Random letters on Friday . . .

Dear life . . . can you slow down please, or at least spread the excitement.

I can't handle so much at one time, thanks!

{Photo Art Friday - dreamy}

Dear Mother Nature... can we talk? I think you should do something about all the critters who are eating my (your) Monarch caterpillars. Apparently the toxin isn't strong enough to keep away the lizards, the wasps and those nasty assasin bugs. Could you send a memo or something and tell them to leave them alone. There ARE plenty of other bugs they could eat. Thank you, sincerely Mother Nature's helper! xo

Dear sweet boy . . . I'm so sorry you continue to have one issue after another. No one should have to frequent a hospital as much as you have lately. But I was so very happy to hear that cardiology has given you a clean bill of health and their blessing to go back to strength and conditioning for football. Now, all we have to do is wait for hematology to do the same. I know you have a fire in your belly to get back to what you love, and I want nothing more than for you to do what you love to do, but I'm not going to lie it makes me a little nervous.

Dear sweet girl. . . . your dad and I are so proud of you, and watching you walk across the stage with your medal in honor of being a distinguished graduate made us even more proud, if that is possible. See, hard work really does pay off. I'm so thankful and blessed to have been given the privilege to be your mom. Okay, gotta stop now before I cry...again! xo

Dear San Antonio  . . . . I love you, your culture, rich history, and yes your food. No matter how many times I visit your Missions, I am always in awe. There is something so spiritual about standing where so many have stood through history, in the same structures on the same exact floors. Now that my daughter will be going to college here, I know we are going to become even more acquainted. As a history major and future teacher of the children of America, this couldn't be a better place for her.

Dear google maps phone app . . . you stink! You know I'm not very good at getting places and I really needed you and you let me down!

Dear kind soul at the Shell gas station . . . thank you so much for your wonderful directions to the San Jose Mission when I was completely lost! You are better than a phone app!!

Dear bloggy friends . . .  I know I haven't been around for several weeks, or visited you lately. Last Tuesday was our really long day at Texas Children's for my sweet boy. Wednesday, right before I was to watch my daughter receive her medal the doctor called with the results of the MRI on his legs we had the day before. It showed blood that was collecting in the compartments of his muscles in his calves and she sent us straight to the ER again. Thankfully she let us take him after the ceremony. He spent two days in the hospital and thankfully didn't need surgery to drain it. I picked them up on Friday afternoon and when we got home we were met by my in-laws who drove 1200 miles to watch our daughter graduate. Saturday morning we sat outside at our district stadium in the blazing Texas heat to watch almost 600 seniors graduate and then enjoyed a celebratory lunch in Galveston. 

Monday morning (of this week) my daughter and I drove to San Antonio, enjoyed the San Jose Mission, and a nice dinner. Tuesday we got up and I dropped her off at UTSA for her college orientation, I got lost, and then drove home (a 3 1/2 hour drive) but not before getting caught in a horrible storm. Wednesday my sweet boy made up the rest of his final exams that he missed on the last day of school, and yesterday I turned around and drove back to get the sweet girl. We stopped for lunch, to avoid another bad storm, picked up some yummy key lime pie donuts from Krispy Kreme (because we don't have any) and made our way back home. It was a nine hour driving day for me.

And here I am today, tired and exhausted and so discombobulated. Which is why I have decided to take a couple of weeks off to regroup and recharge and to relax. I need to get some things back in order that have fallen by the way side and I would really like to clean my jewelry studio so I can work in there again. AND I have a Monarch series that I keep promising that I need to finish (and several thousand photos to go through).

I will see you on the other side of a couple of weeks, okay?

(I'll still be posting on instagram at kimatpickingpoppies)

Until then...

Love, Kim XO

sharing with Little Things Thursday, Random Five Friday, Friday Photo Journal, Photo Art Friday,

Finding Serendipity {1440}

The seaweed is here {jumping for joy} . . .

"People protect what they love"

- Jacques Cousteau

Yes we do. We protect our families, our homes, our possessions.

We protect our freedom.

We do so with force and sometimes 'til death.

But in my humble opinion, we have failed epically to protect our environment and its precious resources.

Everything was put here on this Earth to fulfill a purpose.

Not just for our sustainability, but also for our pleasure.

So, without further delay, I'm here today to help you fall in love . . . with a frogfish! lol
Oh yeah, you're gonna wish you could hold one when this is over

Do you remember I finally found one last year in the sargassum seaweed? Well, in my only two visits to the beach so far this year (yes that comes as a shock to me too-the two part not the visit), I not only found one but I found 5!

