JulieLeung.com: a life told in tidepools

In the beginning it was Ted and me. Or so I believed. We were the only ones. But I was wrong.

A year ago, I could count the number of island bloggers I knew on one hand. Now, thanks in part to the Technorati feed Mike Houser created, I have a list of two dozen, posted in the side bar of this blog and below in this post. Like rabbits, blogs seem to be reproducing rapidly on the island. So far this spring, I’ve learned of new ones each month.

Included in this bunch of bloggers are two I’m mentioning for the first time:

Beth Freeman has moved back to Bainbridge Island, after a year away. She also writes at Creating Passionate Users. I’m looking forward to getting to know her better.

Krista’s glimpses of Meadowbrook Farm include beautiful photographs. She’s done a great job in her first month of posting daily and educating readers on a variety of plants. I learned a lot!

Congratulations to Adrian and Sarah who graduate today from Bainbridge High School! Yesterday’s Bainbridge Islander featured six graduates, including these two.

I’ll be sending out via email some ideas for plans for blogger get-togethers this summer…in the meantime, we can read and try to keep up with each other…enjoy!

Bainbridge Blogs

Bainbridge Beat (anonymous)

Bainbridge Book Moms (group blog)

Bill Knobloch:The Blog (Philippe Boucher and Bill Knobloch)

blogvert (Philippe Boucher)

Busking the Cost (Chris Holmes)

Capra hircus (Adrian Sampson)

Casdra Blog (Mike Houser)

Consciousness Conspiracy

Delivering Hope (Walker Willingham)

Elisabeth Freeman.com (Elisabeth Freeman)

Grotto of Procrastination (Emily Julia)

I Love Bainbridge Island (ILBI)

Imagine Bainbridge

In Other News (Emily Groff)

Le blog d’Anne (Anne Boucher)

Meadowhawk Farm Web Log (Krista)

Mixerguy’s Blog (Christian Heilman)

Peggy Finds a Friend (Bill Branley)

Peter’s Mostly Food Blog (Peter MacLeod)

Real Lawyers Have Blogs(Kevin O’Keefe)

Rowdy Rover (Ed Hager and family)

Sarako Corner(Sarah Gould)

Sarah van Gelder of Yes! magazine

Ted Leung on the Air (Ted Leung)

The Binary Circumstance (Chip Gibbons)

Unchained Melody (Maureen)

Voice of Bainbridge: The Blog (Philippe Boucher)

Winslow Tomorrow: The Community Blog (Philippe Boucher)

It is blurry but the memory is sharp in my mind. Piled into the old Ford van we called Big Red, my family drove down the suburban street at night: my mom, dad, baby brothers and preschooler me. From my seat I could see how we were headed down Northrup Way in Bellevue, past the Masonic temple and Presbyterian church through the intersection at 156th where a Skipper’s restaurant once sold seafood with silly tunes. I remember I saw huge white stars in the sky, fuzzy and furry, bright blotches against the black. That was how I thought streetlights should be: the size of planets and the intensity of the sun. Then I got my first pair of glasses and received the revelation of corrected vision.

I remember getting glasses as I was entering kindergarten. I hated it. I was vain. I still am (now I have contacts). But the fact that my need for glasses coincided with the start of school sent a strong signal together of the end of an era. The picture above was taken at my sixth birthday, proof that I’d become four-eyed by then, and familiar with the terms used for teasing.

Tuesday I took Abigail to the doctor for her annual eye and ear exams. Given our family history – Ted also got glasses at an early age – I wasn’t surprised when the test indicated that my daughter should see an opthamologist. She’s older than I was. But it will be an adjustment for us all.

We ask Abigail whether she has trouble seeing. She says she is fine. Yet I remember that I didn’t know what accurate vision was until my glasses told me. I believed street lights were supposed to be big and blurry. We only know what we know.

The word correction can have painful associations. Who wants to be corrected? The term is associated with imprisonment, red pen marks and perhaps even a rap on the knuckles.

But sometimes a correction can bring a better picture into view. Correction can be good, not bad, if I take my mind off of the price and my pride. Humility is hard. Those who wear glasses advertise a visible reminder of their imperfections. As painful as the soreness – and occasional bleeding – that my childhood glasses cut into my nose with their weight, I remember the teasing. Soon as I could, I convinced my mom to buy me contacts. Instead of applying pressure, I wish children would encourage others who wear glasses or use necessary aids. After all, they are the ones willing to be corrected.

raspberries, microscopy and photography…

I put a piece of berry under the scope on low power..

and then tried to take a picture of it by placing the digital camera against the eyepiece.

I still need to perfect technique, but it’s fun to be able to share what I can see through the scope, the red circles of raspberry and thin “hair” between them.

By Michaela’s request, this is a view of dried banana stem…

One of the reasons why my pace of posting has slowed is that I have changed my schedule, becoming the early bird I once was, in order to run. I want to get in shape and realized that at this stage of life I wasn’t going to be able to work out unless I wake up in time to do it while everyone is still asleep. The girls though have started getting up earlier with the sun so I started getting up earlier too, moving the alarm clock arm two hours ahead. Exerting myself in the morning also means there is less of me left at night. Often I fall asleep when my daughters do. My strategy for blogging used to be burning the midnight oil but now that I’m burning something else and getting sore muscles, I can’t keep my eyes open and my brain clear enough to post. Ted’s a night owl and one aspect of blogging I enjoyed was the way it encouraged me to keep his schedule. Our difference in natural body clocks has been one of the biggest problems in our marriage. However, one morninig this week I got up when he came to bed. I miss our synchronized lives but I find I’m happier getting up earlier. I have time to myself, time to think, reflect and pray, time to take care of me before I take care of everyone else. I also feel better when I’ve gone running. I’m surprising myself by making my goals and enjoying the new sense of strength and confidence. The early bird may not get many words on the blog. But the early bird gets the workout.

Walking on Winslow Way past this mosaic in front of Cafe Nola last week, I saw this glass ferry boat and suddenly remembered anecdotes I had heard years ago. When we moved to Bainbridge Island, I was already pregnant with Michaela, our second child. The logistics of delivering a baby can create creative situations for islanders. A new hospital has since opened in Silverdale, about 40 minutes from our home, but in 2000, the two hospital options were Bremerton, about an hour from here, or Seattle, a 35 minute ferry ride (and schedule-dependent!). Soon I heard a number of Bainbridge birth stories. I heard about a baby born in a truck while the parents were trying to make it to Bremerton. I’ve heard stories of women in labor transported by the emergency helicopter to Seattle. I also heard from someone close to my age, that babies born on the ride to Seattle years ago were often given the ferry’s name for a middle name. Ted and I joked that our kids would be nicknamed “Walla Walla” or “Wenatchee“. “Tacoma” might have been another option. Even though I have relatively short labors, I did not give birth to our second or third child on a boat. Both were born in Seattle safely although Michaela came with a little adventure. I woke just in time to make the last ferry of the night at 1:30 am and we had to call 911 so they would hold the boat for us. I’m happy my kids came healthy in a hospital. I don’t miss the stress of being pregnant on Bainbridge. But I still think it could have been fun to call my kids across the neighborhood… Wenatchee and Tacoma… it’s time for dinner…..