Heidi

 (from l to r: Julie, Heidi, and me at Hallmark's graduation -- June 2011)

Yesterday I got a very sad phone call....I found out one of my roommates from photography school passed away.  Without going into it all, the details of her passing bring much sadness. I remember the very first email I got from Heidi and the very first time we talked on the phone. She was very simple, and didn't require much.

When I first arrived at school in August 2010, Heidi was away for a few days, then when she got back, I had left for a weekend trip. So by the time we met each other, it was only a few days before school was to begin. While she was gone, my other roommate - Julie - and I had gone through the (then gross) kitchen and did major cleaning. We noticed some pots and pans that weren't ours and decided to throw them out. While I was on my weekend trip, Heidi called to ask where her pots/pans were....here we had thrown them out with a few other things we thought were 'junk'. Great way to start off with a roommate you've not yet met. Fail.

I'd realize throughout the year that Heidi liked to live in peace. She was easy-going and often I'd come home to the smells of delicious food she was cooking, frequently using garlic and doing up veggies. She wasn't very good on the computer - well, with technology in general - so I helped out a lot with teaching her simple things. She liked to be in nature and while her photography was very different than mine (style-wise), I came to appreciate her unique approach to life and photography. And although we saw much of life through different lenses (both literal and figurative), I grew to love Heidi and celebrated the differences between us.

We have kept up since graduation. I tracked her move to Oregon a number of months ago, and watched her new photography take on a fresh liveliness. It's difficult to process (as is with any death) that we won't ever speak again, but I'm thankful for the time we had to share as roommates. I marvel in the people that are brought into my life - if even for a short season - and I'm grateful to have met Heidi.

This morning a friend sent a video to me - to lighten my mood. I ended up liking the video so much, I clicked to see if the creator had other videos. Sure enough, there are many. And randomly I clicked on another video entitled Gratitude, done by the incredibly gifted Louie Schwartzberg. I thought it would be soothing music with awesome video footage. But around minute 1:05, narration begins...Brother David Steindl-Rast (complete with an accent) begins to talk about this day - today - that we are given. And I found it so powerful that I wrote out the text of what he narrates.

Here is what he says:

You think this is just another day in your life?

It’s not just another day.

It’s the one day that is given to you – today.

It’s given to you; it’s a gift.

It’s the only gift that you have right now.

And the only appropriate response is gratefulness.

If you do nothing else but to cultivate that response through the great gift this unique day is;

If you learn to respond as if it were the first day in your life, and the very last day,

then you will have spent this day very well.

Begin by opening your eyes, and be surprised that you have eyes you can open.

The incredible array of colors that is constantly offered to us – for pure enjoyment.

Look at the sky; we so rarely look at the sky.

We so rarely note how different it is from moment to moment…with the clouds coming and going.

We just think of the weather; even with the weather, we don’t think of all the many nuances of weather.
We just think of good weather and bad weather.

This day right now…its unique weather may be a kind that will never – exactly in that form – come again.

The formation of clouds in the sky will never be the same as it is right now.

Open your eyes; look at that.

Look at the faces of the people we meet.

Each one has an incredible story behind their face – a story you couldn't fully fathom.

Not only their own story, but the story of their ancestors; they all go back so far.

And in this present moment, on this day, all the people you meet, all that life of generations and from so many places all over the world….

Flows together and meets you here, like a life-giving water, if you only open your heart and drink.

Open your heart to the incredible gifts that civilization gives to us – we flip a switch and there is electric light.

You turn a faucet and there is warm water and cold water…and drinkable water.

It’s a gift that millions and millions in the world will never experience.

So these are just a few of an enormous number of gifts, to which we can open our hearts.

So I wish that you would open your heart to all these blessings, and let them flow through you.

That everyone you will meet on this this day, will be blessed by you – just by your eyes, by your smile, by your touch, just by your presence.

Let the gratefulness overflow into blessing all around you.

Then it will really be a good day.

(Brother David Steindl-Rast)

So while I am extremely grateful for today - THIS day - I am also grateful for the many 'todays' that I got with Heidi....and I will continue to pray for her family in this incredibly difficult time.

Spring is on its way....

The other night I went to have dinner with M L. We had a fantastic menu, including vegetable soup, sweet potatoes with bread crumbs, homemade bread sticks, a salad with avocados, and a quiche. Then to top it all off, she made an apple crisp with blueberries. We also sipped on chai tea. It was soooo yummy!

But before I left, M L made me leave with beautiful daffodils. I looove daffodils, almost as much as I love sunflowers. In high school I had to research a Romantic poet. I chose William Wordsworth. He has a poem entitled "Daffodils", sometimes referred to as "I Wandered Lonely on a Cloud".

Here's the poem:

I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed--and gazed--but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

My heart is definitely filled with pleasure.....

Some of the stems hadn't yet bloomed, but over the course of the last few days, they all opened up and looked so beautiful.



Thanks for the flowers, M L! My roomies and I enjoyed them on our kitchen table for the last few days!

It makes me excited to think spring is really a-comin'!

Winter Storm - January 2011

Here is my cinquain to the snow:

Snow
Fluffy, Delicate
Falling from sky
Shows me God’s handiwork
Captivating

And here are some of the visuals:

Everything but the kitchen sink....

Amidst all the busyness at school, it's been nice to relax at night and know that my assignments are getting done and that I don't need to worry as much about what I have due.

The other night I invited some friends over for dinner. The menu consisted of salad, garlic bread, pesto tortellini, and for dessert, this scrumptious chocolate dessert recipe that a friend gave me. Then to top it off, one of the friends who was there asked about my chocolate chip cookies, so I made a fresh batch and we watched some videos on YouTube while we laughed at the funny things people do.

When all was said and done, I had a sink full of dishes. This may come as no surprise, but I love doing dishes. This is the end product of spreading some suds and getting my gloves on :)

Oh, how I love cleanliness....

Ugliness

So in a previous post, I mentioned how excited I was that we were getting a NEW (to us) couch. The one that had been left in our apt. was gross.

And I told you I would take a picture of it out by our curb; I finally got around to doing that yesterday. Notice the beautiful leaves that are accumulating as it sits on our curb....



Gross, huh?

through my lens....

The view from my apartment balcony (I am on the 7th floor).
CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO SEE IT A BIT LARGER!

(it had just POURED before I took this picture....feels kinda Gotham City-like)








This is the Park-n-Shop, where I go to get basic groceries. It's right near campus, and a quick walk away. It wasn't here last year, the students said. They were finalizing building of apartment buildings next to the school (government housing, kinda like our low-income housing), and put up the Park-n-Shop once it was complete.



This is A-1 Bakery, on the other side of the MTR. It has the most delicious pastry items. I've had a chocolate croissant and cranberry & choc. bread. Yum.



This is just an idea of how tall the buildings are. Almost all the buildings are high-rise ones like this....I would imagine 50+ floors. The funniest part is that people hang their laundry outside the windows on these poles...I asked Colleen what happens if a shirt gets blown off its hanger. She said many times, people will knock on people's doors at ground level and ask to claim their fallen laundry.



This is the public bus. My route is 67A. I will get it right outside the school, near the Park-n-Shop and the last stop is the "big" mall (Sha Tin Plaza, or Newtown Plaza). This is where there are many American stores - Clinique, IKEA, Nike, Body Shop, Starbucks, Haagen Daaz, and the British drugstores.

My Apartment

Here are some pictures of the apt. where I'm staying. Nice, huh?

Living Room:





Kitchen:



Bedroom (the bed is like laying on a piece of wood):




Bathroom:



AND.......as of 2pm today, I HAVE HOT WATER!!!! Woohoo!