Pete's Plunge

On a very sunny but very cold day in January of this year, my husband Jim, along with over 500 local people, took the plunge into the ocean in Gloucester. I watched from the sidelines. I don't think a day like that one has impacted me quite as much for a very long time.  I was torn between great joy and tremendous sadness. Two colliding, deep emotions. Great joy to see so many people, of all ages, pull together for one absolutely fantastic family and then great sadness for the reason we were all here in the freezing cold. ALS,commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease, has hit that fantastic family very hard. Does the name Pete Frates mean anything to you. Well it should...Think Ice Bucket Challenge. What I think now, after that day in January, is that I have never meet a young man with a brighter smile, a more giving heart and a passion for helping to end a devastating and debilitating disease.  He has done it all with grace, knowing that for himself the cure might not be found but going forward, through the efforts he puts out, and with the help of his amazing family, he will save countless others from the pain and suffering an entire family endures when one of their own is diagnosed with ALS.  That day we not only were part of the plunge, we also helped Pete celebrate his 30th birthday.

Some came dressed in crazy costumes and yes, they plunged in them...

And some came dressed barely at all...the atmosphere at the beach was lively and so much anticipation was in the air as they waited to line up for the run. It warmed my heart to see the people cheering each other on, and emptying out there pockets for this great cause...families supporting families...to help a family that so needed support of all kinds..and everyone that was there was happy to be doing what they were doing for the Frates...and when Pete arrived it was game on..

There were off and running and I'm sure that the water was warmer than the air...I had a lump the size of a bolder in my throat watching them go in that water and knowing why they were doing it.  I sank in the mud as I moved around and through people to try and capture a moment in time that is like a small miracle...It is hard to get a sharp focused photo when your eyes are trying to hold back tears..but like those runners who gave of themselves...the only thing I could do was keep hitting the shutter button..

I had heard of Pete Frates many times but I must say I did not really understand his plight, the plight of his family and friends until that day..until I stood in the sand and had the wind whipping at my back...not until I saw a young man and his wife cross over a little wooden bridge..him in a big powered wheelchair, her right beside him, both with smiles...and as I watched all of this...my heart swelled both with the joy of it and with the sadness and with the full knowledge, finally, of what it took to get Pete there and to know it was exactly where he wanted to be..

The plunge didn't last very long...amongst the hooting and shooting and running...the beach emptied out quickly...but they got the job done. As a thank you to all who participated we were invited to an after plunge lunch and birthday party for Pete. That is where the magic really happened for me.

 

Meet Pete and his wife Julie...they are a team, actually they are THE TEAM.  Young, in love and carrying on this cause together..I can't even begin to understand the challenges that they go through each day but I can feel that they are connected on a very deep level and both are very committed to the project of stamping out ALS.

Now enter my wonderful and loving friends, Pattie and Scott Burnham...It would be so difficult for me to tell you just how wonderful and devoted both of them are to helping others in this short space but they also dedicate their lives to helping anyone in need...I work with Pattie at church and well, Scott humors us and comes along sometimes...and it's always good to be in their company. For the purposes here though, I would publicly like to thank them, especially Pattie, when three years ago..on another very cold day in Janurary, she said to Scott, how would like to go for a swim in Good Harbor  beach to help out Pete and Julie...and the rest my friends, as they say, is history.  Three years later...they had over a 500 people join them in the swim...they organize and recruit and although we have always supported the Burnhams financially in this endeavor, we now would support them in any way we can...because we now know and understand the importance of this quest that Pete and his family are working so hard for.  To see them and experience first hand the warmth and love that was there on that very cold January day, to feel it deep in your heart and soul you now have to be part of it...You can't walk away and say..it's not my problem because it's all of our problems...And that day, we met another very young man and his wife and two small children...he to, was just recently diagnosed with ALS...and he went to Pete and touched his hand and a look passed between them and a few tears...and I knew that this was worth fighting for...

