Raising Lucy

2011-10-13T17:04:00.000-07:00

Raising Lucy 2nd Edition Arrives

I am so happy with the new edition of Raising Lucy. It is everything that I wanted the first book to be. I always say, that life is a process and I've found that putting a book together is no different. When I would read to groups I would often think that something would be better if it was rewritten. So I kept all those notes about the changes in the text I wanted to make and also some of the artwork I wanted to tweak. Finally I got the opportunity. The whole process was worth it and Raising Lucy - The True Story of Raising an Orphaned Wild Goose is so much better.

Thank you to my sister, designer Joie Moring for helping me with the book, Laurie Blum-Guest from Mariposa Press, and everyone at C and C Printing. It is such a great book now and all the hard work is evident in the beautiful results.

Honk Honk,

Carol

Busy Busy Busy

2011-05-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

Canyon Elementary Artist Residency K - 5. Wow we worked hard to create these awesome journals and put our drawings in them In an 8 day residency the kids drew a duck, a fox, a fish, a goose, a falcon, owls, and a deer. I saw a lot of progress in some kids as a lot of students in Idaho don't get much art taught to them anymore. I love drawing pictures of animals and loved sharing what I know with the classes. There was a lot of talent there and hope these kids continue to draw. They can use their journals to document plants and animals they come across in their adventures.

Mom's Choice Award!

2011-03-31T10:14:00.000-07:00

I have had a wonderful week while staying busy preparing for an artist's residency starting April 18th. First I heard that Raising Lucy was a Silver Award Winner in the Children' Picture Book Animal Kingdom category. This is a big honor for us and happy for the recognition.

I just sent a big quantity of books to the children's catalog Chinaberry who ordered more books! You can also see a video trailer on that link of our story.

I write every day and sometimes I sit and reflect on how thankful I am for the new paths in my life. I am teaching creative writing with EWU's Get Lit! Author Tours and am an Artist in Residence with Idaho's Commission on the Arts. It's an amazing journey and I know that we are the ones that create our own opportunities through thought and action. When those opportunities arrive in our lives, it is up to us to take advantage of them. In spite of my fears, I study and prepare to be the best I can be. Every step of life is a learning process and I always am looking at how I can do something better.

I am delving into areas that weren't my area of training, and sometimes the voices in my head say - hey, you're a nurse, not a teacher. But my whole life has been preparation for this and I have already had some very successful classes. It is something I love doing and the success has been reflected in the critiques and enthusiasm I've received from these classes.

While writing yesterday - and feeling so thankful - the phone rang. I wasn't sure if I wanted to answer it as the call was from Oregon and said it was from Pendleton Sc. I couldn't figure out who or what, but answered it anyway thinking it was a wrong number. But it wasn't. It was from the art teacher at Sunridge Middle School who told me in such glowing terms how her 7th and 8th graders LOVED Lucy and they were doing a school art project on Lucy's life. They'd watched the short film many times and were drawing images of her to be displayed for 3 days at the convention center in Pendleton. I can tell you it hit my heart hard and I felt such a blessing from her call. Even though I am teaching a residency during that time, it is possible that one of us from the Raising Lucy team can attend. That call was perfectly timed and a big validation of the path I am on.

I think the universe (God) is always showing us the way and the signs are there for us if we just pay attention!

Back to School

2011-03-11T12:24:00.000-08:00

We had a great time - I'm the tan one in the middle of the group - on our Lucy creative writing project. These 5th graders showed what awesome writers they were and came up with their own inventive stories about potential problems Lucy and her friends encountered on her first year away from home. Honk Honk Honk!

Aloha from the islands

2011-03-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

Good morning from Kauai. We have savored every ounce of sun as friends report back home that we're getting below freezing temps and blizzard snows. How glorious this trip has been. At first we encountered a bit of rain and old friends we ran into here said they wouldn't come back to Kauai as they had rain every day of their trip. A day later our rain turned into sun and it has been beautiful ever since. Our timing was great.

