Extra Credit Tanka: Childhood

Childhood is going
Somewhere far far far away
I am sad and glad
All the memories I had
Now I guess its not that bad

Haiku: Change

Leaves turning purple
Everything changing fast
Life's normal rhythm

The Cabin

1 Up north.
2 These two words mean so much.
3 Trout lake.
4 My childhood wraped up into one bunch.
5 The great big fire
6 so warm and bright,
7 the stars in the sky
8 so bright at night.
9 Family and friends,
10 completely content.
11 Together story sharing,
12 Pancakes in the morning.

The Ocean

1 The Ocean,
2 the ocean,
3 the ocean.
4 The ocean waves crash on to the shore!
5 Over and
6 over again
7 smooth bright blue water
8 covered with rough white caps
9 towering over each other.
10 It is like a fight,
11 a fight to the top.
12 Which wave is the most grand?
13 Which one will make it the farthest up the sand?
14 So I sit here and imagine
15 the ocean's waves abstract pattern.

5 accidental lessons

            I never know what to expect when heading downtown every Tuesday night on my way to my art class, Studio Seven.  I have been going to this year long art class for seven years now and I have been exposed to so many different things.  However, I would not take my experiences from there back for anything.

Accidental Lesson #1
Edina is a bubble.
    I know this is such a typical phrase, that really doesn't make too many Edina people happy, but to some extent it is true.  However, in Edina's defence, you could probably say that about almost every suburb of a major city.  In Edina, there are many similarities between people that live there.  It doesn't sound like a good thing because it really isn't a good thing.  So I learned that life is much more interesting if you leave the area that you spend the most time, even if it is comfortable, because you will be exposed to so many new things if you expand your horizons. 
   

Accidental Lesson #2
There are many different types of people in the world.
   In an art class, this is so important and makes the class so much more interesting.  At one point in the painting unit last year there was someone painting a woman's face with bright green skin, flaming red hair, and string sewing the woman's mouth shut.  At the same time, there was someone painting a cute little painting of a lake sunset landscape and a little girl painting her "kitty".  That makes the art class such a good creative environment because anything is acceptable to try.  In the world as a whole there are even more different types of people, but my art class has taught me how to celebrate those differences and learn new things from people different from me. 

Accidental Lesson #3
It is important to stay on task in life.
    When trying to complete a piece of art, it is important to concentrate.  At my art class there are people; fabulous artists, that do not get anything done in class because they just can not focus or stay on task. I find them talking all of class until the art teacher sees that they have gotten nothing done all class and has a mini heart attack.  This is same for life.  If people do not stay on task, or work through something all the way, they will not get anything done.  Even if they are great at problem solving, they will not be able to share that with the world until they try to focus and get something done.  The only way to get something done is to just do it, worrying about it or procrastinating will only slow you down.

Accidental Lesson #4

Only Draw what you see. 

     This is an art term, but it is also true in life if you think of the idea metaphorically.  If you only take things for what they are, and stop searching for something more, then life can be much less complicated.  In a drawing, if you add details that should be there; but because of the angle are not, the drawing ends up not making sense.  In life if you infer things about people that you think are there that are not a part of the person, you can run into a lot of conflict and miss communication.  Taking things for face value sometimes is the only way to handle a situation.

Accidental Lesson #5

There is a reason for the way people act. 

     This is a hard thing to remember on an everyday basis when the people surrounding you are more than unusual.  I have met some people at Studio Seven that are some of the most unusual or unique types of people I have ever met.  Some even seem strange and a bit unbelievable.  But, I learned that it is important to remember that there is ALWAYS a reason for the way people act. 

     Learning life lessons can happen at really any time or in any place.  It is important to stay allert and try to learn something new out of every little life experience that comes your way. 

Photo Story

     This story could start really at any point of my life.  It is such a complex story that I will have to do my best to fill you in on the basics. 

It could have started in 4th grade when I went on my first Church camp, and met the most influential person of my life.

Or that summer when he appeared again on the way up to Noah's Arc Water Park in the Wisconsin Dells. 

It could also have started the night before I hurt my knee at church camp and he introduced himself to me again after about 7 years since we last saw each other.

I will start the story on the day that I realised who this person really was in relation to me.

