more portaits

a portrait of hazel

hazel is exceptionally difficult to photograph. she is very animated but it seems that she has the native american idea that a photo will capture her soul. so the photos i have of her are less than reflective of who she is. last night in a rare moment, i got this shot of her. she is wearing a dress that was ruby's , purchased on the streets of china.

the school play & mothers day

the kids and i took linda to tryon creek for a hike on mothers day. we decided that eating first of the season strawberries in the oregon woods was far better than a traditional brunch!

last night was ruby's school play. here she is in costume as a flying unicorn with mia, her best pal.

woodstock

kindergarten. i can hardly believe that it is almost time for ruby to be in kindergarten. i remember my first day of kindergarten. 1967, mrs kirshners afternoon class at duniway. my mom took me and i wailed when she left. pretty soon i gravitated to the corner of the room which was set up as a house. complete with kitchen, laundry area, and telephone. the phone was one of those black classics that della street would have rung up perry on. soon after my mom left i was happily ironing and there were no more tears.

i spent the next nine years at duniway. moving from room to room as i went from kindergarten to first grade , second grade and beyond. i shared a classroom with many of the same kids through my years there. most went on to my high school , and believe it or not, i went off to college with one person i went all the way through with starting in mrs kirshners class.

last week i got the all important lottery letter from portland public schools. we are fortunate here in portland to have “magnet” schools. special programs that you can apply for via lottery. woodstock , which is about 15 blocks from me , has mandarin immersion starting in kindergarten. to qualify for the lottery you have to jump through some hoops- attending a mandatory meeting, filling out paperwork and getting a language screening. then you wait to see if you get in.

i was surprised to see the envelope, as i was not expecting it until the end of the month. i was almost afraid to open it , since i am so committed to her learning mandarin, i wasn’t sure how i would react if she didn’t get in. but i made myself open it, i was relieved and i was happy to see that ruby will be at woodstock next year. i know she’ll be making all kinds of connections with other kids, with learning and with the world.

of equal importance, she will be learning her native language, surrounded by kids both chinese and Caucasian. adopted and not adopted. i wonder if her classroom will have a “house “ area. if so, it likely has a microwave and a cell phone rather than a stove and perry’s phone. some things will be the same- she’ll be learning to read, learning to get along with others and lifelong connections and friends. woodstock here we come.

hazel is TWO