Personal Art
What could be better? My oldest son was desperate to adopt a grey kitten. After looking at many little ones we finally settled on "Zipper" she's 3 months old and very friendly. I'm glad there is a few days left of summer break to get her acclimated to the McAllister home. Hopefully previously overcome allergies will not return and resident cat will adjust to her new housemate. Its such fun to watch kids fawn over a little life.
Pledge to self... GO TO STANLEY PARK MORE OFTEN! Goodness, this gorgeous park is probably 15 min from my house. How is it that I actually get out of my car and look around maybe once a year. LAME! Here's a few photos I took while on a photowalk with my 10 year old son. Great sights all within a 10 min walk of the parking lot. Now get out there!
Just back from a wonderful trip to California, complete with a dip in the Ojai swimming hole, pollywog collection, up close encounters with owls, hawks and falcons, four visits to the beach, boogie boarding, sand tunnels, pool swimming, popsicles, butterfly encounters, diet Coke and Menthos rockets, birthday candles, fireworks, pancakes, BBQ, family time, photo shoots, macro lens acquisition, talks with amazing friends, sunsets, lavender, oranges, Trader Joe's, and croc charm bracelets. Thanks Mom & Dad for being so amazing and generous.
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Downtown Vancouver after the riot has become a place of boarded up windows laden with messages of love, anger, revenge, apologies, and hope of redemption. A couple who were handing out Tim Bits and smiles in Canuck jerseys offered us pens to get our thoughts out on those burdened walls. I had so many as I starred at my community's pure emotions: How far will a public's desire for humiliation of the offenders last? Will the public pulse to 'tag' every guilty soul turn into violence again? What is a just punishment? How utterly bizarre is crowd behavior, why does civility and morality flee in the face of it? What are we made of anyways? Has social media fueled this sort of behavior? If we didn't crave capturing ourselves in "postable moments" would this event have occurred in the first place? Will grace ever rise to the surface for those who committed these acts of violence? What would that look like? Why is there a homeless man still here when a community has proven they can repair so much so quickly?
I definitely feel like this event marks us. It tells us something about the times we live in and the kind of people we are, full of every sort of pain and destructive tenancy and every sort of blessing and generosity. Its enough to make my mind swirl for a very long time.