I've had to work every day, but how awesome to be able to work from the lanai or the beach. I've had 4 school invitations since we've been here and working on topics for each Author's Day at each school. The fun part is that some of the schools are wanting me to teach writing and others are wanting me to teach art. Schools in Idaho have had art severely cut back and it is an honor to be able to come in and teach some basic skills and expand on that.

The artist residency I'm doing at Canyon Elementary will start with basic drawing skills and then we'll put together wildlife journals. We'll draw animals and plants and learn observational and documentation skills to keep our journals going.

I am so thankful for this opportunity and want to give children inspiration to find ways to express themselves.

Well back to work. Soon enough I'll be home in my boots and hat, but for now you'll find me on the beach in my suit slathered with sun screen working hard on class ideas. Aloha!

Winter Scene from my Window

2011-01-28T10:16:00.000-08:00

Staying Focused

2011-01-23T19:12:00.000-08:00

A belated Happy New Year. This crazy winter of ours has been an interesting mix of cold and snow followed by a melt, then cold and snow followed by a melt. It's happened at least three times. The lake is flooding in January which is unusual and we're all wondering how wild spring will be! The deer and birds are happy that just today the ground is uncovered again.

I've had a busy winter working on the first draft of my chapter book - Teaching a Goose to Fly ~ and other True Tales about Raising Lucy (or something like that). It was fun, but emotional to write as I get into my mother's and my relationship. I took care of my mom in the last 2 years of her life and at the same time raised a crazy goose to her successful return to the wild.

I too have learned to fly and it's all because of a goose really. Who knew several years ago that I would be telling Lucy's story in schools and elsewhere and would also be teaching art and writing. Nursing is great - I still work part-time with Hospice, but I am loving this new layer in my life - being around kids and teaching what I love.

I was first asked by the Get Lit! program through EWU to be one of their authors for the school Author Tours. Then I found out that I was selected to be an Artist in Residence with the Idaho Commission on the Arts. I've taught several classes now and am working on a residency with an elementary school to help them learn drawing skills then transfer that learning into wildlife journals we'll create. Art funding has been dramatically cut and these students aren't able to even learn the basics. More classes are in the works for the school year and the summer.

I am thankful every day for what has happened in my life and what is being planned. It seems almost every day this new year of 2011 I have received some type of good news about the path I am on. Sometimes it is hard to remain patient as you put one foot in front of the other, but keeping the vision in sight, things start to happen showing you that maybe you really are on the right path!

Summer showed up!

2010-06-24T22:56:00.000-07:00

Flags of summer wave a fresh hello.

And that is - finally!

Pine needles' warm scent swirls through the forest and I'm back to my childhood days at Rocky Point on Chatcolet Lake.

Crossbill fledglings leap frogging each other down the railing vying for the next treat from mom's beak. She backs away each time trying to get some peace and quiet.

The fawn I saw tenderly prance across the neighbors beach by itself bolts for safety after spotting Lily and me. I get in the car later to make sure there isn't a doe somewhere on the side of the road. I worry.

The fawn, the young ducklings that went from 11 to 3 now to 2 in a couple of days. The young duck family is having a hard time finding a way to protect them from dogs? raccoons? They're all problematic out here.

I found a nest today that had big feathers all over it protecting it, but there hasn't been a parent in the nest for days. I feel inside and there are tiny white cold eggs. I wonder what happened. Was it all that cold and rain?

It's tough out there and I try not to anthropomorphize my feelings, but it's hard to see things any other way.

Walking home, in the middle of the road, there's a large turtle - totally unexpected around here. They are in some of the shallow lakes and ponds near here but we're in a deep water area. He's climbed a 40 foot slope up to cross the quiet road to our house. I can't figure out what he might be trying to go to and take him back down to the beach. He sits there a moment gets in the water and submerges. He's gone.

Innocence and vulnerability strike me as the forest unfolds. Our impact is as hard as steel and loud and unforgiving. Big, fast, loud boats and cars, - loose dogs and cats...I compare the two worlds and I worry.

Sometimes it just feels we just don't really get it.

