I was out on a walk yesterday morning when a neighbor walking her dog said, “There are so many beautiful blossoms, you need your camera for your class.”
I had run into her once while taking cacti blossom photos for the class, which by the way, the professor said weren’t creative but rather ordinary. I was thrilled they were in focus!
I continued with my walk and noticed several gorgeous blooms and blossoms. My neighbor was right. I beelined back home for my camera and got my Macro lens.
I took blogger friend Danny Watts’ advice. His blog is Fountain Pen Chronicles: Adventures in Analog. He told me to get down on the ground for photos to get a better Point of View and Depth of Field. I took my husband with me, to help me up (Also Danny’s suggestion). My husband’s phone was blowing up with clients and he had to head home. I was left alone. I got on the ground. I managed to get myself up, which wasn’t that comfortable on the sidewalk or gravel. But I did it.
This is the blossom featured above from a distance. It’s so beautiful but lasts only one or two days.
Here are more cacti in bloom:
And a Fairy Duster!
Here’s for the little bit of fauna to go with the flora:
A Curve Billed Thrasher on the Century Plant.
My latest and final photography assignment for the class is to tell a story using six to 10 photos. I’m not sure what to do, but he’s giving us an extra week to work on it. I’m taking photos of my creatures, hoping a story line reveals itself to me.
Photos: My daughter with her relay team celebrating at the Belmont Olympic Pool on the sand in Long Beach. This historic and treasured pool, opened in 1968 and was demolished in 2014.
I heard the phrase “Being a swimmer is something I do, it’s not who I am,” in an interview by Lydia Jacoby, gold medalist in the Tokyo Olympics and the first Olympic qualifier in swimming from Alaska.
Jacoby missed a spot on the Olympic team at Trials this year by .27 of a second. As heartbreaking as that may be, I love her statement that swimming is something that she does. It’s not her whole identity.
I believe many people, not only athletes, suffer when their identity is tied to their accomplishments, careers or relationships and lose WHO they are inside.
Two other stories from Olympic Trials 2024: Caeleb Dressel and Simone Manuel.
Both were phenoms as kids and reached pinnacle heights in swimming — in college and the world stage. Dressel is a seven-time Olympic gold medalist and holds world records in the 100 meter butterfly (long course and short course), 50 meter freestyle (short course), and 100 meter individual medley (short course).
They both quit swimming out of the blue for health reasons. Dressel shocked the swimming world when he left the World Championships in 2022. Eventually, he opened up about depression. Manuel was diagnosed with burnout or overtraining syndrome.
Maybe they needed a break from being swimmers to find out who they were.
The Comeback Kids — Olympic Trials 2024
The 22,000 spectators went wild when both Manuel and Dressel earned spots on the U.S. Olympic Team after taking time off — and then began training to make the 2024 Olympic Team. Manuel made the 4 x 100 freestyle relay. Dressel made the 4 x 100 free relay and came in first in the 50 free and 100 fly.
Simone Manuel and Caeleb Dressel.
UPDATE: Simone Manuel won the 50 Free last night and now has an individual event as well as the 4 x 100 relay!!!!
What are your thoughts about swimming is something someone does, it’s not who they are?
What other examples can you share where someone loses their identity to something they are doing, but not who they are?
Jon Urbanchek, Coach of University of Michigan, USC and US Olympic Team
RIP, Coach Urbanchek. He died May 9, 2024 at age 87.
“I’m not looking at how many fast times you have, or how many medals you’ve won, medals will tarnish, right? I’m looking at how many friendships you made.” -Coach Jon Urbanchek
When I was gathering stories for the SoCalSwimming History website, a swim official gave me Jon Urbanchek’s number to call. The year was 2017 and he was 80 years old. He told me how he was coaching part time at USC. I was amazed at his energy and how enthusiastic and friendly he was.
“I’m going to be 81 this year, and I still love the sport. I still volunteer coach at USC Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday because I love being with young people. I love the energy they put out. I think at my age it’s important to be active. I leave the house at 5 a.m. to get there at 6 a.m. driving through LA traffic. I’m officially retired but I’m very happy to be a part of the program. Even this year, I did the training camp for the national team. I’m still involved with the national team and USC. I want to continue on.”
I loved talking to him and learning his life story from leaving Communist Hungary, studying at University of Michigan to his decades-long career coaching.
He was a US Olympic coach on staff for ’92, ’96, ’00, ’04, ’08 and ’12. He was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame, Long Beach State Hall of Fame and University of Michigan Hall of Fame.
