Green Gate Farms and The Austin Discovery School team up each fall for Slow Food Feast in the Fields Fundraiser. I was lucky to attend this special occasion. These volunteers are teachers from the school and they are radiant!

Spring has been windy and wild. So many ups and downs, fits and starts. I found a quiet moment during an explosive spring day at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area.

You can almost see and hear this bloom opening before your eyes.

Those of us who live in Austin, TX, bare the brutal unrelenting sun during half of the year. As if a present from Mother Nature, we are blessed with fabulous cool and sunny fall days. Now, that we are in the midst of November the Fall is finally upon us. The sun is golden and stark. The trees begin a colorful show even down in these parts of the country. We are a lucky city with a balance of green space and concrete. Our beloved greenbelt is an oasis in the city.

The light was just right on the greenbelt to capture this ephemeral moment of light and leaves. Soon the dark and stark of our fleeting winter will come and we will wrap ourselves up in relief, knowing that the brutal summer is ever looming.

Located in the San Bernardino National Forest, the Santa Ana River is dry enough to burn a fire. Due to over usage, the river rarely flows and is now known as the greatest flood hazard west of the Mississippi River. This photograph was taken in 1992 with TMAX 100 film. I was accompanying my photography professor, Sant Khalsa. Sant has spent a large portion of her career photographically investigating the Santa Ana River and water in the west.

The Austin Discovery School will open their doors for school again in one week. My son Elias will be attending the second grade. This photograph was taken last school year at our Lantern Festival. Like the Lantern Festival, there are many reasons why ADS is a unique educational experience. The academic curriculum is based on a Constructivist learning theory and discipline is based on the use of Emotional Intelligence.  The school also features a Jr. Master Gardener program, and a progressive nutrition policy. The Austin Discovery School has been a positive learning experience for our whole family. We are looking forward to another great school year.

This photograph was taken on March 10th 1994 in Varanasi, India. On March 10th of every year Tibetans around the world, but especially in India and Nepal, unite on the anniversary of the failed Tibetan Uprising against the Chinese occupation in protest of the human rights violation and environmental destruction that are still being committed on a daily basis. Tibetans and supporters from all around the world raise their voices to bring about the awareness of their plight. There are currently protests against the Chinese government during the 2008 Olympic Games. An appeal letter from the Committee for Tibetan Freedom Movement to the United Nations, outlined the necessary measures needed to improve the deplorable treatment of Tibet and its people:

1) Release of all Tibetan political prisoners. 

2)Respect the Universal Declaration on human rights

3)Grant the Tibetan people the rights outlined in the civil, politcal, economic, cultural and social covenants. 

4)Put an end to the massive deforestation, exploration of natural resources and the use of Tibet’s sacred land for dumping of nuclear and chemical waste. 

5) Stop the practices of raping nuns, abortion, sterilization, infanticide and other birth control measures in Tibet.

6) Withdraw the estimated 7.5 million civilian Chinese presently residing in Tibet, which has threatened the identity of the 6 million Tibetans. 

7)Protect Tibet’s distinctive religious and cultural heritage. 

8)Allow human rights organizations to conduct independent investigations of the situation in occupied Tibet. 

The Sol LeWitt exhibit at the Austin Museum of Art was fun for every age. The exhibition also includes a Chuck Close painting. We stopped to really check that one out. It was magnificent.

The only photography allowed at the museum is in the children’s exhibit. Elias is doing a great job of tracing this elephant. Next, he mounted a rider on it.