First Day of Summer

2010-06-21T18:37:00.000-07:00

rain drips on enthusiasm

puddling sunny plans

clouds of joy hovering

mist-like, out of reach

while tiny streams of sunlight tease

between endless palettes of grays

Holding out for summer

2010-06-18T17:43:00.000-07:00

We've had a lot of this

And not much of this

Return of the Bad Blogger

2010-06-04T14:19:00.000-07:00

I have certainly been remiss in my duties as a blogger and struggle with the idea that it is kind of just self-promotion. Yet it is true, but I know it is the best way to connect with others, especially as long as I choose to live miles from town. We love life here and if the cold weather would depart for just a few days, I'd love it even more. Okay, I sound a little whiney. It has been a spring only for the hardiest of souls. Maybe "heartiest" too. The little goldfinch that hangs from last year's sunflowers is the brightest thing I've seen for weeks. The sun has only peeked around the clouds a few times in the last month and I run out to catch a few rays and do some gardening. I stay anyway as the rain cloud moves in and drenches me and the seeds I just planted. 50 degrees in the rain isn't so bad I tell myself. One has to flow with the weather if they're to get anything done around here.

I've been busy readying myself for an art and writing workshop I'm teaching for kids 9 - 12 this summer. It's one day a week for 6 weeks and I called it Inspired by Nature. Every project is designed around getting out in nature and getting in touch with a world outside of videos, music, and phones. The natural world inspires me and fills me with joy and if I can help children find inspiration in that then it would be a wonderful goal achieved. Lucy our goose was the catalyst for me to write and illustrate a children's book and I get to share her story on many different levels. Her story is spiritual and I love sharing with children the importance of connecting with nature. Lucy also inspired such creativity in me and I enjoy sharing that process too. My life recently has been busy going into elementary schools and public libraries and I still find inspiration. As I've shown, you never have to stay stuck in defining yourself as one thing when your heart is leading you another direction. The world is ready for you if you're ready to leap - if you're ready to fly.

The story is told

2010-02-18T21:55:00.000-08:00

I think of all the times people told me I should write a book and finally I found the time to find a way to do just that. Maybe I'm just a control freak, but I also wanted to learn the process and chose to self-publish every step of the way. Fortunately I surrounded myself with good advisors, mentors, and editors.

When I first began to tell the story I thought with all the photography and video I had of Lucy, it made sense to put together a video of her story. I looked at the photos and footage and created narration to follow the images.

My sister Joie is a talented designer and she cleaned up the images. All of my images were 35 mm film and had to be scanned at a high resolution to be ready to be shown on the big screen.

Joie provided the design for the credits and title and designed the DVD packaging.

My old friend Pete Jensen works for a local t.v. station and he provided the software know-how and put it all together for me. Pete narrated the first edition of the film for me because I never thought I had a good enough voice for other people to listen to. Pete has a deep voice and is the voice of Spokane. You hear him on commercials everywhere and I felt very fortunate to have him narrate the video for me.

The music during Lucy's flight scene is a song called In My Dream is an awesome flight song by Michael Tomlinson. It is so perfect and I felt honored that he allowed me to use it in the DVD. M.T. is a good friend of my sister's - they say a lot of how you progress is because of who you know, and it's definitely true. Michael is a very talented singer songwriter.

Just as I was finishing the DVD, I met filmmaker Chad Christensen. He had seen my photography in a gallery and because a particular photo showed our dog Lily and goose Lucy running down the road together, he was interested in the story and approached me. I was in the process of creating a video already so I thought he and I should collaborate. Chad had worked for a company called NowDisc and recommended them so I used them to order the completed disks. The story of Chad I will write more about later - we've had an interesting relationship. We created a half hour documentary which still to this date I can not sell.

The short film I did is short and sweet. It's 11 minutes long and I share it in schools and presentations. People quickly connect with Lucy and our family taking the journey to Lucy's successful return to the wild.

With Chad's background, he recommended that I enter my film into film festivals. I have entered it into three and was nominated for a Best Director in N. Idaho at the LakeDance Film Festival in Sandpoint Idaho and won an Audience Choice Award at the Spiritual Film Festival in Morristown New Jersey.