So next year, Jim will leave the Burnham team and start his own team...my family and friends will be there to Plunge and i'll be there in whatever capacity Pattie finds for me. I'm in for as long as I'm needed...It was a day that changed us, Jim and I.  It was a day that my daughter and Liam hopefully found a deeper meaning in life and it was a day of coming together in both beauty and and light...We are now part of the Frate Train..and it feels so right.

Just recently Pete was awarded the honor of Communicator of the Year 2015. A video is also included about his time under the ice bucket...just and amazing man.. 

Click on the link below to view the video.

Pete Frates named Communicator 2014

Friday's Finds

I love Friday's.  I have for so many years. It's my favorite day of the week.  If you remember, a few weeks back, I told you the story of spending Friday's with my Mom, Tops and then shopping.  On some of those trips my long standing girlfriend of over 50 years would come with us.  Now, it just her and I and we continue the Friday morning adventures. They really are adventures because most Friday's we don't have a plan and so we never know where we are going to end up.  It's always breakfast and then most times a thrift store or consignment shop.  Today it was TJ Maxx but that's for another day.

Last Friday, during breakfast, we decided to try a different thrift shop.  It was only a town away from where we were.  Upon entering, I was a bit put off.  I love consignment shops but I haven't really been to a thrift store in a long time.  Messy, chaotic, and old. Both the items and the people.  Since I'm always looking for a great bargain I figured what the hell, let's give it go.  I was really looking for some pewter for my photography props.  I've seen some nice things in some of my Be Still class photo's, so imagine my delight, when almost immediately, I found a vase and a candlestick, both lovely and old and a bit wabi sabi.  Maybe this was going to be o.k.  I wandered a bit more and then.......I FOUND IT.  The French painting.  I stopped in my tracks, took a good look at it and what struck me right away was the girl...I love French woman.  They dress as they please and have an air about them of being comfortable in their own skin.  They dress up, a lot.  Paris, flea markets, I love them both, and I swooned when I saw the black and cream, and my love of polka dots just threw me over the edge.  Aw, but where would I put it.  The cost, even here, it must be expensive.

Enter Dina, my friend.  She comes up to me and softly says, "that would look so good in your living room". Really I say.  Her response "of course, your living room already has a French feel to it".  Well I didn't know that.  But where would I put it I asked, "anywhere you want she says"...Now the wheels are clicking..and I'm still looking.  I bit the bullet and turned the painting around, it was sitting on the floor. I cautiously lifted the ticket, now afraid after falling in love with it and getting validation that I should have it, I was afraid it was going to be out of my range.   Well, pick me up off the floor will you, my knees are bad.  The price tag said, drum roll please, $20.00.  Dina and I looked at each other and I said, take it to the car. And so, I brought it home...and I'll show you what I did.

When I got it home, I gently vacuumed it to get the dust off and damp wiped it ever so carefully. One look and I knew right where it would go.  In one of my reading corners...Hung it.  Now I'm off, what can I add.  I had a little shelf on the opposite wall and started walking around the house when I remember a tea cup and saucer that I bought a month ago at Home Goods...be still my heart.  The tea set is black and white.It has the same lines as is in the painting and the saucer is black polka dots.. are you kidding me.  Big smile.  Then I ran up to my office to find the print of Van Gogh that I took while in France in May.  Found the perfect black and gold frame, on the shelf it went.  A can of tea, from Paris, that my sister-in -law gave me for my birthday. Wonderful.  A Van Gogh can from my trip to Belgium and finally an olive oil bottle that I found years ago at another thrift store, from Provence.  I was amazed and so delighted.

I had a doll in my rocking chair that sits under this painting.  I almost gave her away a few weeks ago but I am so glad I didn't...Madeline, the doll full of adventures at the Eiffel Tower now sits there, leaning against a pill from my guest bedroom...that is says La Belle Vie, "a beautiful life", and on most days, like this one, that is what I have...a beautiful life.

So this is what my little reading corner looks like now..I just love it.  The painting brightened up that corner and now when I sit and have tea, I turn the fire on, gather my book and red comfy polar fleece fuzzy, and I can sometimes take myself back to one of my favorite places. Paris. When I come down the stairs from the second floor, I just love seeing this when I turn the corner.  Such a small change, for such a great price, wabi sabi for sure but with lots of character and charm. It just brings a smile to my face each time I see it.  I hope that, in the event I'm wrong about heaven, and we really do come back in another life, I would love to come back like the woman in that photo..ah to be a bit sassy...and enjoy it.  au revoir.