There was an outpouring of love for him this week from the swimming community:
“It is hard to express how much Jon Urbanchek has meant to me since I first met him in 2012. He was my coach on the 2012 Olympic team and he has been a coach, a mentor and a friend since then. I learned so much from him. He was a kind and dedicated coach who never forgot his swimmers. I will never forget his dedication to our sport, his humor, his coaching style and his love for Team U.S.A. He was a coach of coaches. I know that all of my coaches learned something from him. I am so lucky to have had him as a part of my team….he never stopped coaching and encouraging me.” — Katie Ledecky, three-time Olympian, seven-time Olympic gold medalist, 21-time world champion, and holder of three world records
“I can still hear him saying “keep it moving” “ey , _____ MOVE IT!”…. Thinking about what he taught me in and out of the pool… one of the most influential ppl I’ve had in my life…this man is a legend and truly one of one!
RIP buddy…. ❤️❤️ “ –Michael Phelps, legendary American swimmer who won 28 medals across five Olympics, making him the most decorated athlete in the history of the Summer Games.
“Undeniably among the legendary coaches of our time. Better was his inclusion of all of us on our way up. Fast friend to anyone who crossed his path. If you met him you were undoubtedly added to his contact list along with a selfie together. All of us in swimming owe his wife Melanie and daughter a debt of gratitude for sharing him with us.” — Dave Salo, former U.S.A. National Team Coach and head coach at USC
“Jon Urbanchek was the Yoda to world swimming. Add on the sense of humor and occasionally needed warm hug. His wisdom grew and spread over the decades and his legacy will continue to influence future generations. We will miss his presence and carry on his spirit. ‘Go Blue! Keep it movin!’” — Mike Bottom, former University of Michigan swimming and diving head coach (2008-23)
After my phone interview with Coach Urbanchek, I would run into him at swim meets. I remember talking with him at Open Water Nationals at Lake Castaic, Calif. I was there to cheer on our daughter.
He was coaching Haley Anderson, who swam the 10k in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics. We became friends with the Anderson family, because Haley’s younger sister, Jordan, swam with our daughter at the University of Utah. Haley and her sister Alyssa made the US Olympic team in London. Alyssa earned a gold medal for the 4 X 200 free relay, while Haley earned Silver, finishing 4/10s of a second — in the 6.2 mile race — behind the winner from Hungary.
Jon Urbanchek at the 2017 Open Water Nationals at Lake Castaic.
Who has made an impact in your life like Jon Urbanchek made in the swimming world?
Every morning I glance at my phone to see what time it is when I wake up. I also check the temperature.
This morning an article popped up that caught my eye. “3 morning habits to help you be happier and more productive at work, according to psychologists” by Morgan Smith on CNBC.
I have an established morning routine that I have followed for years. I developed the routine while reading The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron. I journal three pages. It’s a brain dump consisting of everything that’s making me anxious, plus a to do list for the upcoming day. Then I use an app called Laudate and either read or listen to daily Bible readings followed by prayer. Last, I go for my morning walk.
It’s a routine that helps me feel grounded. I was curious what the article would say about morning routines and if my morning routine hit their three suggestions to be happier and more productive.
I’m missing the first step.
Set an intention for the day.
Your to-do list might be doing more harm than good, psychologist Jessica Jackson warns.
Checking your emails, calendar or to-do list soon after you wake up “immediately starts the day off on a stressful note, and tells your brain to go into panic mode,” Jackson, who is also the global clinical diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging manager at Modern Health, tells CNBC Make It.
Instead, Jackson recommends all of her clients start their day with an intention meditation: taking a few minutes to sit in silence, take a couple of deep breaths, and choose a single word, or sentence, to be their “north star” for the day.
“You can tell yourself, ‘My intention for today is to feel successful’ or ‘I want to be comfortable today’ and think about what you can realistically accomplish in the next 24 hours to feel that way,” Jackson explains. “It can also be a single, powerful word like ‘gratitude’ that will guide how you react to and reflect on whatever happens throughout the day.”
Step two I do with my morning pages. The suggestion is to set an offline ritual and stick with it. My morning walks also fit the bill.
Step three is to have fun. I thought I was missing that also, but I play Wordle every morning. That’s my bit of fun. We realize how important recess is for kids at school, the article explained. But what do we do for fun?
What is your morning routine? Do you hit all three of the steps in the CNBC article?