I recorded the narration in my voice and now sell the DVD with the Coloring Storybook I created. More about it in the next post.

More about Raising Lucy and the video and books at http://www.raisinglucy.com/

Raising Lucy and Forward Motion

2010-02-10T16:01:00.000-08:00

It definitely would seem as though I disappeared and I have to admit I have taken some time off from promoting and book signings. December was busy and January has been a time for reflection and recharging and planning.

Self-publishing has been quite a journey, and sometimes I wonder if I have it in me. I LOVE the creative portion of illustrating, writing, collaborating - then the hard part comes at going out and selling your own product. I certainly have enthusiasm for Lucy but as a very sensitive individual I am really in tune when people in bookstores are overwhelmed or underwhelmed and I want to be conscious of that.

There is a certain amount of bias from booksellers about self-publishers and I understand they are inundated with self-publishers wanting them to carry their books. Often, they say, the books are poorly done so a bias is created and they shrink away as soon as they hear your book is self-published. Once I can open Raising Lucy up and they see the quality of the images, the colors, Lucy almost sells herself.

There is a lot of hard work ahead and I am fortunate for the people and opportunities that have come my way. It was a labor of love and I am committed to sharing her story along with other animal stories. My goal is to help others who have animal stories on this publishing path. I have learned a lot and I'm not done learning all there is to know. I want to keep the interest to stories about animals and our connection to them because this is an area that needs focus in these high tech times.

My hope is that if people become more connected to the natural world they would be more thoughtful in their lives. If we could connect more with love then the abuse and greed that has taken place as long as there were humans might begin to disappear.

Yes, a White Christmas

2009-12-24T17:26:00.000-08:00

I finally got the tree up. Who knew if you waited until 2 days before Christmas that you could get an 8 foot Noble Fir for $9.99. It's in pretty good shape so I'm very happy with the purchase. My sister and her husband are coming after Christmas so I didn't want a dried up tree to welcome their arrival. We also got a fresh wreath for the same price and I decorated it with glorious sparkling ribbon and red balls.

On the lake we are going to have snow on the ground for the holiday. In town, most of the snow has gone. It came a few days ago, but its' been cold since and the snow is still here.

So the kid in me will enjoy this. We really don't follow any traditions anymore, but I've pulled my holiday spirit together and am looking forward to spending some relaxing times with my our small family.

I am very blessed in so many ways - thankful for the animals, friends, family, and the opportunities in my life. May I be aware of others' needs and be able to bring to the situation what is needed. That includes my animal friends who come to see me every day.

Well, I've got a nog to pour and dinner to cook. Have a wonderful spirit filled holiday.

A White Christmas?

2009-12-19T15:00:00.000-08:00

This is my little fawn friend whom I share apples and oats with. Our snow has been gone for a few days now, but we're hoping it will come again in time for Christmas. The newscasters say we have a white Christmas 70% of the time, but this year it looks like we're on the 30% side of that.

I just talked to my cousin Susan and we have both been thinking a lot about our grandmother. Grandma was such a loving person and so artistic. She created hand appliqued quilts some of which were her own designs. I told her that Joie (my sister) and I have also been thinking a lot about Grandma too and shared how I am now drinking tea - I switched from coffee - and using teapots that Grandma gave me. I feel a real spiritual blessing and connection with Grandma as I enjoy my morning tea.

This time of year it is a natural to think of Grandma. She was the queen of our Christmas bliss and there was nothing like coming together at her house. Sitting in Grandma's warm house, with a fire in the big fireplace, I'd look out over the snowy streets and I was taken back in time. I could really see Santa in his sleigh sailing through the snowy night sky - but I knew all the good presents came from Grandma. Christmas Eve was very special and everyone dressed up in their new holiday dresses and went to celebrate at the other relatives' homes. The best celebration was at Grandma's because that's where we got to open our presents.