Finally...Flower Friday

Bougainvillea taken with Fuji E-X2

Back home, snow still under my feet...now it blends with puddles and mud...typical of New England..but the sun is shinning today and we turned the clocks forward so that gives me hope that spring is right around the corner.  Flowers, they also announce the arrival of spring..in all their beauty, but I have not seen so much as a pussy willow or forsythia.  That's o.k. though because I brought lots of flowers back from St. Maarten to cheer me up. Most tropical islands are fragrant in color and design with many different varieties of flowers and St. Maarten is no exception...so for today's Friday Finds...I share with you, the blossoms of the Island. 

I don't know the name of this lovely but was taken with Canon 7D Mark 11

Taken with Canon 7D Mark 11..no idea what it is..but pretty, right.

Taken with the Fuji E-X2  Blue flower LOL

Different color Bougainvillaea Fuji E-X2 

Hibiscus Fuji E-X2 

Purple Water Lily...Canon 7D Mark 11

So there you have it..my Friday Flowers...I like the both camera's captured their beauty...I love how they make me feel to view them...and they do give me hope that soon, a very tall stem will break through the 2 feet of snow that continues to sleep on my lawn...and until the snow melts, I bring you spring from St. Maarten each Friday until we are all warm...enjoy your weekend.

A Breath of Fresh Air

Advice From a Tree

Stand Tall & Proud...Remember your Roots!

Reflect the Light of Your True Nature

Drink plenty of Water

Enjoy the View!

Week 39 of Be Still.. A breath of Fresh air...I set it all up...props, table, side lighting and I just didn't get it. It doesn't always work for me...sometimes it's still a struggle...so for today...I walked away.  Instead I went to what I love the most..the great outdoors and I found my Be Still moment with this tree...tomorrow, I'll try setting up a scene again but for today...I'm o.k. with my tree..

Edited in LR..KK preset Slight Light..into Photoshop for text...do what feels right...It's all good.

A New Toy

No, I didn't buy myself a new plane while on vacation but I did have lots of fun shooting them...and for the first time ever, since my Kodak Brownie, I bought myself a new camera that is not a Canon...Don't get me wrong, I love my Canon's but I'm really starting to fall in love with my new Fuji XE-2 mirrorless camera. It seemed to me that St. Maarten was the perfect place to take it for a test drive...so off we flew together, with the manual tucked away, ready for studying.

Upon arriving it took me several days to figure it all out to my liking. There was definitely a learning curve, so I knew I would have to use it a lot to remember where all the buttons were so I could find them quickly when I needed them. I was off and running to see what I could capture, with one small camera and one lens. Not so much writing this time, I just want to share some of the photo's from this camera and the 18-55 lens that came with me. The photo above was captured during take-off, out over the ocean, late afternoon.

 A little macro work....because I love flowers.

 A shot of the Lagoon from my favorite French Cafe..early morning.

Jenna and Jaxson walking my favorite beach...Grand Case..Midday

Lovely light and color on the beach at Philipsburg..almost dusk.

People in the beautiful late afternoon light..psst that Jim checking things out.

Black and white mailboxes...just because I liked them...they tell their own story.

Ah, my favorite new restaurant... how about some nice dof..indoor, night, no flash..

Jaxson said "hug" to Liam..and they did...indoors, no flash.

Philipsburg...sun is setting.  Another perfect day.

All photo's were edited in LR...no presets or textures. Actually the light is so good in the Caribbean that very little editing is needed...I was really quite pleased with the camera in that the photo's were consistently sharp and the color in this camera is amazing. The little 18-55 did a great job for me...in the future, if I decide to keep working with it, I would probably add a portrait lens.  I choose Aperture priority for my shooting mode this first time out...as I move forward I hope to become more familiar with manual mode but for right now I'm loving this little lightweight buddy...

Linking up to Kim Klassen's Friday Finds...