When I was really little, I’d see the squirrels running around our yard in Michigan.  I wanted to catch one so bad!  I propped up a box, and baited it with peanut butter on a tongue depressor.  A string ran from the prop stick to where I watched from just inside the door.  No squirrel ever fell for my plan, and I don’t know what I would have done if I’d ever actually caught one.  It could have easily escaped from the box on the grass, I know that now.

We have a lot of squirrels and chipmunks around our house in Minnesota.  They feast on the pine nuts in our front yard, and make piles of pinecones all over the place.  The chipmunks made a home under our front stoop.  We watched them going in and out.  Then I noticed squirrels going into the garage.  Later, I found that they had been nesting in a box which contained, among other things, my daughter’s sweatshirt.  That’s was going too far, so I set a have-a-heart trap near the chipmunk hole.

With each squirrel or chipmunk we trapped, we took pictures, and then drove them about six miles from the house, to an area with no homes, and lots of nice pine trees.  We caught each release on video.  You can see them on my Facebook page or my instagram.

My son loves being able to see them up close.  The rodents don’t seem too concerned.  They have always been used to us.  It’s fun to see them exit the trap.  Most of them pause as they step out onto the ground, before scampering away with cheek pouches full of peanut butter.

I think we’re up to 17 catch-and-releases now, and it fulfills that dream I had as a 6 or 7 year old.

I think outside of the box. As an artist, this can be a valuable skill, but it is just as important when it comes to parenting. 

My son happens to have a developmental disability, and it’s been his dream to work for an organization like the DNR or the Forest Service. 

He worked in at least three restaurants as a dishwasher/busser, and no one could figure out how to get him into the field that he really wanted to pursue. 

In our free time, we often take our fishing boat out. We started seeing inspectors at boat landings, checking equipment for invasive hitchhikers. We agreed that that would be a good job for Raymond. Not long after that conversation, I saw a local job posting for that position, and applied. I didn’t think I would get the job. When they called me back, I told them I couldn’t take the job because my son needed me. I told them that I actually applied for him. He doesn’t have a driver’s license, which is a requirement for the job. They said they would hire him too! 

Now Raymond and I work together monitoring our lakes and rivers for invasive species. We have both learned a lot, and now are able to help educate other people about our important and delicate ecosystem. At the same time, we get to do what we love, spending time together outdoors with a purpose.

Checking and cleaning equipment, draining lake water from boats and tanks is crucial to protecting the delicate balance in our waterways.

It’s not too late.

Over 90% of our lakes in Cook County are not infested!  We can not eradicate invasive species, but we can all work together to slow their spread. 

Lakes with spiny water fleas show fewer numbers of native game fish like walleyes, and those are of smaller size.

We can’t just throw our hands into the air and give up.

Learn how to check your boat, canoe, kayak and other equipment, and then take a few minutes to check it every time you enter or exit a lake. 

You can see more of my photography at http://timeong.blogspot.com

From the time I started elementary school, my teachers recognized that I was creative. I have those early report cards. They wanted me to focus on other areas of study, but I only wanted to do art. This tells me that I wasn’t making art to please anyone else. I did it because I loved it, and I’ve never stopped. I think this is a key to expanding ones creative mind and abilities.

I really wanted my drawings and paintings to look like objects in the physical world. That is not my goal anymore, though there is a place for it. It took me a long time to discover my artistic voice. I realized that paint colors don’t have to match the world around me, and objects in my paintings don’t have to obey the rules that govern tangible objects or beings. Having said that, I want my symbolism to be in there. Not necessarily easy, but present, and satisfying to me.

The opinions of other people are important because I am a communicator. Not all critiques are helpful.  Not everyone will understand my intent. I am often intentionally cryptic, and not all of my attempts are successful.

I was criticized by the faculty in art school for spelling everything out, and leaving nothing for the viewer to discover or interpret. I think the pendulum has swung to the other side now. They were right. I couldn’t see it then. I couldn’t understand that my approach was like those “other areas of study” and abstract art was like me as an unencumbered and passionate first grade artist.

I try to keep other people’s opinions out of my creative practice and make art that is authentically mine. When someone later connects with it or comments on it, the personal satisfaction is that much greater.

No one is grading me. There is no assignment. I didn’t decide to take this path. I just did what I loved to do. Inspiration didn’t come in a flash. No lightbulb appeared over my head. I just lived each day. I used my senses to navigate and understand the world around me. I found things I enjoyed, and things to avoid. Each one of these things made me the person that I am, with my own strengths and challenges. One of the things I enjoyed very much was creating art.

I didn’t discover my talent. It came naturally, and then I worked at it. I still practice it. I’m still surprised, and still learning to let go.

What creative individuals do I admire? All of them.