's schedule was temporarily halted and long delays were forecast so I walked back to the school and put in a little library time (even found another image for my Women in the Act of Painting project: yay!) I waited an hour or so and then tried again. Much the best idea: as I walked onto the platform a train scheduled for an hour previously was just drawing up.  What a day! Home a couple of hours later than expected but still in good time to make dinner.

Back to School!

This was the first thing I saw when I walked in the door after a long day of Grad School orientation! What a sweet husband I have! It was an exciting, exhausting day.

Cheese Sculpture

Turn your back for one minute in this crazy house and people are making art out of whatever comes to hand! In  Henry's case, a purloined hunk of aged, extra-sharp Cheddar. Notice the fine "tooth-mark" detailing characteristic of this artist's technique. ;-)