Too long away...

I'm definitely not going to be a regular blogger, or rather, not a blogger who posts regularly. I think there was a point in my life when that would have met some need for me, but not now. I think that creatively, I had a lot more to say earlier in my life. I find that the older I get, the less I have to say. However, I find myself doing more. I'm training right now for not one, but two, 5k's. I'll be walking, of course, but, hey, a year ago, I had no thoughts of being in "training" for anything physical. It feels good. There, I said it. It really does feel good, and I feel good. I do have more energy and my outlook/perspective/mood is great.

Which is a really good thing, because come October, I'm going to be a grandmother, again! Marc and Amanda are expecting their second child this Fall, and I'll need all the Miss Jan energy I can muster! I'm so excited! Elaina has been such a huge part of my life, and now to think that all that joy will be relived. Life doesn't get any better. Really.

Elaina is such a big girl now. She turned four the end of January. She is beautiful. I'm still "Miss Jan," although she tells me that she's fully aware that I'm her grandmother, she simply chooses to call me Miss Jan.

I've signed up for another Tracey Clark class. This one is a year long and is called Picture Inspiration. I think I've developed a bit of addiction for these classes. During the time that there wasn't a "Picture" class being offered, four of us--Claudia, Jolanda, Dotti, and I--started our own version on Flickr called Prompt Addicts. We have 64 members and the four of us are alternating posting weekly photo prompts. It's been a way to meet some creative women from all over the world--Jolanda's from the Netherlands. I've made some wonderful friends. I LOVE the Internet and I LOVE my computer.

I've signed up for Darrah Parker's class, "A Slice of Life." It's a photography class that's not focused on the technical aspects of photography, but more on developing an eye for photography opportunities in everyday life. It starts in April. Kat Sloma's class was wonderful and I hope to repeat it in July. She is such a phenomenal instructor, and I notice that right now, she's participating in Picture Inspiration.

Closer to home, I hope to go to a photography/editing day at Amanda Padgett's home in South Carolina in April. I've taken several of Amanda's editing workshops and she's come to feel like a real friend. I've learned a lot from her and I take every opportunity to put in a good word for her great site www.everydayelementsonline.com. 

It's strange how life goes on when across the world in Japan, their country is reeling from the tragic earthquake and tsunami. We felt it in minor ways here in the States, but I believe that thousands will be dead in Japan. Now, a nuclear power plant has blown up, which in itself is such a nightmare. I can't begin to imagine how the people there must be suffering, but my thoughts and special prayers are with them. Who knows, I may have family there. My dad was stationed in Japan during the Korean War, and had a long relationship with a beautiful young woman named Miki before returning home and marrying my mother. He had a lovely handpainted portrait on silk of Miki that I remember seeing as a child. I have no idea what happened to the portrait and I'll never know if maybe Miki had a child or children by her young GI. I've always felt a special connection to Japan and I've always been the only one in my class who could sing the Japanese National Anthem in Japanese. My dad also introduced me to Zen Buddhism at an early age, which may have contributed to my not-necessarily-all-voluntary separation from the Belk Memorial Presbyterian Church Sunday School Class at age 11. Well, that's another story for another day. May we all be filled with loving kindness. May we be well.