Today's photo is simply a record of where I spent every minute from 10 a.m. until 6:30 p.m. on Thursday. And that shiny Epson Stylus R2400 printer is at the center of it all. Well, that and my trusty iBook sitting on the desk beside it. About 10 a.m. I opened an email from one of my "Winter Nudes" friends. She'd seen a flyer for an art exhibit that she thought had my name on it. Called "The Body Eclectic," this all-media juried show celebrating the human body would be opening in a Detroit area art gallery on February 6. Submissions could be made from now until Saturday, February 2, at 5 p.m. Interestingly enough, the juror would be a fellow with whom I'd gone to art college back in the late 1970s. In the email my friend said she thought any of my Winter Nudes photos would be perfect.

Well, yes, it DID appeal to me, but how the heck could I mat and frame two photos (the number of entries allowed) by Saturday? Back in my art exhibiting/selling days I used to cut my own mats and put together my own frames for my watercolor paintings. But now? My hands are as affected by my diagnosis of MS as my legs. There's no way I could do such fine work. And I couldn't imagine finding any framer who would accept a job on such short notice. So I pretty much gave up any thoughts of entering the show. But it wouldn't let go. After stewing about it for awhile, I called my friend and we brainstormed ideas. She suggested I call a framing shop and just ask. All they could do is say no. Well, I called the art store where I used to buy my painting supplies and talked with Ed in the framing department. He said yes!!! And his price quote for two photos was quite reasonable.

I don't need to go into details about the things that didn't go right. How the printer wouldn't give me the option to select glossy paper--which I was using to print my 14 x 10 inch B&W photos--and I had to call the Epson techies twice to fix it. But I do want to say a public thank you to Eric who must have spent 45 minutes with me as he diagnosed my problem and helped me download and install the printer's driver again. Then there were all the smaller "tryout" prints I made in my search to get the exact values I wanted for the final prints. Long and short is that I drove over to the framing store with my two precious prints just as they were closing at 7 p.m. Luckily I'd called and talked to Amy (the other framer ) before leaving home and she was waiting for me outside the back door. I didn't even have to get out of my car!

To me, this whole experience is yet another example of the Truth that if you're meant to do something, all you have to do is agree to try and the Universe will open whatever doors are needed. I really am grateful to every person I encountered today. Each one had a particular part to play, and play it they did, with grace, humor and genuine kindness. And I have no anxiety about the juror's decisions. If my photos are meant to be in the show, they will. If not, they won't. It's as simple as that.

You can CLICK HERE and HERE to see the photos I'll be submitting.