    I was at church camp in Moab, Utah and we decided it would be a great day to go cliff jumping.  Some people were hesitant but I could not have been more excited to jump right into that white water at the bottom of the waterfall.  We had to climb down into an almost cannon like river and walk to the end of the river where the waterfall was.  The jumping spot was right to the left of the waterfall and it did not seem very high.  The were no signs around telling us to be cautious so we decided to go for it, and start jumping.  I climbed right up and a few people went in front of me with no problem.  Then it was my turn, and I the water felt a mile away.  Everyone told me to jump into the white water, but all I could think about was the rocks right under me.  If I do not jump far enough, I could hit my head back on a rock, and that could end very badly.  So I stopped thinking, and jumped.  I didn't hit the rocks under me.  Unfortunately, I over jumped, and at an angle where my knee hit the rocks at the other side of the water.  Once I reached the surface of the water I looked up and everyone looked pretty concerned. They asked me if I was okay and I responded with an unrealistic "Yeah!"  I could see the rock right before I hit it and I thought maybe it was no big deal, I must have just broke the fall with my knee. Then, I reached down and i felt my knee to see if it was alright.  Lets just say, I could fell that it was not.  I started to get worried, looked over at the closest person I could find and told her that I wasn't okay and i needed help.  She waved me over so I swam over to get her help.  Then I started to go into frantic mode and plenty of people gathered around me to help.  They raised my knee up out of the water, and that is when the real pain set in.  I started screaming and the next thing I knew, I was laying on a rock with my friend to the right of me, my small group leader to the left, the Physical Therapist that just happened to be with us and my friend Reid, who has been going in and out of my life for a very long time.  The kept asking me questions and checking my feeling in my leg.  One of the leaders on the camp climbed out of the cannon trying to get a phone signal to call for help, and people were helping each other climb out of the cannon quickly and safely.  I was so stressed out and overwhelmed but some how a appeared very calm.  Reid kept asking me funny questions, but when he asked me if we signed the medical release form I thought he was kidding.  He looked panicked but then I realised what he was asking and luckily I had.  It took at least 20 minutes to get the ambulance to the cannon, and they had to carry me out on a stretcher inside a cage that they used to get me out of the cannon.  Before carrying me out, they humorously asked us why a church would choose to come to Moab, Utah for camp.  The ambulance people had to carry me in this cage down the river on slippery rocks, and one of the men even fell and I was dropped on my upper right side of the stretcher.  Then the cage connected to a latter that would lock into place every time it traveled further up the cannon.  I looked to my left as I was being lifted up the cannon and saw many concerned looking families.  I wanted to relieve their concerns so I gave them a friendly wave hello.  Then I finally got into the ambulance where they gave me an I.V. and told me that they thought my knee was broken and it may be a 2 hour drive to Colorado where they have an adequate hospital for my needs.  They also told me that the last person they tried to help from that cliff ended up dying.  Let me remind you that there were no signs of caution to warn any stupid tourists about how dangerous that cannon could be.  We arrived at the Utah hospital only 20 minutes away so they could take x-rays to see if anything was broken.  Thankfully nothing was broken and they only had to give me stitches.  I was so relieved.  Then I saw the man that was going to stitch me up, he had a baseball cap on and did not look very convincing.  Also, my parents would not answer their phones so we did not get a hold of them until after the procedure.  Reid was holding my hand the whole time and was excellent at distracting me from the situation at hand. 
    When the procedure was over I got the chance to talk to my parents and Reid and I waited for our ride to come pick us up and bring us back to camp.  During that time I had one of the most meaningful conversations I have ever had. 
Just like the beginning of this story, it could end in many places.  It could have ended when I got back to camp, or when I went home from camp. But it did not, because from this outrageous and possibly terrifying experience, I received one of the my most valued relationships.  Reid and I still keep in touch, and I am so thankful for that.  I truly do not see my knee incident as a bad thing at all because so much joy came from it. 
    My recovery was brutal.  They had to take out the stitches when I got home because the wound got infected when I was exposed to the river water.  Then the doctors were worried that the infection had traveled into my knee bone or joint which would have resulted in a knee surgery.  Thankfully again, I recovered just fine.  In fact, 1 day after I got off of my crutches, I went on a trip to New York with my neighbors.  My knee did not fully heal until at least a year later and I still have quite the scar.  But; in the end, I would not have traded that experience for anything in the world.