Zero degree baby; Kalib and his spatula, part 2; Larry Aiken paints a dream of belugas; a walk through the valley of the shadow
Friday, December 3, 2010 at 2:38PM 
As I walked yesterday in the zero degree* cold, I happened upon a one-year old baby, who had also gone out for a walk - only she had traveled by stroller, not foot.
This is she - baby Lily. Her mother, Christie, told me that she and baby Lily go out regularly, whatever the weather, and baby Lily enjoys it all. It does not distress her to be out in the cold - unless a fierce wind is blowing and strikes her right in the face. Her mother protects her, so that she does not feel that wind for more than seconds.
Sometimes, they walk for hours, Mom says. Baby Lily loves it.
How pleasing to know that this is a little girl being brought up not to fear the elements, not to shrink away and retreat only to the comfort of the indoors but to get out and enjoy.
Baby Lily may be well on her way to be coming a true Alaska girl.
As usual, at 4:00 PM I headed to Metro Cafe to get my coffee. After Shoshauna prepared it for me, I did not go home or take my usual drive, but continued on, with Anchorage as my destination. My friend, Larry Aiken, had experienced a couple of very hard days in his cancer treatment and I knew it was time to visit him again.
When I reached the Junction of the Parks and Palmer-Wasilla Highways, I was pleased to be stopped by a red light, so that I could pause, compose, and shoot.
As I crossed the Hay Flats, I heard a text message come in on my phone. I pulled off the highway at the next exit - the Native Village of Eklutna - to read it. It was from Lavina. She was out with Kalib and Jobe and they were going to pick up a pizza.
She invited me to stop by to have some.
;)
Only Jacob was home when I arrived, but soon we heard Lavina, Kalib and Jobe pull into the driveway.
Remember how, at Thanksgiving, I told you that Kalib had become attached to a spatula, that he kept it with him almost at all times and that it had become his favorite toy?
He entered the living room carrying that spatula. Even as his mother removed his sweater, he kept hold of that spatula.
When it was time to eat the pizzas, Kalib proved that the spatula was more than a toy to him, but a tool as well.
He wielded that tool well.
Jobe's not really into pizza yet, but he does love his dehydrated fruity yogurt treats - as do I. Knowing full well the danger, his dad handed me the bag so that I could feed him.
I gave him one. I would have given him more, but he ate too damn slow. What is one to do when he is holding the yogurt treats and the baby is eating too slow but to eat yogurt treats himself?
Then I went to see Larry and we had a good visit. It is one of those terrible ironies of life, but to kill cancer, one must undergo treatment that will make him very sick and so the past few days had been hard for Larry.
To help get him through, Larry has continued on his art work. He showed me this little beluga painting that is nearing completion. It is of the belugas as they appear under water. Larry has never been under the water with the belugas, but they came to him in a dream and showed him how they look under there.
So he is painting that dream.
Readers who were with me then will recall how shortly after Larry arrived in Anchorage to begin his treatment, he began a self-portrait of himself harpooning a bowhead whale. His whaling captain, George Adams, was right behind, ready to follow up with the shoulder gun. Last night, Larry told me the story of that whale.
He is not quite done with the self-portrait, yet, but as you can see, it is moving along. Once the portrait is done, I will take another photo and will pass on the story as Larry told it to me.
His art is his therapy.
He also finds therapy in the support, prayers and love of friends and family.
These are the things that get him through each day.
And I found therapy in Larry's company - and in the hug that he gave me just before we parted company. There was fear in that hug, but hope and strength even more so.
Now I will take you back to India, for just a flash:
Regarding my ongoing process of grief for Soundarya - grief that seems not to ease but only to intensify - this is how I have decided to handle it in this blog. From now until however long it takes me to sort through, edit and create some sort of picture package from the images that I took of her, Anil and of India, I am going to keep that take at the forerfront of my Lightroom editor. I will work on it when I can.
Now and then, at times with more frequency than others, I will drop random pictures from India into this blog. Until I finish, these will not be pictures of Soundarya, but of other people and things in India, the place that made her.
When you see those pictures, even if I do not mention her name, you will be reminded of her, and you will know that I am thinking of her.
I start with this set of three only because they were the ones visible on the front page of my editor at the moment I decided to do this.
I took these during an interim moment. Sandy and Anil were off being newlyweds, Melanie and I had made a big trip with Vasanthi and Vijay and were about to take another with Vasanthi, Murthy and Buddy. In the meantime, Melanie and I took a walk from the Murthy home and soon got caught in a sudden downpour.
Some fruit vendors invited us to take shelter with them.
We did. The rain was furious, but brief.
When it ended, we said goodbye as best we could to these vendors, who spoke little English, and then moved on.
Very soon, we came across this young boy.