I was so happy to get to the beach AND see the seaweed  . . .  I skipped straight into the water!!

And I'm not the only one that gets excited for this massive entrance of seaweed dinner.

The seagulls can almost always be found waiting for their fair share of seaweed critters to snatch up.

I was only going to go and stay for a few hours . . . 

. . . but me and my handy dandy blue net (you remember that one) were having way too much fun!

The waves AND the seaweed were crashing into the shore (and my legs). Always takes just a bit to desensitize my legs to that feeling of something crawling on me. But as you start to hit pay dirt, you just kinda forget about it.

The one I found last year was probably about twice this size, and they can reach up to 7.5".

Such a fascinating looking fish complete with weedy dermal appendages that help it to blend right in. Ever seen a fish with blue eyes? Me either. 

They depend on their camouflage for protection since this fish has no scales.

Now watch what happens when I put him in the water . . . 

Ta da, just look at all those crazy appendages, isn't it cute! Do you see the sargassum shrimp on the left?

Oh yeah, I caught a ton of millet too. These are used a lot as bait fish, when they get larger of course.

As I was photographing these through my temporary aquarium glass jar, I hear someone say excuse me.

I turn around and it's a white truck with the words, Texas Parks and Wildlife! Ruh roh, and then he asks me, "Whatcha got there"? Whew, he was really just interested in what I had in the container, and was a little surprised that I caught them in my little kids net. 

1. I could live at the beach (shocker)

2. I go to the beach to relax, but I never sit down...hardly ever (another shocker)

3. I love the seaweed . . . people think I'm crazy (I know, shocked again)

4. There is almost 100 species of marine life that lives in that seaweed (I heard ya say wow)

5. I'm on a mission to find them all (of course you're not surprised) 

Sargassum shrimp...check

Sargassum frogfish...check

sargassum crab...check

nudibranch...check

cute little fish I do not know the name of ...check  

The problem is, people look at the seaweed as a smelly glass that is half empty . . . 

But really it's half chocked full of really cool sea life!!

I can tell you nearly 9.5 times out of 10 after someone asks me why I'm shaking the seaweed

they had no idea all these things live in there and then they get really interested. In fact, most of the things that do live in it can be found no where else, exclusive to this seaweed.

From experience I have found that people warm up to things they may fear when they have some knowledge
and understanding . . . which may lead to interest and caring about it . . . which may lead to loving it.

And,

People protect what they love.

Have a wonderful weekend,
Love, Kim
XO

Sharing with Little Things Thursday, Friday Photo Journal, Finding Serendipity {1440}

Random 5 Friday

My thoughts from the CT room . . .

"True courage is not the absence of fear 

but the willingness to proceed in spite of it."

- Anonymous

It's Friday, May 24, and we have arrived at Texas Children's Hospital. It's 3 o'clock.

We didn't have to wait too long before they called our name and we are now waiting for the vascular access team to come in and find a large enough vein in his leg that can handle the pressure of the contrast, the dye that will allow them to see his coronary arteries and the arteries that lead to his kidneys. 

And here they are, complete with an ultrasound machine. It's pretty fascinating to watch them find the vein they want to use this way, and just like that they're finished and he has an IV in his calf. The tech says there is one person in front us and we are next. Yes!

There is not a clock in the room, but I'm pretty sure I hear one ticking . . . it's been almost an hour and a half and I'm getting really nervous because my daughter has her very last, ever, choir pop show at 7:00 - she is a senior. And of all the visits here, today is the day I don't bring anything to read?

It almost feels like someone just forgot us in here . . .I haven't seen anyone in a while, a long while. I have to go into the hallway and pace for a moment, and breathe, because this is stressful enough without having to tell my daughter we will most likely miss her show. I'm on the verge of tears . . .but as I'm standing there and walking back and forth I realize this hallway is right next to the ER. I can hear a young child crying and they are wheeling two children, one just an infant, on gurneys to the elevators . . . they are being admitted. I feel like Alice in Wonderland, and every where I turn the hallways seem to shrink. There is a sense of panic for all these sick children.

I go back into the room and thankfully someone comes in  . . . they are about to put an IV in a child behind the curtain next to us. She is young and she really doesn't want that IV and it breaks your heart to hear her plead to not have it. I ask the tech about how much longer and explain my sense of urgency.

Finally after an over two hour wait, it's our turn and we walk around the corner to the CT room. And my son lays on the table and they try to flush his IV and it goes into his vein and just stops. The IV has gone bad and we now have to go back to the other room and wait for the VAT team again. They assured us we would not lose our spot. They try the other leg and after a long attempt the tech just can't get the right angle and he has to try the foot. There is concern that this vein may not be large enough to handle the pressure from the contrast and there is a possibility it could rupture. 

