Three Snails as Gifts

Paper Snail

KH West Elementary

Larry, the Snail

KH West Elementary

Wire Snail

BB Park Elementary

I have a new perspective on an earlier post titled It's Time.
In recalling my childhood memories of Saturday nights, I realize
my freshly shampooed head was totally covered with little pin curl snails!!!!

So now I'm thinking the world is full of spirals!
In fact, many blog reading folks have mentioned "snail" sightings.
Perhaps you have noticed the same?

DH discovered a snail residing in a cinnamon roll.
JB saw one curled up on the end of a rolled exercise mat!


Perhaps they are a basic and essential design element in nature and physics that I have simply overlooked . . .  taken for granted.

'Something  new    to    s l o w l y     explore! 

Q: Can you ever learn enough???
A: Not if you LoVe learning!!!!!!!!!!

As for this day 

I will set aside the blog 

that I may finish preparing for my trip 

to New York City!

I will be attending the amazing 

Art Educators National Conference 

with my friend and colleague, SS!

www.arteducators.org/convention 

Even Peter Max will be there!

www.petermax.com/ 

NOTE:  The truth be known, my phone contains the following list for my thinking, imagining of snails to come:

36  Take something old and make it look new [this one is half done!]

38  Work underwater





39  Haiku!   [done . . . thanks CF]

40  Use yarn in some way

41 Think big create a large version that would normally be much smaller

42  Turn junk mail into something much more appealing

43  Learn something new ask a friend to help you do something using a technique or skill they are good at [perhaps that TP stuffed snail from earlier . . .  SS gave me some tips!]

44  Make something that lights up with electricity or a candle  [I want to do SO many things with this one . . .  I can't stop thinking of ideas . . . interesting!]

45  Use some kind of tape  and make it on a  nontraditional surface
extra credit: leave it for others to find

46  What can you do with a face?

I shall return!

Perhaps with a bit of an out east accent . . .

and 

most certainly with

new sights and sounds and smells 

in my head!!!!!

 @

Write A Haiku

Day 39

Snail, Poetic

[By CF, friend and poet.]

Haiku: A short, nonrhyming, three-line, traditional Japanese poem. In English, they usually have seventeen syllables: five syllables on the first and third lines, and seven syllables on the second line. 

Here are three!

slowly crawling by

living safely in it's shell

all hail the sweet snail!!

slowly moving snail

hidden in a spiral shell

nature at it's best!

silly little snail

leaves a very slimy trail

find you without fail!

Snail's Trail Quilting Block

In the midst of searching for books about snails, I discovered 

the classic quilt block, 

Snail's Trail!!!

Copied on 2/18/12 by DF from http://0.tqn.com/d/quilting/1/0/t/I/-/-/snails_trail_quilt.jpg

Treat Your Eyes to a Quilt Feast!

Google four words:
Snail's Trail Quilting Block

Scroll down the results to:

Images for Snail’s Trail Quilting Block

BEAUTIFUL!

Create A Bridge

 Day 22

Snail Bridge

[By BK, First Grade @ West Elementary]

Think of the great bridges you have crossed.

Wouldn't this top them all?

Thank you for sharing your creative bridge art, BK!

It's Time

Old Scarf Snail

One Last Hurrah! 

Does anyone else have trouble 

throwing things away?

This scarf has accessorized me for several years.

Sadly, while sorting the laundry this morning, I realized the sparkly gold stands are shedding and the fringe at each end is tying itself in knots.

 

It was the first fashionable scarf I really ever wore, but it is time to let it go.

A Memory:
My mom would secure a scarf around my head at bedtime each Saturday night after she wound my hair in bobby pin curls.

 

Pedometer Purchase

It is called Footsteps

By Palm Shadow Apps LLC

It even looks cool backwards!
[Who knows! There's probably an app to flip it.]

Think I'll put on my shoes and get outside to check it out! 

Currently mild, dry pavement, calm.


Whew!
Nice bit of fresh air out there.
Felt good.