And then this one. I would have taken more pictures of people that we encountered after the rain, but after I shot this one, my Canon 5D Mark II, which I had protected from all but a few drops of rain, shut down on me and would not shoot again until I sent it into Canon for a $350 repair job.
As I do not like to carry it, I had almost left my Canon 1Ds Mark III at home, but at the last moment had decided to bring it. This proved to be a very good thing because otherwise, I would have been out of action from this moment forward.
Well... probably not... I would have acquired some kind of camera in India.
The Valley of the Shadow...
;)
As readers know, despite my own, very intense, and at least from my mother very sincere, religious upbringing, despite the fact that I associate closely with many people of deep religious faith, I am not a person of faith myself. Yet, from the time I woke up this morning until right now, a certain scripture has kept repeating itself in my head.
It is a most important scripture to me personally and I also think the King James version of it to be among the most beautiful words ever put together in the English language.
It speaks of a valley, a valley that we all must walk through for each and every second that we live. At times, we are acutely aware that we walk in this valley, other times, our minds push all thoughts and fears of it to the side and we just laugh, enjoy, make merry and do what we feel like doing.
But sooner or later, that valley always manifests itself about us and makes certain we know we walk there.
Yet, somehow, this scripture makes that valley appear less frightening:
The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures:
he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul:
he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for thou art with me;
thy rod and thy staff comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies:
thou anointest my head with oil;
my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life:
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
These words come from the Judeo-Christian Bible, but I have felt the feeling behind them in the contexts of many different faiths - yes, even in the Mormon faith that I grew up with but can no longer be shackled by. I feel it in the churches whenever I gather with my Iñupiat and other Native friends and they sing so beautifully, with such strong heart and deep spirit.
I have felt it in a tipi, with a fire burning hot in the center, surrounded by drums and singing on the rim of the circle. I have felt it in a sweat lodge where spiritual beliefs that predate the United States but not the original people of this land have made themselves manifest.
And yes, I have felt it in a Hindu temple when a holy man has spoken words that I do not understand and has reached out and touched me on the forehead and left a red mark there - and among Muslims, who have invited me to come in off the Bangalore street and into their butcher shop, with carcasses suspended from the ceiling, there to share their coffee and spirit with me.
I have felt it among those sincere in many faiths when they have reached out with that faith to soothe and support others.
I do not necessarily feel it from those - again in any and all faiths - who would use their religion as a club to smash down and subdue others.
But among the sincere, hurt and caring, I have felt such comfort across the gamut. I gratefully accept all of their prayers and blessings.
*That's zero degrees F; - 18 C.
Reader Comments (7)
Wow! Kalib really knows how to use that spatula! Well done!
I think I will like to visit India through your blog. Sure glad you found those pictures!
Thank you for the peace and serenity your posts bring me.
I have been familiar with the 23rd Psalm since childhood when we memorized it at vacation bible school. As a child I wrongly believed that the "valley" referred to those times when David was harrassed and surrounded by Saul's armies, etc.
But two years ago, when I was diagnosed with ovarian cancer, I suddenly realized that "No! the Valley is where we live. WE live in the Valley of the Shadow of Death".
We all deal with death. Every last one of us. It is with us and it is our enemy. The hope of the Christian is that death will one day be no more. I, too, find much assurance in this Psalm.
I will be praying for Larry that his treatment works well. And I will be looking forward to seeing his finished self-portrait.
Ooops! I forgot to add this. Kalib does a good job with pizza. The next family task is to teach him to use it with pancakes! Or French toast! My dgs, age 12, makes a mean French toast using raisin bread and a touch of cinnamon. I think Kalib would like that, too!
*smile*
Thank you for such a great comment. It was nice to meet you yesterday on our walk. We look forward to meeting again while braving the elements! Beautiful shot of my daughter, thank you!
Yes, the valley, well said........of all the toys ever made, the spatula.....priceless......so functional!
I love seeing parents who take their kids out and dont shelter them from what Mother Nature has to offer! I always had my kids out like that and have such fond memories of our walks. Lily is just a little doll!
Isnt it amazing with all the toys that kids get, they usually focus on something cheap and from the home? My oldest, who is now almost 17, loved pots when he was Kalibs age. All you had to do was give him a pot from the kitchen and he was perfectly content!
I cant get over how much Kalib and Jobe look alike!
Tell Larry to stay strong, there are so many people thinking about him. The treatments are horrible but hopefully soon Larry will be on the upside of everything.
Its so funny you mentioned that particular passage. I was raised Roman Catholic but have been an atheist for yrs. Its been 2 months since I lost my dad to cancer and that passage has popped in to my head many times since I said goodbye to him. Maybe its because the minister read it at his service, I dont know. Just one of those things I guess.
Its 12:30 am and its snowing like crazy. Hopefully just a few miles down the road in your neck of the woods the white stuff is falling for you also. Wasilla needs some snow to pretty it up some more, especially now that the city has put the Christmas decorations up around town!