Our Sunflower Fort

Sara Lockie on August 29, 2017

My children love forts. But a sunflower fort? It exceeded every expectation.Sunflower fort closeup

Inspired by Eve Bunting’s Sunflower House, we planted sunflower seeds in a circle last spring. My nine-year-old couldn’t decide on just one variety of sunflowers at the garden store, so we planted two circles of seeds – an inner ring of mammoths and an outer ring of a smaller variety. He left a small gap for the door.

My only experience with sunflowers was when I was as a summer camp counselor in North Dakota during college. One morning we came upon a field of sunflowers. This was no tiny circle, but an expanse of sunflowers, much like cornfields in Iowa. I insisted they stop the car immediately. I marveled at these vibrant sunflowers, all facing the morning sun!

Planting the seeds with my kids, I tried to set realistic expectations. This is our first year!  We’re just trying it out! It can be a science experiment – even if nothing grows we’ll learn from experience. 

That conversation was unnecessary.

My three-year-old daughter diligently watered the sunflowers, and before long they sprouted. At first we thought they were growing at an angle. With closer investigation, it became clear even their leaves were tilting to face the sun.

Sunflower Fort GrowingAnd were they ever growing!  My son started taking measurements each Wednesday.  When they surpassed the reach of his arms, I helped out. Eventually, we needed a step stool and an extended measuring tape. Our plants grew on average an inch a day. In no time, the kids piled into their fort, surrounded by towering plants, hidden from view.

Watching the flowers open, and bloom a little brighter each day was pretty special. We all cheered the day the first bloom opened.

Soon the wildlife arrived. Bees and hummingbirds inspired conversations about pollination and pollinator habitat. Until the sunflower fort, I had never seen goldfinches in our suburban yard. But the sunflower fort attracted them daily. Watching them perch upside down eating seeds became a favorite pastime for my daughter and me. My son pointed out that we watched through the window like we were watching TV. I agreed.Sunflower Fort with Kids

The talk of the neighborhood, the ultimate hide-and-seek location, our very own wildlife viewing station, the perfect summer view: this is our sunflower fort! What can we expect as we head into fall and winter?I’m not sure. I think we’ll just wait and watch closely, soaking in whatever happens. After all, it’s better than TV!

 

Experiencing the solar eclipse

Sara Lockie on August 15, 2017

Monday, August 21, 2017 will be a memorable day.  Not since 1918 has a solar eclipse crossed the United States from the Pacific to Atlantic Oceans, giving us a rare opportunity to observe one of nature’s biggest coincidences.

A few tips as the big day nears…NASA photo, eclipse20170811

  • Never look directly at the sun. Solar eclipse glasses block out everything except for the actual sun itself. My kids were surprised how small the sun looks when using eclipse glasses.  Beware of price gouging online.  The Science Center of Iowa is currently selling eclipse glasses for $2.50 per pair. Indirect viewing is an option, too.
  • Watch something. NASA’s YouTube channel is pretty fantastic. Try downloading the NASA app, too.
  • Read something. Wendy Mass’s Every Soul a Star is a favorite young adult novel about three kids whose paths unexpectedly cross in the days leading up to a solar eclipse. As the story opens, Allie’s family is preparing a campground that is the only US viewing area of an eclipse. Bree’s only goal is landing a modeling contract, and Jack tries to remain invisible. A story of self-discovery, transformation, and life change – the themes cross generations and connect us all.
  • For other reading: NASA’s website has lots of details. If you are looking for a book about the history and science of eclipses, check out Tyler Nordgren’s Sun Moon Earth.
  • Talk to someone. I have been a little disappointed how few people I know are excited about this natural phenomenon.  I’m just so excited to share with others my fascination with science, nature, and space.
  • Do something. Participate in NASA’s citizen science project. Collect temperature readings and cloud observations before, during, and after the eclipse.  Upload them on the free app and share your data with researchers.
  • Get out there and experience. Simply step outdoors around 1pm Central Daylight Time) to experience a partial eclipse.  The Science Center of Iowa will host an eclipse viewing party on the capitol steps at 11:45 – 2:30pm.  The sun will be 95% covered but we will not have complete darkness unless we travel to Nebraska or Missouri to the zone of totality when the moon’s shadow passes overhead.  This will be my first total solar eclipse, but I have read it is something that must be experienced – words cannot describe it.

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There’s Always More

Martha McCormick on August 4, 2017

So many reasons to be excited about yoga. I teach it. I practice it. I study it. There truly is always more!