On Christmas day we all ate at Grandma's and I enjoyed family everywhere laughing, talking. If it was snowy the kids would be outside making snowmen while the pies and turkey were baking. It's a scene played out all across the nation - I know we aren't unique, and our family wasn't perfect, but there wasn't anything better than being at Grandma and Grandpa's home. Still - I can't help but look back on those days with such deep fondness and tears in my eyes.

Joie, Susan, and I still feel Grandma's love and support even though she has been gone for almost 20 years now. We all know she is with us giving us the unconditional love and support she always gave us. Her gift of love still weaves its way fully living in our hearts. I hope you have someone like her in your life. Merry Christmas everyone!

Stray cat we've been feeding plus all the gang

2009-11-22T14:54:00.000-08:00

Here is a picture of the stray cat I'm calling Buster. He is a big beautiful male (not neutered) that has been hanging around for a couple of months. I thought it was our neighbor's cat - she's down a few homes and has several cats but she recently told me he isn't hers. So we started feeding him about 2 weeks ago and have a plan to get him neutered. I already negotiated with the vet on a discounted rate for the procedure, but now the trick is catching him.

He is really friendly and head butts me and loves being petted, but when I was petting him the other day I reached on the other side of him with my hand and he gave me a vampire death grip bite on my wrist. It hurt so darned bad I couldn't believe it and now I know why - he bit the nerve. I am now numb on my right thumb and right index finger and it zings over the end of the wrist bone when I turn my hand. It feels like someone numbed me up with a shot of novacaine there and it's been 4 or 5 days now. Kind of difficult for someone who makes their living writing and illustrating. Fortunately I cleaned it well enough that I haven't developed infection.

I have to say I got a little relaxed about petting him and it wasn't Buster's fault. I am since a lot less affectionate and a lot more wary, but Buster loves being petted. Maybe I just need to get out the welding gloves - just in case.

He's been in a fight and although this pic was taken just a couple of days ago he looks better than in this pic. He had an abcess under his right eye from a fight and his nose has been ripped. The abcess drained on its own. I've made a bed for him in a protected area outside on the deck and he is enjoying being fed by the Muziks (that's us). Our little cat Bailey doesn't appreciate him, but we're not quite certain yet how to manage him yet. I could quit feeding him, but that's not me. If an animal shows up all alone and hungry, I am going to want to help. Buster was definitely dumped. Maybe he bit someone - I don't know. It's just not how to manage the problem. Buster would be a great cat for someone without little kids. He is very suspicious of the cat carrier and won't go near it. It's probably how someone delivered him out here. We will get him neutered but we're trying to figure jsut out how to get him into the cat carrier without sustaining further injury.

Here's Lily!

2009-11-12T13:06:00.000-08:00

Well here she is, Lily, our newly adopted stray dog, out for one of our morning walks. She is a sweetheart, but has been used to a pretty free life. With clicks and sounds (Dog Whisperer style) I can keep her close to me, but if I'm not paying attention she runs as hard as she can to chase squirrels, turkeys, and deer. Then she comes back when she pleases - which isn't usually but 30 seconds or so, but I definitely need to keep Lily on leash for our walks most of the time. I love to give her the opportunity to run, but have to pay attention to what other animals might be lurking behind bushes and trees.

Lily, we think, is the same dog we tried to adopt earlier this year. We drove 2 hours to see the "Black Lab" whose name was Lillian on Craig's list. She was definitely a small lab mix and seemed afraid of us, but we felt drawn to take her home regardless. On the way home in the station wagon that poor dog was beside herself. She was so afraid, she wouldn't look at us, drooled a bucket of saliva, and ended up throwing up several times. When we got home I ran into the house to pee (long trip and lots of water) and Nick opened up the hatch to let her out. Lillian bolted and the next thing I heard was the phone ringing in the house and Nick on the line telling me to "get the car - the dog ran away!"

For 3 days everyone in our neighborhood was trying to feed her and catch her, but she wouldn't come to anyone. We set up live traps and she'd eat the food carefully avoiding setting off the trap. We did catch a huge skunk though and it was very tricky letting it go without getting sprayed.