I did a fast walk  . . .
then a short run to the end of the block and back.

The app recorded and saved all the stats I want with ease.


Next Purchase:
Gloves that allow me to use my phone!

Another Disguise Idea

I discovered myself awake too early this morning. I was hungry and in the mood to imagine something.

So I sat at the kitchen island drawing while enjoying Triscuits, cheese, and red grapes.

Soon enough I was content and back to bed for some more zzzZZZzzz! 

Paper Doll Snail

[with six slow disguises] 

Modeling the Slow Warm Up

Notes:

I have just added a search feature to the blog. To see the earlier "disguise" post, simply search for the word! Voila!

Friend and foodie, CG, suggests laying a thin slice of cheese on a Triscuit before zapping it in the microwave. 

Q: How long? 

A: A few melting seconds! Yum.

I LoVe Paper Dolls! 

Challenge:

I wonder if I can add music to my snail video?

I think I can. I think I can!

Stay "tuned".

:)

  

                                        

Outside and Around the Block

Mild weather called me outside this afternoon after work.
I took a little jog/walk around the block and down the street a ways.

It felt good.
Didn't record distance or time . . .  just wanted to feel the earth under my feet!

Using a Stapler

Day 37

Metallic Snail [foil and staples]

Create Instructions for Others to Follow

Day 35

Draw-a-Snail

Give it a try.

I think you can. I think you can! 

Happy Valentine's
Day 

Using Pens [Nostalgia Alert!!!]

Day 33

Love & Peace Snail

With the History Center's 1968 Exhibit in my head, 

I'm feeling lonesome 

for the art of my teen years.

This snail is dedicated to those days and is inspired by them.

Here are a few examples of that work.

 Marching Band Shoes

[c. 1970] Permanent Marker

Detail.

 What fun to discover a snail!!!

Can you see it?

 Boy Scout Back Pack

[early 70's] Embroidery Floss

Detail.

Something Ephemeral

ephemeral  

Definition:  Lasting for a very short time.

Synonyms:  transitory -- transient -- momentary -- short-lived

Day 32

Snail via Sun

Note: Ten minutes after this photo was taken the counter was in shadows . . .

We are all moving at such great speeds around the sun!

Hang ON!

And . . .  HaVe FuN!!!!! 

BB, thank you for the Chinese New Year streamers!

I think I also see a snail.

Then, as the ceiling fan slows down the tissue strips make the most wonderful happy paper sounds as they flap in the decreasing winds. I took almost 20 photos, enjoying each one!

Oh!!!

I just learned that I can add video to my blog!!!

Suggestion: Maximum Sound, Full Screen

Thoughts on Running/Walking

I walked this morning

. . .  a distance of .63 miles at an average speed of 2.4 mph. That's a 23 minute mile.

'Had to respect a little tweak in my back . . . 

and . . . 

more honestly, there's this good book I wanted to start reading!

So  . . .  with my head in the pages I strolled along and stopped just a few steps past the next leg of my journey:

Crow River Winery!

www.crowriverwinery.com

YES!!!!

The next milestone is a nearby community, Silver Lake!

It is 5.1 miles east of the winery. I'll let you know when I arrive. Maybe we can all stop for lunch at Molly's Cafe!

Sometimes when I'm on the treadmill [and not reading] I daydream ideas:

What if my next virtual journey would be the looping path my blood takes to bring oxygen to all the parts of me that help me keep living and moving? Wouldn't that be cRaZy fun???? Two legs of my journey could really be my two legs!!!     :)

So I did a little research. Hmmmm. According to BODY by Richard Walker, that would be a distance of about 93,000 miles.  WoW!!! I find that fascinating.

This growing focus on moving is gifting me with a renewed interest in the human body.

[First introduced to us by the amazing Mr. Enberg, our 10th grade biology teacher.]

@

The date for the 

Henning Area Festival 5k 

is:

  Saturday, July 14th.