Excited–check out this article about some preliminary research on how yoga may help with recovery from stroke and lessening the impact of diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

I teach at Shakti Yoga Shop and we have some very cool opportunities coming up this fall. Desiree Rumbaugh is bringing her Wisdom Warriors training here in September. She developed it a few years ago when she turned 50 (you’d never guess it). Then, a couple weeks later, Becky and I will do our Intro to Yoga class.

I’m all set to head to the Finger Lakes region of New York for my second visit to Dr. Douglas Brooks’ summer camp. I’ve rented a “cottage in the woods” to retreat to all by myself after days of listening to stories of Rajanaka, the very tiny branch of Hinduism that we study with Douglas.

Looking forward to curry dinner at Douglas’ place and at least a short conversation with his talented and beautiful wife Susan. Four of us are going this year from Des Moines. We will be a force to be reckoned with.

This time studying with Douglas and friends will provide material for my paintings that are also reflections on my trips to India, the stories and philosophy we explore.

Puja at Rajanaka summer camp

Practice–I’ve been lazy about having a home practice. I go to class or teach nearly every day, so why do I need to get on my mat at home? Well, yesterday I made a commitment to do just that.

I took just a few minutes after a walk to stretch my hamstrings and quads and root the head of my femurs deep into the hip sockets. Then I stood on my head for a few minutes. Felt great. But I’ll need to do it again today to really start making it a habit.

The study of yoga–there’s always more. Come along on the adventure!

Let’s Figure It Out

Martha McCormick on August 2, 2017

As we go spinning around the sun, we tend to mark anniversaries. I have one coming up tomorrow. It’s been 11 years since I cleaned out my desk at Iowa State University Extension in Polk County and started my work here at Next Step. I was there til 8 pm on my last day! Who does that?

Someone who is way too invested in work? One who has trouble letting go? Or maybe a person who has bitten off more than she can chew?

Probably all of the above, and more. Just this spring I threw out a box of slides I brought home from work eleven years ago. I was cleaning up my studio and came across several unfinished projects that brought a lump to my throat. I really wanted to make that apron, string those beads and create that lamp.

One thing I appreciated when I started Next Step was time to plan without feeling pressured by multiple deadlines. As my business has grown, and we’ve gotten busier, I sometimes feel hurried again. But the pressure has never gotten as great as it was when I was doing youth development work, writing grants, managing staff and all that went with it.

Owning my own business provides a lot of freedom, but it can be pretty demanding too. The roller coaster of work and no work can be scary. It’s much harder to know if you’re really good at what you do, kind of like looking into fun house mirrors. And of course the variety of people can put you off balance.

Balance is always a challenge. It helps to know your priorities. For a while I had this order–children and other living things, work and me. That’s changed significantly since the kids are grown. Some say if you don’t take care of yourself you don’t have anything to give others, but that’s still a tough sell for me.

I think these secrets to life, love, happiness are ever emerging. After a few careers and nearly 67 trips around the sun, I’m still learning. That’s what makes an adventure!

Strengthen Relationships

Martha McCormick on November 11, 2015

Whether online, at work or at home, I measure the quality of my life by the health of my relationships. How am I feeling about the people and organizations I connect with? What am I accomplishing through those relationships? Are they helping me grow? Or distracting me from my hopes and dreams?

Cyndy Erickson, Shelly Johnson and I presented a workshop recently at the Iowa Non-Profit Summit on strengthening relationships to achieve a more productive workplace. Key components of strong friendships and partnerships are communication, focus, continuing assessment and feedback. Not a simple task, but the rewards are great.

Jose, one of my Earth Heroes summed it up, “Miss Martha, when I’m special I work really hard.” In very few words Jose eloquently stated the key to education. It’s about the relationships. Between students and teachers and among students.

This fascinating article in The New Yorker says this about the creative process, “Like every element of ‘Hopscotch,’ we figured it out through conversation, testing, discovery, iterating.” Opera director Yuval Sharon has created an amazing experience in limousines and on rooftops in Los Angeles. The piece made me want to fly to LA to see it and I’m not even an opera fan!

I’m sure their conversations included honest feedback, one of the most difficult components of communication. How often do we avoid mirroring someone’s unproductive behavior to them? Or withhold the positive feedback that provides motivation and incentive for futher effort?

What are the costs of avoiding those conversations? Cyndy Erickson facilitates Fierce Conversations including delegation, confrontational and coaching conversations. It can be done as a one- or two-day workshop and could be combined with Real Colors or other professional development.

Real Colors is a personality assessment based on Myers-Briggs. We use it to help groups identify strengths and preferences. Then we build on it to develop better communication and stronger teams.

