Adam’s off to the Peace Corp

I just returned from Durham, NC to say my goodbye’s to my #1 son  Adam who’s  leaving for a 2 year stint in the Peace Corp (El Salvador) this coming Tuesday. He’ll fly to Washington DC for an orientation and then off to El Salvador for more training and then eventually his assignment. I have to give him a lot of credit for his perseverance – there were times he wanted to quit the application process because  of so many bureaucratic hoops they made him jump through.  It was much more difficult than enlisting in the military with all kinds of physical, emotional and legal paperwork to deal with, BUT with all that said, he put his nose down and submitted everything that was asked of him and finally after months of follow-up e-mails and phone calls he got his acceptance letter and now this young man is following his dream of being a Peace Corp Volunteer.  His family is very proud of him and know he will be an asset to who ever he serves while in El Salvador.

We had an absolutely fantastic farewell dinner at a wonderful restaurant in Durham with our totally dysfunctional family.  (We put the FUN in dysfunctional) His Uncle Greg drove in from Wilmington, Cody (step-brother) drove in with me and of course his Mom and Step-Dad Willie.  We were the loudest table at the restaurant, but we made sure our waiter got a great BIG tip for putting up with our boisterous group.  I ran out of steam a little before midnight and checked into a cheap Days Inn motel. My room smelled like smoke even though I requested a non-smoking room.

I got a restless nights sleep and woke up to some find some bitter hotel coffee and headed back to Robin’s house (Adam’s Mom) for an incredibly tasty and filling breakfast consisting of spicy cheese omlets, sausage and cheese grits.  Cody went into short order cook mode and fed the hungry masses. It’s great that we can all get together with no weird vibes or animosity and share in a special celebration for Adam. God bless Adam! Our prayers are with him as he begins a new chapter in his life. I hope to travel to El Salvador in the next year to visit him and possibly travel around that entire region of Central America.

Funny thing about life…you blink and your kids are off on their own and you look around at your once hectic / chaotic home and its all so quite. I’m not sure what to make of it all so I’ll just keep blogging IT.

Time to Move On

When I’m not teaching online or working at my college job, I’m thinking about the best way  to move from this little coastal town and begin a new chapter in my life.  There’s no doubt I’ve been here too long. Way too long in fact, and if I don’t get to a bigger city,  back to Ireland or into some type of mission work I’m gonna loose it.

Sure…its quite here and I have a nice home and secure job, BUT with that said I feel a “calling” to do something very different with my life.  I would love to focus more on writing and photography, however I also have this constant gnawing in my heart to get back into some type of ministry.  I’m not sure what form of outreach or ministry that would be.  I’m exploring both Christian and secular mission work, but would like to take some time off to soul search.  The problem is I work so may hours I haven’t had any serious time to reflect on this “calling” this constant desire to leave my present job and do something completely different. I’m not a spontaneous person and will take the next year to begin seriously planning what I am going to do and when. My target date is 1/10 so I’m giving myself a year to lay the groundwork to make that transition from teaching  into retirement and on to that next part of this journey called life.  It would be very easy to settle in and accept where I’m at in life – continue plodding along at the job and going through the motions of teaching and fulfilling my administrative duties. That’s just not me though.  I’m rapidly losing my passion for Community College teaching and want to find that next challenge in life to apply my passion, energy, skills and enthusiasm to.  It may still be teaching, but in a very different context.

I will admit the political landscape is also fueling my desire to leave the country.  I could easily live in Ireland if I could find an affordable place to live and sell my house here on the coast of NC.  I have taken that first step and given myself a time line to follow. Yes…it’s time for Patrick to move on and begin planning for the next adventure.