We go back into the CT room just to be told that the doctor overseeing this test had to run to a meeting because it took so long to finally get the IV. BACK to the other room . . . we are never going to make my daughters show . . . it's now 6 p.m. But thankfully only a few minutes later they came back and said the doctor had returned.

They do a test flush of his IV and it is still intact. We want to stay in the room with him so one of the tech's brings us each a vest to put on and we stand against a row of cabinets. Another tech, a woman, stays with Sam and keeps her hand on his foot to feel the vein even though they are monitoring the pressure in the other room.

You can hear them firing up the machine, it sounds like an engine, and the doctor comes over to talk to us. He tells us this test will tell us a few things . . . if this is an asymptomatic anomaly, if there will be an exercise reduction or if he will need surgery. We knew based on a certain outcome that surgery might be an option, but his is the first time someone has actually said it to us out loud.  He is just 15!

The doctor returns to the room behind the glass and you can see serious discussion going on in there. I wish I read lips . . .they inject the contrast into his vein . . . his pulse shoots from 77 to 99 and as soon as she gives the thumbs up that the vein is okay, his pulse plummets. My husband grabs my hand and I see a tear out of the corner of his eye. I close my eyes and begin to pray . . . Lord, I wouldn't at all be opposed to a miracle here today, thank you . . . Amen.

The test only takes a few minutes . . . it's done. The doctor had told us before the test that he would bring us back to see the pictures. It was only about 20 feet from where we were standing, but it sure felt like it took a long time to get there. I feel so hesitant, like when you are watching a scary movie hiding your eyes behind your hands. He begins by showing us the left coronary artery . . . and then . . . there it is, his right coronary artery right where it is supposed to be! And his arteries to his kidneys . . . no stenosis (narrowing).

We walk out into the hallway, my son  goes to the bathroom, my husband and I  . . . weep in an embrace in the hallway. Such a huge weight has been lifted.

We even made it before the intermission was over to the second half of our daughter's pop show! 

Through all of this, my son has shown us what true courage is.

And P.S.- Today I'm over at Focusing on life (click here) - Have you ever waited for inspiration to hit only to be waiting? Something I realized in the last few months is that even though I haven't necessarily felt inspired, I picked up my camera anyway. . . turns out it's the action that inspires.Come join me as I share some thoughts on this.

Love, Kim

XO

sharing with Tuesday Muse, Tuesday Around the World, Just Write

A little texture on Tuesday . . .

{Kim Klassen music lovin'}

"To analyze the charms of flowers is like dissecting music;

it is one of those things which it is far better to enjoy,

rather than attempt to fully understand."

- Henry T Tuckerman

I suppose most things in life are better enjoyed rather than understood which is why

  I'm not even going to try to fully understand why my poppy plant is even still blooming, here in Texas, in almost 100 degree temps as of late. I never even got it planted in the ground, which is why it is even more amazing the thing is still alive. The first blooms I got on it were a really pretty peachy pink, but they have since turned to white blooms. It said it was a mix, but apparently it now has the hiccups.

Today was supposed to be the start of my Monarch series, I know, I keep teasing you, but I promise it's not on purpose. Honestly, I was chasing 42 caterpillars today, just keeping their poop cleaned up with that many is a full time job! I had to transfer them to new plants as they devoured the other ones, and then one kept wanting to climb all over the swallowtail chrysalis, I had to break up some fights (seriously then can get really fiesty with one another and have battle scars to show for it), and then there was the one that had green vomit, which is a very bad sign. 

Thankfully when I brought in a new plant for them I noticed something under one of the leaves. I removed it and looked closer and it was literally hundreds of some kind of caterpillar that is not a Monarch, which would be all over my dining room by now. I'm pretty sure by my google search that they're milkweed tussock moth caterpillars, I think?

I'll be late in getting around to everyone since today is another infusion day. Geez, the doctor called yesterday and said I had forgotten to make his infusion appointment for right after her appointment she didn't know if they would have his medicine. I felt horrible, but thankfully they called back and said they did have the medication on hand and that they could work us in, Yeah! I've been so horribly forgetful lately, in fact most of my freshly brewed coffee ended up all over my counter and under the refrigerator . . . I forgot to empty the pot of the old coffee before brewing a new batch and the other day I somehow took my home phone with me to Walgreen's in my pocket! haha

I hope you have a great day!

Love, Kim

XO

Sharing with Texture Tuesday, Tuesday Around the World, Tuesday Muse, Sweet Shot Tuesday