Photographer ~ Author ~ Traveler
Hi Friends!
I am SO excited to share this with you! Some of you have been traveling alongside me since the very start of this journey. And NOW, she is here!
Roadtrip with a Raindrop is now available on the brand spankin’ new website! Check it out! www.gayleharper.com
See you there! Gayle
Teeheehee!
Like most of us, I’ve been keeping to a pretty intense schedule of work for what seems a long time now. For the past several days, I’ve been waking up at my usual 5:00 am and then, without actually deciding to do so, going back to sleep and having some very colorful, interesting dreams.
This morning’s made me laugh out loud when I woke up, so thought I’d share…
My husband, Mike, and I and another friend were going to the Circus. At the door, I realized I didn’t have my ticket – that it was at home in another purse. After a little discussion, we decided I shouldn’t waste the $40 ticket (expensive circus!) – that I would go home and get it and come in late. I left feeling pretty disgruntled with myself!
I couldn’t remember where we parked the car and wandered around, getting increasingly frustrated and irritated with myself.
Then, it was suddenly all OK because I had a bowl of magic curried sweet potatoes and if I held it out in front of me, I could float above the ground and it was great fun. I got lost looking for the car, but I was having a great time flying with my sweet potatoes!
Then I encountered a friend and ended up going with them to a bar that had some great live jazz. By now, I was sure the Circus was at least half over, so I decided to just stay and listen. Just before I woke up, I was taking my phone into the bathroom where it was quiet so I could call Mike and let him know! 🙂
Now, I’ve no doubt that someone well-versed in dream interpretation might find something symbolic in all that, but to me, the message is quite clear.
There is wonder, magic and fun in every moment – don’t miss out on it by taking myself, my work, my life or my mistakes too seriously!
AND – although she can’t guarantee their flying ability, a friend just sent me her recipe for Curried Sweet Potatoes! I’ve had them and they are delicious – even with both feet on the ground! Wanna give them a go? Here tis!
2 to 4 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into one inch chunks
1 medium sweet onion, diced
½ c. chopped red, yellow or orange peppers
1-2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt, pepper to taste
curry powder 1/2 to 1 tsp, to taste
Preheat oven to 375. In small bowl, mix salt, pepper and curry powder. Toss veggies with olive oil and spices. Line a cookie sheet with foil and arrange veggies in single layer. Roast 30 minutes, turn them over and roast another 20-30 minutes. Enjoy hot or room temp.
Have a magical day, my friends! 
With Love and Laughter, Gayle
In that life-changing moment when I first read on the National Park Service’s website that a raindrop falling into the headwaters of the Mississippi River in northern Minnesota would travel the river for 90 days to reach the Gulf of Mexico, I felt a paradigm shift. Since then, seeing the great River in that way has changed my life in ways I could never have imagined.
There came the incredible opportunity to travel for 90 days, keeping pace with an imaginary raindrop called Serendipity, seeing our home and our history from that new perspective and sharing it all with thousands of truly amazing people. Now, there is the adventure of bringing it together into a book that will give others this glorious experience. Every day, I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity to participate in this project.
One of the perspectives that I treasure from this participation is seeing ever more clearly the oneness of life. It is one river, one ever-circulating system of water around one planet populated by variations of one Life Force.
We know how travel always seems to have this effect to some degree – it lifts us out of our “me and mine” perspective and into something greater. This morning, my husband passed along a link to a video that includes some of the voices of the few among us who have journeyed much farther – and I was so moved by it, that I want to share it with you.
When astronauts return from space, having seen the earth as one indescribably beautiful and delicate ball in an incomprehensibly vast network of interconnected galaxies, that greater perspective becomes their new framework for viewing life. Most of us won’t be able to duplicate their actual experience, but because they are willing to try to describe what is actually beyond the scope of words, we might be able to sense what cannot be spoken.
The great naturalist John Muir, who also never physically traveled into space, once said it like this:
“When we contemplate the whole globe as one great dewdrop, striped and dotted with continents and islands, flying through space with other stars all singing and shining together as one, the whole universe appears as an infinite storm of beauty.”
