torrey pines | Thinking Through My Lens

Thursdays are my SDAWP day. That means that I spend the day at UCSD doing my work as the director of the San Diego Area Writing Project (SDAWP). Inspired by Margaret Simon‘s list of things she loves in her slice the other day, I’ve been thinking about things I love about my SDAWP work.

I love being on campus at UCSD. I’ve taken so many photos of the library–it’s unusual architecture means it always makes an interesting picture. This one was from this morning–I wanted to capture the billowing clouds to the east. As I neared the library, I could hear music. If you look closely you’ll see the people singing. The acoustics of the cement building made their voices soar, those few people sounded like a concert…before 8am this morning.

I love the many opportunities I have to talk with educators across disciplines, across educational roles, across levels. Rich conversations about access and equity, what constitutes success and how to bridge the instructional gaps that happen along the K-college pipeline for some students.

I have a love/hate relationship with writing grants. I love imagining the possibilities and creating structures to support teachers and students. I hate deadlines and the institutional hoops you have to leap through just to submit–and that doesn’t even ensure the grant will be awarded. I’m deeply in the writing process of a grant right now…and probably should be writing that right now instead of blogging. Wish me luck!

I love working with and supporting teachers. I especially love talking educational pedagogy, best practices, and all things writing. I love reading the latest research and thinking about both tried and true approaches and new ideas that I haven’t yet tested for myself.

I love that my doctorate didn’t pull me out of the classroom. With my dual (or more) roles, I get to retain my expertise and credibility as a classroom teacher and stretch beyond my classroom to work county-wide, state-wide and nationally. There is never a dull moment with my multiple hats balanced on my head.

And I love that on my way home I can stop off at Torrey Pines Reserve for a walk on the beach. The cliffs at Torrey Pines are spectacular! Today I chatted with a photographer whose camera lens was the size of a small child. He was watching a mating pair of peregrine falcons, waiting for a chance at a perfect photo. He patiently waited and watched, chatting with beach walkers as they passed. I’m grateful to have gotten a chance to see the falcon–although my camera lens wasn’t able to capture it. The view below is of a raven. A pair of them were swooping and diving…and I’m sure I saw them carrying twigs or other nest building materials in their beaks.

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The tide was low today so I was able to walk to the southern end and catch a glimpse of tons of hang gliders in the distance at the Torrey Pines Glider Port.

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Don’t think for a second that this is a comprehensive list of things I love about directing the SDAWP…I’m sure I could go on and on and on! I do love my work. What would you include in a list of things you love today?

On Saturday I had the opportunity to get a sneak peek at the new exhibit at the San Diego Natural History Museum (the NAT) that will be called Coast to Cactus. And while it is still months away from being open to the public, I was inspired by the ideas and messages I found there. This exhibit focuses on the ecosystems of San Diego county…their diversity, beauty, resilience…all that is often unseen and unappreciated.

This quote, scratched out in marker on a piece of paper and taped to a wall, spoke to me and has continued to resonate.

The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeing new landscapes but in having new eyes. Marcel Proust

I’ve come to appreciate museum exhibits in new ways these days as I’ve learned about their conception and design. Instead of consuming the content they offer, I see them as invitation to see my world anew. The Coast to Cactus exhibit offered me views that I see everyday, and yet invited me to resee them…something I have also been doing through my camera lens. In the emerging exhibit I saw native plants and animals…meticulously crafted (apparently by a company in Minnesota that hadn’t see many of the plants they were building) to look realistic. And in addition to seeing…there will be opportunities to smell, hear, and feel the environment as well.

On Sunday, we headed off to the Torrey Pines State Reserve to walk and enjoy the natural beauty of this magnificent place. A few miles from home, this place is home to many native plants and animals, including the rare Torrey Pine tree. And it is ruggedly natural, with sandstone cliffs and breathtaking views of the ocean, lagoon, canyons…and even the freeway!

This is my community…our school grounds host Torrey Pine trees, the ocean is the ever-present western border, hawks and other raptors cruise the skies, and native species like black sage and lemonade berry are frequently viewed as weeds. I see them everyday…and yet often don’t see them at all. Even the fires are a part of this ecosystem…and the exhibit features fire within it. So many of our native plants depend on fire for regeneration, and rather than being destroyed by fire are reborn through fire.

As I hiked through Torrey Pines, I found myself looking for new ways to see this beautiful natural landscape. Here’s a peek at some of what I saw.

Wind eroded cliffs, rich with iron oxide which gives it the reddish cast

Sun through the Torrey Pines

The ocean through the yucca

Prickly pear cactus in bloom

Bees pollinating cactus blossoms

Is this buckwheat or ceanothus (up close through my macro lens)? It’s everywhere in the lagoon and at Torrey Pines Reserve.

As you might imagine, I took many more photos…and I’m sure you will catch a glimpse of a few more over the next days and weeks. I love spending time out in my community, learning to see my everyday landscapes in new ways. And in addition to what I see through my lens, when I am out taking photos I am also smelling, hearing, and feeling what these places have to offer. I hope that the Coast to Cactus exhibit that will open in 2015 at the NAT will have a similar impact on others who visit it. You don’t have to go to Torrey Pines to find this beauty…it is all over San Diego, you just need to look with new eyes.

Thinking Through My Lens

Tag Archives: torrey pines

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