What is amazing to me, but perhaps shouldn’t be, is the way the group at the Summit received a brief centering/mindfulness exercise. More and more I’m using techniques I’ve learned from yoga to bring groups into the present as we begin programs. Giving permission and instruction for stillness and breathing seems to strike a chord among many.

For strong relationships, the ability to pause and breathe deeply is essential to overlooking minor annoyances, for gathering courage for the difficult conversation, for rewarding jobs well done.

Clear Boundaries. No Limits

Martha McCormick on February 17, 2015

Art is unique in requiring that hands and mind be in the same place. Distraction and anxiety are at the forefront of challenges for Des Moines Art Center Outreach students. Art class provides opportunities for quiet, focus and mindfulness.

Tell Me Something Good

Martha McCormick on October 22, 2014

I’ve worked with Des Moines kids since 1980. Sometimes it’s hard to be optimistic when the challenges seem to multiply each year. But this article and the statistics it uses to illustrate its points provides some tangible examples of progress.DSC_0285

This morning I taught art to half a dozen boys who attend a group home for various problems they’ve had at home. We start each week with an art journal. Today more than one boy started their journals with, “I hate my life.”

I gradually introduced different media, first crayons. I asked the boys to experiment with using different pressure, and mixing different colors. Then I passed out watercolors and had them paint over their crayon drawings and see what happened.

They really got excited when I put their watercolor paper under the faucet and told them to go experiment with putting watercolor on it. They tried brushing, splattering, dripping. Their attempts produced a variety of results, but the product isn’t the point with these young men.

The point is building self confidence and a sense of mastery. Using simple tools and media gives these boys a chance to succeed, to produce something they’re proud of, whether it’s for the spring show or to take home to decorate their rooms.

DSC_0330Last week we built structures per Andy Goldsworthy. First we watched the movie Rivers and Tides as well as a satire my cousin created. The idea of just creating a piece of art was a little too abstract, so I asked them to build structures. They learned collaboration, creativity, perseverance and problem solving through the activity.

They climbed trees, got dirty and wet, and came up with several different approaches. Today when we walked back to the woods, their shelters were still there. And they crawled into them.DSC_0278

Make Space

Martha McCormick on September 26, 2014

While I was in Akumal I dreamed I gave birth. Don’t worry; someone whisked the baby off before I could do any damage. But dreams of giving birth are really about transformation and creation.

Vacations are for getting away from routines, exploring places that are a little uncomfortable. This trip especially gave me a chance to question my “way of life,” to reflect on my addiction to “busyness,” my hesitation to have down time.

So I came home and changed my calendar.

Changing your calendar doesn’t seem like a very big deal. But you haven’t seen my calendar! Seriously, every journey starts with a single step. I changed my calendar  to give myself space for reflection, mindfulness and a new routine.

Over the last year, I’ve begun teaching art classes for the Des Moines Art Center Outreach Program, and I’ve become a certified yoga teacher. Teaching five or six classes a week wrought havoc with my old routine where I usually spent mornings working at my desk or in art class.

Now most of my mornings I’m out and about so when I got home I set aside three afternoons a week for “office time.” Sometimes that will include a power nap, reading, yoga or time in the garden and art work.

The real thing I’m transforming isn’t my calendar. I’m creating space in my life for reflection, planning, playing art, moving my body, making a home and other adventures.

Remember! Having an adventure means you don’t know how things will turn out.

Retreat to Akumal

Martha McCormick on August 8, 2014

Akumal is a sleepy little resort just about an hour south of Cancun, Mexico. It’s the perfect place to relax, do some yoga, go snorkeling and explore the underground–the cenotes.

I fell in love with Akumal last February. It’s kind of an old hippie village, friendly to those of us who have un piquito Espanol. Or none at all. The restaurants are international and the fish is fresh as can be. After a week, I could totally see returning for more. More sightseeing, more time sunning on the beach and of course more time doing yoga!

As fits the setting, Akumal has a more relaxed and musical approach to yoga than you may be used to. However, it’s founded on strong principles of alignment, and the teachers are very knowledgeable about anatomy, sequencing and philosophy. I got some excellent feedback on the mysteries of my bodily misalignment.

Michael J. Stewart 3Michael J. Stewart is  master teacher at Yoga en Akumal, and during the off season he teaches across Europe, Russia and Morocco. I just happened to get to Akumal when Michael was teaching a workshop. It was a lovely adventure, and we celebrated the closing with a group dinner where I found him to be an engaging spirit as we discussed everything from Hindu philosophy to John Friend.

Michael quotes Patanjali who said ‘to perform the yoga asana “boat posture” simply to get a flatter tummy is indeed, missing the boat.’

GO TO AKUMAL AND CATCH THE BOAT!