self-portrait challenge: elements

July's self-portrait challenge is elements. July is the first month I've participated in self portrait challenge. The above photo is of me, reflected in water.

The element which brings me solace is water. My most vivid memories of water are of the quaint, still pond at my grandmother's rural home on the Kansas plains. Like a lot of rural families, we lived on her property, so I guess it was my back yard, too. My mom worked nights, and being in the country (with no friends near by) meant a lot (and I mean A LOT) of alone time for me. I came to find so much solace in this time, and in a way it became my very best friend and still is. Much of this time was spent sitting out on the dock, teasing the water with my dangling legs. Swimming with my cousins + aunts, fishing for dinner (yes, I kow how to clean a cat fish, but I don't know if I'd have the stamina for it now), laying on the sand, setting up a slip-n-slide from the top of the bank down into the water, swimming with my dog, making out with my high school boyfriend...It is my favorite place in the world. I got married there. I've told my husband that I'd like my ashes there, if I should go first. To me, the pond, water, represent solitude...and solitude is where I've found the answer for almost every question I've ever had. I don't have a pond in my yard now, but I love to sit by a fountain in our building courtyard and write in my journal. When I take the time, I love to sit by the creek near our house, my journal and my dog.