So, here’s the link. I invite you to give yourself a little gift – it costs only 18 minutes of your day and the perspective it offers is, I think, priceless.
Most of you have heard the news either through the Kickstarter site or the Facebook page, but just in case….The Kickstarter campaign is a success! It ended yesterday at 103% funded, so “Surrendering to Serendipity” will now move into its next phase – and I am excited to take it there. Thank you to all who helped in so many ways – you are wonderful! I can’t see around the bend, but that’s how life is…I just take this next step and know that all is well!
Halloween has come and gone. For me this year, it fell smack in the middle of the final, intensely busy week of the Kickstarter campaign. When I learned that my husband couldn’t be here to help, I had a Scrooge-like moment. Maybe, I thought, I should stay upstairs in my office where the lights can’t be seen and just keep working. But I love Halloween and I couldn’t bear to miss those eager Ninjas and fairies craning to see what’s coming from my bowl.
Each year, it seems, there is one trick-or-treater who lives on in my mind. This year, it’s a tiny girl in a sparkly pink dress with silver shoes, fuzzy ears and whiskers. When I complimented her costume, she announced (as if expecting to be asked), that she couldn’t decide whether she wanted to be a princess or a kitty. “So,” she proudly announced, “I am a Kitty Princess!”
“Surrendering to Serendipity” won’t fit tidily into boxes either. It’s neither a photography book nor a book of stories – and it’s not even a hybrid of the two. The words and the images arise together, not just in complement to one another, but as one thing.
Some of my most treasured comments made by followers of this blog speak of this. Frances, who at 93 was quite certain that she “…would never travel the Mississippi and now I have – in the company of some wonderful folk, witnessing some lovely friendships and sharing in knowledge which could only be gleaned through those friendships.” Alejandra said, “…I close my eyes and feel like I’m actually visiting the places…” and Maggie said, “What a vicarious thrill!”
“Surrendering to Serendipity” is not a way to share my experience, but a way to give you your own experience following America’s greatest river through America’s heart. It is our river, our people and our journey.
Like the Kitty Princess, this book may be hard to categorize. My task now is to gather the perfect experts to guide “Surrendering to Serendipity” through the next steps while being true to the unique spirit of it – people with that perfect combination of rich experience and free thinking. I have no doubt that Serendipity will draw them near.
Now, a reader and friend who I’ve not yet met has graciously invited me to her home on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi River in Illinois. I can think of no more perfect way to catch my breath than to sit beside the River in gratitude for a couple of days before striding on and seeing what lies around the bend.
Thank you, each one of you. You are the heart and soul of this adventure.
Love, Gayle
P.S. I’ve added a new “Media” Page to this blog. If you didn’t get to see the great coverage that we got during the campaign, check it out. There’s a tv interview, a couple of radio interviews and newspapers and magazines.
There’s also an index now to “Roadtripping with a Raindrop” with descriptions and links to those pages if you missed any or want to revisit them.
Elizabeth Gilbert, the incredibly talented, best-selling author of “Eat Pray Love” released her new novel, “The Signature of All Things” on October 1st and it is already on the New York Times Bestseller List. I am a huge fan of hers.
I am greatly honored, humbled and amazed to learn that she posted a link to my Kickstarter campaign for “Surrendering to Serendipity” on her Facebook page with this comment:
Thank you, Thank you! I am overwhelmed!
Yesterday, as I was preparing for my first live TV interview, my thumping heart and racing mind were a clear reminder of why I picked a career that puts me on the back of a camera rather than the front.
You can see that the guest before me, there to spread the word about “Puppy Day” had no nerves at all as she sprawled on the counter and soaked up the love.
And – as often happens, the anticipation was actually more stressful than the interview itself. Tom Trtan and Shannon Fox of KOLR-TV, made it easy and, to my surprise, actually fun. If you’d like to see the interview, here’s a link http://bit.ly/KOLRTVHarper
One of the questions I was asked had to do with the “overarching theme” of this project and what came out of my mouth was that, in an era with no shortage of disheartening news, “Surrendering to Serendipity” reminds us that the world is actually filled with kind, open-hearted, wonderful people.