'just a blink and a season or two away

 @

"A Much Smaller Snail" Photos!!!!!

Where's the snail?
[NOTE: The titanium disc is about the size of a quarter.]

Can you see it yet?

Ah, there it is . . .

Snail [with Hair]

Dear Brother,

BIG thanks for your photos of a much smaller   snail!!! 

Working With Wire

 Day 34

Scribble Scribble Snail

Guest Artist: My Dad

Many years ago my father disposed of 

a box spring, 

in the process gifting us 

with this outdoor hanging sculpture! 

It is a JoY in every season . . .  capturing leaves and icicles . . . inviting birds to perch and squirrels to stash their nuts!

I talked with him by phone just now, enjoying the story once again, of how it came to be.

I am proud to share his art with you.

Scribble Scribble [detail]

'Owning a great many 

pieces of wire,

perhaps down the road

I shall be as inspired

 as my dad.

:)

A Path for People to Follow

Day 31

Autumn Snail

My intentions have been to create a snowy path in a public space.

But as I waited for a fresh snow cover I was watching the few patches we have . . .  melt away!

For that reason, and because it is a fun memory for me to share, I offer this back yard photo taken in October of 2010. 

I invite your imagination to go for a little walk!

Gift of a Snail

Snail on a White Board!

By AM

There is great fun in drawing a spiral!

I invite you to doodle one today.

Q:  Will you begin at the center or from the outside?

A Much Smaller Snail

I just received this email from my brother:

"Today I was checking the alignment on a laser weld station

and instead of blasting random pulses

I made a snail of sorts for you.  

The disk of titanium is a little bigger in diameter 

than a quarter."

His note includes photos that progressively zoom in on his laser artwork, with the last photo including another means of size comparison. 
The snail on that disk is barely eleven times the width of a human hair!!!

Incredible.
And very cool!

Q:  Could a snail be SO small???
A:  YES!


Thanks, dear brother!


NOTE: Photos to follow! [I am currently experiencing a technology growing pain.]  :/

A Snail Song

RB, music teacher and friend, shared this little song early in January through the voices of twenty-three delightful first graders. 

[It is one step in their discovery of the JoY of music.]

What a surprise it was . . . and what fun!

I am learning so much.

For example, RB explained,

unlike most tunes, this music ends on a note that invites us to sing it once more!

Snail in Disguise

3snails@@@HopeIFooledYou.net

Day 29

3 "At" Snails

A true story about this snail:

The "disguised snail" had been giving my brain a real workout for about a week!

Then, from my childhood, came a memory of a gorgeous little plastic doll standing on my grandma's bathroom shelf.

She wore a brightly crocheted gown.

On closer inspection I had discovered she was concealing a spare roll of toilet paper!

Could a snail do the same?
I'm not sure. But here is my attempt . . .

 

 Toilet Paper Snail Disguise

[on hold]

I struggled with a pattern and with the three dimensional challenges of tapering the head and foot at the two ends. It was   s l o w   g o i n g .         I left it.

A day or two later, at work on my computer, I made a typo.

I intended to do this: !!!

but ' hit the Shift with the 2 instead of the 1 

and came up with this: @@@

I saw them at once!  Snails!!!!     [in disguise!!!]

Day 29, complete.

NOTES:

Thank you to all of you dear friends and family who tell me you are stopping by the blog now and then to check out the snails . . .  and the 5k training.

My primary intention was using the blog as accountability to myself.

The reality is: There is GreAt FuN in sharing it and getting ideas and help and encouragement!

Thank you, thank you!

Flying Past the Treasure Shed!!!

This is a new way of thinking for me: 

I'm laying in bed between my 5:24 am alarm and my 6:00 am alarm and I decided to get up and run on the treadmill !

Total Distance 1.4 miles    Averages:  4.7 mph      and a    12 mn. mile   

Leg 2 of my virtual journey to Minnetonka Mud complete and passed!

On to the Crow River Winery, just 2 miles down the road.