Adventure Awaits!

Photo credit: Jay, my son

Title: A long day

Tonight sleep evades me. It is not insomnia but the excitement of adventure that keeps me awake. By tomorrow at this time, if Daedalus is with me, (before that whole Icarus fiasco) then I will land on time and in tact in Los Angeles. 

I'll be going on a scientific expedition for a week at Santa Catalina Island. I'll be with real scientists, about two dozen students, and teachers from across the nation, collecting data and doing what real scientifically-minded folks do. 


It is always amazing to me to be honored with such experiences as I continue to realize how life is such a great adventure, and a scientific experiment on ourselves, really. I imbibe every moment and continue to realize how incredibly lucky I am. 

A few months ago, I was selected by JASONLearning to represent my school district, Austin ISD, as the sole teacher to attend this fellowships as an Argonaut.

To be quite honest, I bawled like a baby when I got the call to attend. I wanted this opportunity so badly, I could taste it.  Here it was in true form and here it will be in true form. It is the amalgamation of learning, teaching, growth, scientific study, and social interaction. All are experiences I love.

In the past four months, I have climbed the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, eaten goat with Maasai tribes, and was dubbed an honorary member on my quest to help Water To Thrive bring clean water to Africa. I spent a week at the Monterey Bay Aquarium doing science teacher research and kayaking among otters, driven my truck to Kansas City to visit family and took my dog to Santa Fe and Colorado to do research for a book at the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum. 

I don't write this stuff to brag, though you make think thus. I share this because I have hope that folks realize the opportunities we have in life. Don't sell yourself short. Understand your true potential in whatever vocation, life, you are in. 

We all have the ability to be and do in small and big ways. These opportunities, this gusto, was not my life a short time ago. However, it is now.

Potential. 
We all have it. 
Do. 
Don't just say.
Be Kinetic.

Adventure awaits for all of us. You just have to seize it. 

Carpe Vitae!

(Enriching music: Good Morning, Max Frost) 



 

Kreepy Cittens: A synopsis of synapses

Kreepy Cittens, photo art by Clara G. Herrera

This word kept creeping in my head today: synapses. Repeatedly, it was there: synapses, synapses, synapses.

That happens to me sometimes. After decades of words invading my mind, I have just learned to accept it.  A dictionary defines synapses as "A junction between two nerve cells, consisting of a minute gap across which impulses pass by diffusion of a neurotransmitter."

Oh Lord, if you wonder what that is, finding out is like neuroscience because it is. It's to do with how the brain transfers information, I think. Since I ain't no brain studying-er I am incapable of fully defining its meaning  simply for you. 

Yet, that word remains in my head today, and it is important. My brain is thinking about the brain.

Synapses

As a kid, I'd sometimes latch onto a word without knowing its meaning. I'd be fast asleep at night. A word would invade my head that I didn't know and wake me. I couldn't sleep because of the incessant word plaguing my mind. I would throw off the covers, and even say out loud, "OK already!" There were many phrases that blanketed  that one word.  It was like a quilt surrounding that one word.  I'd plop down prose and poems on my dad's 1950s Smith-Corona typewriter, too tired to look up these new expressions.

When I was more awake, I'd use a dictionary to look them up. They almost always fit grammatically and in their definition. I didn't think anything of it. That is just how my brain worked and I had no comparison. I still don't. But, I know my life has never been without writing since the 2nd grade when I realized what true writing was.

 If you haven't figured it out already, I was that kid who read the encyclopedia for fun. Now, I'm the adult who goes down the rabbit hole of Wikipedia for amusement.

There was no art or mathematics then, just words, phrases, poems and silly stories of a youth who had no life experiences growing up in Tye, Texas.

Now there is art, writing, science, equations, and a synapses of brain connections that cull them all together with life experiences that can not be quelled.

 Synapses.

The brain is a pretty amazing place to be. It is a shock and awe akin to fireworks going off in our heads at all times.

Synapses, an interesting word. 

(Enriching music: Delilah, Queen; Mathematical Mind, Spoon)

The Mountain in My Mind

Title: If we think it's real, is it?
Medium: Canvas, dirt, crushed egg shells, sand, glitter glue, tempera paint, acrylic paint, glue
By: Clara G. Herrera
Enriching music: Africa, Weezer version
Behind this piece: I have never climbed a tall mountain before, and I frankly wondered if I could do it. I decided to do this climb only two months prior. All the other folks had decided long before and had been training for it. So, while processing all of that, I created this piece about what I imagined the mountain would look like at night. We started our ascent to the summit at midnight. At the top were glaciers and snow, so this wasn't very far off.

I Took My Son's Dresses to Africa

Photo by Clara G. Herrera

This is one of my son's dresses that I gave to a child in a rural village. Every time I gave out a dress in a village, the women would put it on the child immediately. 

Photo by Clara G. Herrera

This is one of the last dresses I gave away at our hotel. It is a Sleeping Beauty play dress. I took this picture here that I call, "Sleeping Beauty Awakens" in honor of my son, in a poinsettia tree. In Texas, we get poinsettias in small containers for Christmas. I never knew they could grow into big trees like this. It was amazing. 

Mountain Me

This is me about the 5th day into the climb, of a 7-day climb. I'll be honest, I wasn't smelling that great. Showers = wet wipes. I did manage to wash my hair in a bowl once. We hiked about 7-10 hours a day, depending on the pace, and stops. The mountain seemed so far, just like goals in life, but with every step we got closer until we reached the top. Nine started out, four of us - three women and one man - reached the summit. 

What I took to Africa 2

Title: Family Ascending
Medium: Photography
By: Clara G. Herrera
Meaning: I asked my three wonderful children what they would like me to take up the mountain. My oldest wanted this bear that my brother gave to her when she was a toddler. My middle son wanted the baseball from his district championship. The youngest requested an awesome sculpture that he had created with sunflowers. I carried all in my backpack the whole time so I could take my children with me. I also took this photo of my three babies with me. The Wookiee, well, that's a family joke between me and my kids.
Enriching music: Carrying Your Love With Me, George Strait (OK, so I'd change a few lyrics to fit Africa and children in there, but the sentiment is true.)

Mountains come in all forms

People often ask me, "What was it like to climb that mountain?" It is hard for me to articulate. It was a physical and mental awakening on so many levels. My children and I are on a path to accomplish and achieve more than I think any of us ever thought possible.

Feel free to share the link to my recent opinion article about taking my son's dresses to Africa. Live joyfully, Clara 

www.mystatesman.com/news/opinion/commentary-why-gave-out-kid-dresses-journey-kilimanjaro/fGyXQKaiwFO6JCOf8ifEMJ/