There are lots of ways this project and this book can be described. As you read it, you will learn much about America’s greatest river and its quintessential role in our history, our present and our very identity. You will sample the river’s endless moods and colors as it grows from a tiny stream to a massive force of nature. You will leave behind, at least for a time, schedules and agendas as we happily follow a raindrop on a 7,400 mile route that would look like a spaghetti bowl if we traced it. You will be on the great river in everything from a canoe and a sea kayak to fishing boats, ferries and a towboat pushing its massive flotilla of barges.
Yet, when asked to describe the essence of this journey in one sentence, there was no thought or hesitation – it is about the joy of making eye contact with someone who is known to be a friend before we speak. It is about the utter trust demonstrated when I was given the use of a 30-room, antique-filled mansion for a weekend. It is about being included in picnics, fish fries, birthday parties and quiet moments. It is about sharing joy in the simple things. It is about being continually reminded of the love that is the essence of all of us.
Sharing these moments in words and photographs is the best way I know of to honor the love, trust and kindness of all the beautiful people who are part of this adventure, so that’s what I intend to do.
Thank you, everyone, for your pledges and your efforts to spread the word! Thanks to you, we are right now at 71% with 11 days remaining. At this moment, that leaves $4,514 in pledges yet to be raised. We can do this!
Several people have told me that they intend to pledge, but must wait until payday or a new credit card cycle. This prompts me to assure you that your card is not charged until the campaign ends on November 4 – it is only a pledge until then. And that assumes that we successfully meet our goal! Any campaign that falls short of the goal, even by a small amount, receives nothing and no one is charged. It is all or nothing.
If you haven’t visited the Kickstarter site yet, this is the perfect time! Watch the video, read the Updates (click on the tab at the top of that page) and then study the Backer Awards. You can have your name printed in the book or have a book donated to the school, library or organization of your choice imprinted with your words in recognition of someone you love. There are wallpapers for your computer, postcards and prints ready for display. You can join us for the Book Launch Party and be honored there as a Backer.
Your pledge in any amount is truly appreciated. Pledges so far range from $1 to $1,000 and each is appreciated. Each moves us closer to our goal. If you can help push for the finish by spreading the word on Facebook, Twitter and other social media and in person, that would be awesome. It will be a beautiful book that will make you proud to be part of it.
Here’s the link… http://bit.ly/KickstarterHarper
Love, Gayle
I’m sending a great BIG heartfelt “Thank You” to each of these media professionals!
Michele Skalicky, reporter and Morning Edition Host at NPR affiliate KSMU for this wonderful story! You can listen online now and it might be aired live today (Monday 10/21) at 4:30 or 5:30. It’s 91.1 FM if you are local. http://ksmu.org/article/local-author-experiences-life-along-mississippi-70467
Jonathan Turner, reporter at Quad Cities Dispatch/Argus for this great article! http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=656604
Steve Willoughby, Station Manager at KRZK-FM in Branson, MO for this fabulous on-air interview.
Thank you SO much for helping to spread the word!!!
WE ARE RIGHT NOW AT 55%!!!!! Just 14 days remain. Please, if you want to back “Surrendering to Serendipity,” do it now! We can do this with your help! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/328392966/surrendering-to-serendipity
Thank you everyone!!! Gayle
A Treat
First, here’s a splash of fall – a bit of calorie-free “eye candy,” (as someone commented on the Facebook page) as my thank you to you.
This was taken at Pere Marquette State Park near Alton, Illinois. From river level, the trees appeared mostly green, but looking down from the bluffs, the color took my breath away!