In honor of the great Ray Bradbury who died ten years ago in June 2012, I’m reposting this story about what I learned from him:
I was looking through my book shelves for summer reading. I picked up Ray Bradbury’s Zen and the Art of Writing: Release the Creative Genius Within You. It’s a small paperback book that has sat on my shelf, unread. I opened the cover and on page one the autograph of the author and the date May 1996 stared me in the face.
That’s the first time I heard Ray Bradbury speak — and the first time I asked him to sign a book. My daughter was three months old, and my son was three years old. That’s a lot of years to have this book sitting on my bookshelf.
Yes, I’m now reading this collection of essays and remembering how inspiring his talk was. Earlier that same day in May 1996, I recognized Ray Bradbury at Las Casuelas the Original, a small Mexican restaurant a few blocks away from our house and the hotel where he was scheduled to speak at a writer’s conference. I introduced myself to him, as he ate alone, and I said I couldn’t wait to hear his talk.
It was one of the first writer’s conferences I had attended, and I was kind of in a fog, having a newborn child and little sleep.
Ray Bradbury was amazing. He reminded me of a young child, finding wonder in the world. He had the ability to stay young at heart and observe the world as though seeing little things for the first time. I loved his story of how he wroteFahrenheit 451 in the basement of the UCLA library at a rental typewriter for 10 cents for a half hour. He said he was literally a “dime novelist.” It gave me courage and the belief that we can do anything — if you want it badly enough.
“Garbage in, garbage out,” he said. He advised us to turn off the TV. Don’t watch the news. He said they were selling soap and there was little or no good news and it would rot our minds. Instead, “Read the Bible, a poem and an essay every day.”
How I’d wish I’d listened more carefully and followed that advice all those years ago. How different would my life be today? The good news is, it’s never too late to start.
My all time favorite Ray Bradbury book is Fahrenheit 451. My son Robert loves this book, too. I took my son to meet Ray Bradbury during another local speaking engagement years later. Robert has a signed copy of Farenheit 451 that he treasures. Ray Bradbury was a very accessible and kind man, willing to share with all of us enjoying his gift and genius. I’m still striving to be 1/100th the writer that he was.
“What do you love most in the world? The big and little things, I mean. A trolley car, a pair of tennis shoes? These, at one time when we were children, were invested with magic for us.” — Zen and the Art of Writing
Are you a Ray Bradbury fan? What are your favorite books of his?Who are your favorite authors?
In an article written by Yaron Steinbuch, a woman in Chicago was rescued from a naked man who held her at scissors-point and later knife-point because of Wordle. Her daughter lives in Seattle and was concerned the next morning when her mom didn’t text or contact her about Wordle. That prompted the daughter to call the police.
This reminded me the importance of staying in touch with family members. I wrote a blog post called Inspiration can be a daily, family thing a number of years ago when one of my college roommates was visiting me. She and her two brothers and mom would have a group text each morning to make sure everyone was okay. Their mom was in her 80s and lived alone, and it was the kids way to make sure their mom was ok.
I was doing this with my kids but it went by the wayside. We would share something we’d find inspirational in a group text every morning. My mom is turning 90 next month and she’s in assisted living. Unfortunately she isn’t tech savvy and isn’t good about answering her phone. But she has a staff to check up on her. My dad is 90 and lives alone. He has friends who check up on him and we talk on the phone every few days. Maybe I should start a morning text with him, though.
How do you keep in touch with your family? Do you have a set time to text or call?
We woke up to a cloudy day, which turned spectacular once the sun peeked over the horizon. My husband and I both ran outside with our iPhones and began snapping away. I was curious to compare our photos because our phones have different cameras. I use an iPhone SE that doesn’t have as advanced camera as my husband’s iPhone 12. His phone is a year old, mine is two year’s old and not as big or fancy.
Two of my photos of sunrise yesterday morning. I like the reflection in the pool.
I took my photos on firm ground, while my husband stood on a table outside to get his view. We both have our own point of view for our photos.
Sunrise photos from my husband iPhone. Same sunrise but different perspectives.
I think both our iPhones capture the spectacular view. But his iPhone produces photos that look more like a painting than mine. I think he has the ability to zoom in, while I do not.
Post sunrise, we are left with a cloudy day.
Do you use your phone for photos now instead of carrying a camera? Which photos do you like the best? Mine or my husband’s? Be honest, please. Or, can you tell any difference between the two iPhone cameras? Also, can you believe how amazing our sunrises are here? I thought they were gorgeous in California, but Arizona’s are truly breathtaking.
