Lovely :-)

It is spring at last in NJ, too! Awash in forsythia yellow, floating pink blossoms and languid twilights. So, we cleaned our garage yesterday with those extra sunny hours. ;-)

Wanted to also tell you that at last I registered at mixedmedia.us. Very nice site - I look forward to being a part of it. I am planning a kids+art+charity blog - in the works and will keep you posted!

michele, thanks for sharing - how lovely to have that golden spray across the land - such a contrast when the new grass is up! cool that you are at mixed media - can't wait to see your first post :)

Thanks for the poetic post and the call to the beauty and transformation of Spring Lars. It feels delightful here in Illinois to be out playing at the parks again! Nature treasure hunt, anyone?

Jean wrote:

Nature treasure hunt, anyone?

What a wonderful idea - how about something like a "patterns in nature" or "textures" or "contrasts" or whatever treasure hunt discussion - photos only?

What I do with my kids is make a list ahead of time: something hard and grey, something that makes a loud sound, something that is soft and small. Then we either collect those things in a small bag (leaves, rocks, feathers etc) or we take a photo of the thing. Then at the end of the hunt we have a list of what each of us have found. Then I compile an image of the day. Some days we just collect a bag of things. The photo below is a collection of things we saw but didn't put in a bag.

EDIT: What you may not be able to see in this small of a picture is the rabbit, deer prints, yellow spider, and who knows what else!!!

That's really a cool project, Jean! And I LOVE the final "collage" image.

Charlotte is getting a kiddie digital camera for her birthday...we'll have to do a nature hunt!

I really like the idea of yours Lars to do one here. I am game for textures in nature. Photos only?

neat jean! its a great way to discover the environment. i've had students discover their neighborhoods, bodies, and summer camp using photography... it is such a powerful medium for discovery.

anyway, i was thinking perhaps of kind of a "visual dialogue..."?

Start here or somewhere else? I would love to have a visual conversation with you Lars...and with others too!

hm, would you be willing to start the conversation - maybe in artisan collaborations or your own 'news' since it was your idea?

cheers!

It was my idea? How was it my idea? I just mentioned treasure hunting and what we do. You went from there to the visual conversation piece. You take credit. :-)

Okay here is the visual conversation thread.

I'm feeling the spring now too Lars.

The grass is just turning a brilliant green, the trees have visible buds, the spring winds are settling down, the mud is drying up. People are walking slower, Church street in Burlington is buzzing with patrons eating at restaurants with outdoor seating. The docks were just deployed around the Burlington Boathouse on Lake Champlain, and all around there's an energy of gearing up for the opportunities of summer.

Where in Vermont am I? I'm here That's Lake Champlain on the left, and Burlington is on the lake in the upper left corner.

yeah, that church street buzz - nice :) say, do your children enjoy shelburne farms? we love love love flying kites just beneath the B&B if you know where I mean: its a little bay almost with a rock wall and rocky beach...

Here is Cabot - the body of water you see to the southwest just a bit is the Marshfield reservoir.

Lars Hasselblad Torres said:

yeah, that church street buzz - nice :)

I worked all day on Church street today. I started off at Uncommon Grounds (fantastic coffee, music & wireless), worked for another hour on a park bench outside, then at a table in front of Speeder & Earls (most caffeinated coffee award there) and rounded out the work day on the top floor of Brugger's Bagel Bakery.

say, do your children enjoy shelburne farms? we love love love flying kites just beneath the B&B if you know where I mean: its a little bay almost with a rock wall and rocky beach...

Aidan has been there twice, and enjoyed it completely. I'm familiar with the B&B, but can't remember a rocky beach big enough for kites. Is the beach just north of the B&B, along the long winding driveway?

Here is Cabot - the body of water you see to the southwest just a bit is the Marshfield reservoir.

I've only been beyond Marshfield a couple of times ever. I did some audio recording for a Bluegrass band in Marshfield a few years ago... I should have kept going a few more miles.

have you been on the back deck of the echo center? lovely spot to hang your hat for a while - though might be better with a book than wireless - didn't have any the last time i was there.

the beach is just south, heading toward what i think is a carriage house...? we should meet up for a kite day with kids - izzy loves it there!

sounds like you are into a lot of neat things! just heard the wonderful cape breton fiddler jerry holland at our village library the other night - lovely!

Lars Hasselblad Torres said:

have you been on the back deck of the echo center? lovely spot to hang your hat for a while - though might be better with a book than wireless - didn't have any the last time i was there.

I've spent many hours on both the upper and lower back decks at Echo. Once, I even had a cute girl ask me if she could take my picture, while I puzzled over code-- sitting in a green plastic Adirondack chair. The wireless is all over the waterfront, it's a paid service by soundtivity. It's not reliable enough to be worth the $250.00 / year, but when it's working it's worth the hourly rate.

the beach is just south, heading toward what i think is a carriage house...? we should meet up for a kite day with kids - izzy loves it there!

We'll have to do that! Speaking of kites... Allison is trying different kite-building techniques these days. Middlebury college is going to decorate the center for the arts with hundreds of kites next year (some worth $6,000.00!) and when she hosts 'kids day,' she's going to have huge rolls of Tyvek, dowels, markers and kite string for the kids to use to create their own flying works of art. Allison and I looked at each other and said, "Peace Kites!" I'm sure she'll ask you for ideas on how to go beyond just using markers.

sounds like you are into a lot of neat things! just heard the wonderful cape breton fiddler jerry holland at our village library the other night - lovely!

Thanks for that! I have fond memories of sailing on Lake Bras Dors when Allison and I vacationed there about six years ago. Great music... the music scene on the waterfront in Halifax was especially lively and fun.