Thank You
The Kickstarter campaign is off to a wonderful start. As of this moment, we are at 47% funded! That leaves a long way to go in the remaining 19 days of the campaign if we are to be funded, but I am greatly encouraged by all the pledges, shares, likes and love! If you haven’t checked it out yet, please come see the video and the photography and the exciting Backer Awards. YOUR name can be printed in this first edition of “Surrendering to Serendipity,” if you like!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/328392966/surrendering-to-serendipity
OR go to www.kickstarter.com and look for “Gayle Harper” or “Surrendering to Serendipity”
A Story
If you happen to be on the newsletter list or you are already a Backer, you may have read this story, but it is such a beautiful illustration of the spirit of this whole adventure, that I want to share it here…
When you see the video on the Kickstarter site, watch for the sweet-looking couple wearing life jackets with the river in the background – they are Captain Jack Libbey and his wife, Dixie. In Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, the Libbeys invited me out on their boat to explore the swampy, mysterious wilderness that is the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife Refuge. The Refuge, which protects the habitat of hundreds of species of migrating birds and animals along 261 miles of the Mississippi, is lush, wet and not easily accessible.
Captain Jack wanted people to experience this rare wilderness, so he retired after 30 years as a towboat Captain and created Mississippi Explorer Cruises in order to take them into it. On the rainy day that I met them, however, cruises were cancelled and it was just the three of us. It was an experience I will never forget. Captain Jack was a patient and enthusiastic guide, who seemed as delighted with each new discovery as I was and treated all of nature with a touching reverence.
When the video went up, I called and left a message for Captain Jack and Dixie to let them know they are featured in it. When Dixie called back, she told me that, sadly, Jack had passed away. Although I certainly had no inkling and Dixie said that hardly anyone knew of it, Jack had been battling cancer for some years.
The next day a generous pledge came through for the campaign from a woman named Donna Wilson. After I thanked her, she told me she was a childhood friend of Jack’s and felt this book would be the perfect way to honor him. The Backer Award she chose is for us to donate a book to the library, school or organization of her choice, imprinted with her dedication to Captain Jack.
Here’s what Donna told me –
“Nobody loved the river like Jack did. When we were kids, we often played Tom Sawyer. Of course I was Becky, Sometimes he would be Tom, sometimes Huck, depending on how adventurous he felt. When we were in first grade, Jack told me that he was going to be a captain of a big boat one day. He said that I could be his first mate. It sounded great to me. Then I grew up to pursue reality. His dream was his.”
“Surrendering to Serendipity” Is All About Connections
From its very inception, this project has been about connections. It’s not only people who live or have lived near the river, but everywhere. People feel connected to each other through their appreciation for the river, sometimes across great distances. They tell me that this project connects them with their hometown, their childhood, memories of their last great road trip or the one on their bucket list.
What inspires me to keep working to bring the book, “Surrendering to Serendipity” into reality is you and all the different ways you let me know that it matters to you. Literally every day there are comments posted here or on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/GayleHarper.MississippiRiver that make my heart sing.
There’s lots of discouraging news these days and it’s tempting to think that alienation and distrust are rampant. If this project can help to show the other side – that open-heartedness and connection thrives everywhere – then that is reason enough for me to keep working, happily.
Thank you for being part of this “raindrop adventure.” Thank you for your time, your comments, your pledges and your efforts to spread the word. I appreciate all of you!
Love, Gayle
The Kickstarter campaign is live and running!
I met a ranch manager once on rolling hills above the Mississippi River near Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. When he offered to take me to see a herd of bison, I climbed into his truck. On the way, we passed through another enclosure where this young stallion was kept. When the horse saw us, he exploded into dazzling action. He raced circles around us, hooves thundering, nostrils flaring, bucking and kicking. I was spinning in circles, too – shooting like crazy and laughing with the thrill of it all. This was the only successful shot I got.
That horse was running like that simply because he could – because he was brimming with the joy of life.
For me, the adventure of following a raindrop named Serendipity has always felt a little like that. I never know what might be coming, but I take the next step for the pure joy of it. And many of you have been right beside me the whole way.