Finally the owner came out on Friday evening and we immediately found the dog. All she had to do was get out of the car, yell for Lillian and that dog flew to her mom. The woman, I remember her name, Jamie Lynn, promised she would build a fence for the dog. The problem had been that they let her run all day and the neighbors were calling the dog catcher on her. I understand why now as that dog loves to chase wildlife and a lot of people, including me, don't appreciate a dog doing that. This factoid was not told to us.

So that was May and fast forward to October. We're in Nick's wood boat with his family going across the lake to scatter his mom's ashes on October 2nd. As the boat is moving out away from the dock, I see the dog on our neighbor's beach and say to Nick, "Nick, look! It looks like that dog we tried to adopt earlier this year." We laughed, not really thinking it could be true. I just never thought that it could be her. A couple of days later I get a call from Lorna, a neighbor down the road who says, "your dog has been running around in our area for days." Since she was part of the crew in May that tried to catch the dog I guess she never realized that we could never catch the dog and it didn't stay with us. I told her that it wasn't our dog and explained the story, but to call me if she could catch it.

Then I started seeing the dog on our property so I would leave food out for her. She'd run as soon as I'd get close to her. Very shy, very afraid. Finally I got a call from Lorna. She'd caught the scared little dog in their kennel. Nick and I went right over and after some finagling I got her on a leash and ran home with her. All the neighbors were cheering.

Well, she is definitely the same dog so that means those people drove 2 hours out here and dropped their 2 year old dog off and drove away. How can people do that? It has taken time, but she is much more trusting of me, but think of the heart-ache she has had to deal with. Am I anthropomorphizing here? Maybe so, but she definitely has trust issues and rightly so. She also likes to run after wildlife and if I am not paying attention she will take off like a shot. She is a fast runner and I worry about the slow or young animal that can't get out of the way fast enough. We're walking on lead most of the time. In the morning to work off some of her high energy I let her run on the sandy beaches. If our roads were smoother out here, I'd get out my roller-blades and let her fly.

She doesn't trust Nick completely and we think it's possible, from the way she reacts to him even moving his feet, that a big man abused her - kicked her. This is going to take time and patience. I have enjoyed having her around and even our cat is trusting her more. The two are pretty funny and Bailey, our manx, walked with the dog and me down to the beach and back several times now. I'm also getting my rear end in shape and have been walking 3 times a day. Morning and evening walks are longer with a shorter mid-day fresh-air jaunt. We feel fortunate to be able to give her a place where she can learn to trust and be the dog she was meant to be.

I'm still here!

2009-11-05T18:32:00.000-08:00

So much is happening with the book and my life and it appeared as if I fell off the planet. We kind of did by taking in a stray dog that had been running loose in our area for weeks. It looks like someone just dropped her off out here in our rural area hoping someone would take her in. Can you imagine doing that to your dog???
Quite a few of us were feeding her but she wouldn't come near anyone until our neighbor Lorna caught her in their dog pen.
Long story short, she is now with us and it's been about 2 weeks. She doesn't trust men and cowers when my gentle giant husband stands up. He is being so patient and kind with her and now she is coming up to him when he's sitting. She has really bonded with me though and we named her Lily (after our deceased black lab whom she reminds us of). She is so much like her when she makes certain looks it is almost eerie.
Taking in a homeless stray dog is a challenge, but worth the reward of knowing you're providing a home for the dog a place she can trust - something you know she didn't have. She comes with a lot of unknown baggage and patience has been key.
I've been using The Dog Whisperer techniques and she has responded well. She is used to running after deer, turkeys, and quail but that is improving daily.
Nick and I weren't sure we wanted another dog. We have one cat and we were enjoying the idea of traveling and being foot loose. But I have enjoyed having Lily here and our specials walks on the beach and just having her around has been fun and energizing for me. Working from home I have a tendancy to not walk as much as I could. Lily is a sweetheart and I'm thankful it is about time she is in a place where she can finally relax and trust.

Raising Lucy an orphaned Canada Gosling

2009-10-26T21:52:00.000-07:00

Today I decided to commit to starting a blog about a special goose. I will focus on sharing bird stories and how these connections have had an impact on lives.

Stay tuned!