The KeO sojourn is now in the planning “conceptual” stages. You can be sure it will be blogged!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it SNOW

The college VP called me woke me this morning with a phone call to say the college was closed.  YEA! An extension to my already long weekend. A snow storm apparently was heading our way and folks on the coast of NC just don’t do well driving in the snow SO I got a reprieve from my lighting class demo and some afternoon meeting.  I love unexpected breaks from my routine so I went out to my local coffee shop and enjoyed some coffee while catching up on internet course work and e-mail.  I honestly didn’t think we were going to get a snow storm here in Morehead City.  After all…it was just raining and above freezing.

I did work half day and then after lunch the temperature dropped and by 2:00pm the snow started falling and that’s when I grabbed my camera and went out to take some photos of this rare event on the coast of NC. On top of that…my daughter Skyped me before I went out and said she had been fishing off the coast of Miami with her step-dad Robert and had caught a fish. She sent me the photo to prove it. Now…I am tickled for he BUT there is something wrong with this picture. My daughter Andei is sailing around the tip of Florida fishing with her Mom and Robert while Dad is trying to earn a living and stay warm in this frigid snowy cold.

So here are some photos from the days romp in the snow including the photo Andei sent me of her fishing.

Andei enjoying fishing in the warm waters of Miami

While dear old Dad is weathering the cold, wind and snow – what’s that all about?

Self Portrait in Snow and Pink Toboggan

Makeshift Lighthouse in Snow Bogue Sound in Background

Backyard in Snow

Snow of Fern

Snow and Trees

Snow through Windshield

Tiretracks & Footprints

ENJOY!

The Next Chapter…

It’s a frigid Sunday morning and I’m sitting in my cozy home office sipping a cup of hot coffee and checking  on all my online classes before heading out to church. I have art students all over the state this semester and in some cases overseas. I just love how I can be sitting home (in my warm PJ’s) with my laptop teaching a subject I am passionate about to students hundreds of miles away. I absolutely love technology and how it’s empowered me as a teacher and distance learning administrator.

Technology also allowed me to have face to face conversations with my daughter Andei while she was in Sicily and then Paris.

Now we talk and share our love for photography as  she sails towards the Bahamas with her Mom and step-Dad using a program called Skype. I still can’t believe it’s free software.

We both have web cams so we can see each other as we talk, and also can send photographic files back and forth to each other. The other night I even critiqued some of her new images she has taken from the boat. Her photography continues to evolve and get stronger.

View from Sailboat at Dusk Andei Keough 1/09

She is developing a unique and very identifiable personal style based on her non-conventional camera angles, selective focusing techniques and abstracted compositions relying on the interrelationship of lines, shapes and colors and not so much on depicting representational subject matter in a didactic fashion.

Canoes and Kayaks - Andei Keough 1/09

My son Adam is here visiting for the weekend.  He leaves for the Peace Corp in El Salvador at the end of the month.  We went out and had a great dinner last night with his brother (my step-son) Cody.  He’s practicing his Spanish every chance he gets and is already thinking ahead about graduate school and career options.  Wow! You wake up one day, after all the trails and tribulations of raising children and all of a sudden they are out on their own and building lives of their own.  I feel as though I’ve run this really hard (grueling) race and now I’m sitting back catching my breath realizing the race is over and I can rest for awhile.

I’m excited for both my children.  Traveling is an education in itself and so important in developing confidence and a heightened awareness of other cultures.  I believe the Peace Corp experience will be a good one for Adam and a great addition to his resume when he begins  his career journey after Graduate School.

I’m at the tail end of my regular 9-5 job at the College and look forward to venturing into other creative endeavors.  I’ll always teach online because I love to teach, in addition to the great supplement it will be to my retirement.  The great thing about it is I can teach from anywhere in the world that has an internet connection and/or wireless.  That’s the plan I’m developing as retirement gets closer.

I want to have more quality time to write, photograph, paint and travel as well as visit my children where ever they may be and the places around the world I have not been to yet such as South America, Africa and possibly even Australia.

