Thank you to a friend - by Vicki Polin

© (2007) photographs by Vicki Polin

A friend of mine translated the words to this song for me. She told me it's a very old very popular Yiddish song called "A small Succah."

A Jew sits in a small succah and cries for his child who has gone to war...He cries out to his father in heaven..."Father, It's enough already!"

First Day of Summer - 2007

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

The Pond in June - Pikesville, MD

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

Back roads to Gettysburg, PA

The following photographs were taken during a few trips taking the back roads from Baltimore, MD to Gettysburg, PA.

Memorial Day Weekend - 2007

© (2007) Vicki Polin

The Birds - Memorial Day, 2007

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

Hatikva

The Hope
As long as deep in the heart,
The soul of a Jew yearns,
And forward to the East
To Zion, an eye looks

Our hope will not be lost,
The hope of two thousand years,
To be a free nation in our land,
The land of Zion and Jerusalem.


Hatikva
Kol od balevav p'nimah
Nefesh Yehudi homiyah
Ulfa'atey mizrach kadimah
Ayin l'tzion tzofiyah
Od lo avdah tikvatenu
Hatikvah bat shnot alpayim
L'hiyot am chofshi b'artzenu
Eretz Tzion v'Yerushalayim

On The Road Again

These photographs were taken in April, 2007

Pre-Pesach Photographs and Prayer

Passover Prayer On Behalf of Abused and Neglected Children
(2007) Author Unknown

The prayer below was written for protective parents and their loved ones, child abuse advocates, and all who care about children to recite at their passover seder. A spring onion is added to the seder plate, or placed on the table as a symbol.

The Passover Seder is a time to celebrate our freedom and remember those who still struggle for the freedoms they deserve. Freedom from tyranny, violence, and oppression is a core value for us as our ancestors have known slavery, and our heart goes out to the enslaved and the imprisoned of any race, culture or creed. Tonight we remember a group of individuals often forgotten, trapped by a kind of slavery so cruel, that society often looks the other way---children (including adult survivors of child abuse) enslaved in lives of abuse.

Today I remember ____________ (fill in name of a child or children you know trapped in lives of abuse. or substitute... "these children.") Though many of us have tried to free them, the Pharaohs in our generation have blocked our efforts or looked the other way. Our hearts ache knowing the pain these children live with day after day. They are not forgotten. With this prayer we share our commitment to find a way to liberate them from their lives of exploitation and tyranny.

This spring onion on the Seder plate is our symbol for these children and their plight. The shape of the onion reminds us of the whips used on slaves to keep them subjugated. The tears we shed from the onion remind us of the silent tears of these children waiting for rescue. The newness of the onion reminds us of the promise of hope, that one day these children can grow healthy and free from the tyranny they are living with today.

We pray for the wisdom to find an effective path to liberate these children. We pray for the courage to stand up to the Pharaoh's of our generation and speak the truth of what we know. We pray for the strength and fortitude to keep on fighting for their freedom.

May these children (including adult survivors) soon know the sweetness of freedom from violence and oppression and share Passover Seders and other celebrations of freedom, safely, with loved ones next year!

Amen.

The Birds - March, 2007

Driving to the store

My ride to the grocery store should only take a few minutes. For some reason it seems to take me much longer. I keep making the wrong turns and end up out in the middle of no where taking pictures.

Running On Errands - Early March, 2007

(Early March, 2007) It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. I had to run on tons of errands. When ever I got stopped in traffic I decided to take a picture. I also stopped if I saw something and there was no cars behind me.

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

Iced Bush

I was driving around doing errands when I noticed there were icicles on a bush. I think this is the first time since I moved to Baltimore that I saw icicles.

© (2007) photographs by Vicki Polin

Last Days of February - 2007

On Frozen Pond

The following photographs were taken during the last week of February, 2007.

© (2007) Vicki Polin

Rosewood Center - Owings Mill, MD

There's been many times I've passed by the Rosewood Center driving down Garrison Forest Rd.

I've always been curious about it. It saddened me a great deal thinking about individuals who must have lived in this state ran institution through the years -- especially knowing a little bit about the history of most state ran facilities for those who needed specialized care.

Tonight I decided to Google the history of the center. This is what I found:

Rosewood Center was established in 1888 as the Asylum and Training School for the Feeble Minded (Chapter 183, Acts of 1888). From 1912 to 1961, it was known as Rosewood State Training School. In 1961, the school became the Rosewood State Hospital. When the departments of health and mental hygiene merged in 1969, the hospital was renamed the Rosewood Center. Rosewood Center provides for the care, education, training, and rehabilitation of mentally retarded persons from all parts of the state.

• Disabled center's closure debated
• A Forgotten Scandal in Baltimore’s High Society - Crooked lawyers sprang inmates from an asylum to make them slaves.
• By Jesse Bering
  
  

A Sunny Sunday Afternoon - February 18, 2007

It was a sunny Sunday afternoon. A photography friend and I deciding to go out into Baltimore County to capture what was left of the snow storm that hit earlier this week. The snow just sparkled in the sun. We went down a very rural road and found two deers standing still -- just watching us as we watched them.

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin

Shabbos is Coming - February 16, 2007

Mt. Washington Arboretum - Baltimore, MD

© (2007) Photographs by Vicki Polin
Music by Peter Himmelman - "Whispering Days"

The day before the snow storm I decided to record the colors of winter. The photographs were taken at a very small Arboretum in Baltimore that's located just off of Cross Country Blvd.

Photographs Of Days Past

© (2007) Photographs by Victoria Polin

Baltimore basically shut down today due to a major winter storm. Being from Chicago I have to say there really wasn't much snow, yet the ice is another story. I never remembered having ice storms in Illinois like they have here.

I'm stuck inside and figured it was a good day to pick out a few of my newest favorite photographs and post them here.

Mr. Ed's resides on a horse farm for abused and neglected horses in Glen Rock, PA. His photo was taken a few months ago. The nature scenes were taken on Monday. I was surprised at how much color the Mt. Washington Arboretum had in February.