Yes…I’ve experienced many ups and downs in my life – traversed many hills and valley’s and I can look back and realize my journey has made me who I am.  No one gets a free ride and no one goes through life without having to experience bad times. Sometimes terribly difficult and heart wrenching times. When I compare my life’s sojourn with others less fortunate  I have to stop for a moment and be thankful for the blessings that have been bestowed on me.  Divorce wasn’t a picnic and it hurt terribly but I survived it and so did my children and their mothers.

Our great country is getting ready to enter a new chapter in its evolution and I hope things start getting better for the people that have been out of work and/or impacted negatively by the struggling economy.  I am not going to wax philosophical  about politics here – what’s the point? The people have spoken and soon we will find out what change means for us all.

Family Shadows Long Island NY 11/08

I for one am going to focus on being their for my family, children and students, in addition to preparing myself for the next leg of my journey on this bumpy road we call life.

Some New Photographs

I created a new page with some film (plastic camera) photographs that I took on Ocracoke a few weeks ago.  I am really enjoying getting back to my roots shooting film.  A nice break from digital photography and a very different creative experience. I will post my contrast and comparisons of the two photographic mediums in the next day or so. Click Here!

Pin Hole Photograph of Trees in Morning Light

I also caught the full moon with my long lens of my digital camera last night.  I lucked out…had my camera with me and the clouds parted long enough for me to grab a few shots. This one is my favorite.  CLICK HERE

Sun is Setting on Christmas Vacation

Atlantic Beach Sunset 1/2/09

It’s been an extremely quite and relaxing Sunday before returning to work tomorrow.  I’ve truly savored this time off and must admit, I could use another week or so of vacation.  As I get older it gets more and MORE difficult to get myself “UP” for the rigors of teaching and my administrative duties.  Like I said in a previous post…once I go back to work, I have to put art and photography on the back burner until my next break.

Andei in Paris 12/08

I have lots to be thankful for as this New Year unfolds. My daughter Andei got back from her Paris excursion safe and sound and is with her Mom and step-Dad somewhere on the coast of Florida about to cruise the Bahamas.  She’ll be living on a sailboat and finishing her High School via online homeschooling.  What an incredible opportunity for a young girl.  I can’t wait to see the photographs she takes while cruising the Caribbean .  Her work just keeps getting better as she continues to develop her unique personal photographic style.

My son Adam leaves for the Peace Corps in a few weeks.  This is a dream come true for him – I was really impressed with how “he never gave up” as he jumped through the countless administrative hoops to get an acceptance letter and appointment to spend two years working in El Salvador.

I’ve got my plate over full for Spring semester as far as my freelance online teaching commitments.  I’m excited about teaching Computer Art for the first time totally online and I spent many hours over my break designing and building the class. The next 3 months I’m just going to focus on the teaching and try not to get discouraged about not having a lot of time to make art, photograph and do any serious writing although I am looking forward to participating in an online Creative Writing class.

As I walked Andei’s dog Mojo tonight (yes…Mojo lives with me now) it struck me just how incredibly lucky (and blessed) I am.  Heck…I live on the water and have a job doing what I love. My kids are happy and healthy,  my parents are still alive and well and living in New York. Sure…I’d love to be retired and living (writing / photographing) in southwestern Ireland. It’s just a matter of time before I get there – until then,  I’m going to savor each and every moment I have on this earth.

I’ve added a new page to the blog for short stories. I plan on adding to this in the months ahead and hopefully get some other folks to send me stories as well.

God is good! Thank YOu Jesus! cheers

Happy New Year!

Wishing you ALL a very happy and blessed New Year! Too tired to post much tonight.  More to come tomorrow.

Andei is flying back to meet her Mom and step-dad in Daytona Beach, Florida from Paris in the morning.

Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers.

I look forward to a great and productive 2009. We must keep a positive attitude during these stressful  times. I feel so incredibly blessed for my family, friends and my teaching job.

I’m well aware there are many people out of work and struggling right now.

New Years Day is a time for quite contemplation, counting blessings and soul searching.

God is good! What more can is say……..