This has always been a shared experience. From the moment that I learned a raindrop falling into the headwaters will travel the Mississippi River for 90 days to reach the Gulf of Mexico, things have unfolded magically because people have wanted to be part of it. Some offered lodging, some opened their hearts and shared their lives and their stories as I was traveling and some, like many of you, have been right beside me the whole way by following this blog. In fact, although it was only promoted by word of mouth, the blog had nearly 20,000 views during the 90 days of the journey.
Now, the stories are written and the photos are edited and the book, “Surrendering to Serendipity” is ready for layout, design and printing! It will be a beautiful book, filled with full-color photos, but to bring it into reality, I need your help with this Kickstarter campaign.
The minimum pledge is just $1 and every dollar does matter. Kickstarter campaigns are all-or-nothing so there must be enough pledges to meet the goal of $16,000 or the project is not funded at all. Please click this link
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/328392966/surrendering-to-serendipity
and participate however you can. You can also search on www.kickstarter.com for “Surrendering to Serendipity” and find it that way.
For this campaign to succeed, lots of people need to hear about it. So please click the links below and share it on Facebook, Twitter, wherever you can – and help to spread the word!
Thank you, friends!
Love, Gayle
Every day the book about this amazing 90-day adventure gets closer to reality. Serendipity, our little raindrop, continues to work her magic in ways that astound me! As you know if you’ve been with us a while, this has always been a shared experience and the perfect people have always appeared at the perfect time to offer help and guidance. I continue to be humbled and amazed by how it all unfolds.
Now, we are about to step out into a whole new, and very exciting, phase! The book, “Surrendering to Serendipity,” will be a unique blend of photographs and stories that enhance each other and work together to give each reader their own experience of this road trip of a lifetime. You’ve had tastes of that in this blog and the book will be an even richer experience – you’ll be right beside me meeting people who invite us into their lives and having crazy, wonderful experiences.
“Surrendering to Serendipity” is now ready for final edit, layout, design and production! That is hugely exciting – and, as I’m sure you can imagine, also expensive! So, the next step is a Kickstarter campaign to hopefully raise the funds to bring this project “home” into a beautiful book that I will be thrilled to share!
If you’re not yet familiar with www.kickstarter.com , it’s a “crowdfunding platform” specifically for creative projects, which means that people can learn about and be a part of projects that capture their imagination, entertain or inspire them. It’s really great fun to back a project, even for a small amount, and join in the creative process with them. You get to know the creators and receive insider updates about their progress and get some pretty cool “Awards” for doing so! Even just cruising the “Staff Picks” is invigorating as it’s amazing how differently creativity shows up in each of us.
VERY soon now, we will announce the launch date of our own Kickstarter campaign. Like magic, “Serendipity’s Dream Team” has assembled – an awesome group of talented friends pouring their hearts, time and expertise into this enormous undertaking. I’ll introduce them to you soon!
Here’s how it works –
A goal is set and if enough pledges come in to meet it, the project is funded. It’s an all-or-nothing deal. If the goal isn’t reached, backers are not charged and the creators receive nothing. So, the key to success is getting the word out as far and wide as possible.
Here’s how you can help –
AND THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT…If you’re of a mind to support this campaign, in any measure, it is most helpful if you are ready to jump in and do so as soon after we launch as possible. (It’s only a pledge until the campaign is over and we have met our goal!) The campaigns that get off to a great start have the best chance of success and here’s why –
1. Early momentum stirs excitement and enthusiasm and encourages others to participate
2. AND – it might mean that the campaign gets noticed by Kickstarter staff and put onto the front page as a “Staff Pick.” That, as I’m sure you can imagine, is a HUGE boost!
The Dream Team is working on some very cool Rewards for backers (including a special “Early Birds Award”) and a great video that shows and tells the story of how this all grew from that one life-changing moment when I learned that a raindrop falling into the headwaters of the Mississippi would travel for 90 days to reach the Gulf of Mexico! (Wow – I had no clue what that would mean!)
This has always been a shared experience. It could not have come this far otherwise. From all the folks along the River who offered complimentary lodging, to the people I met along the way that opened doors and created amazing opportunities, to you who have traveled virtually right with me. It has always been about connections. People have said they feel connected to America’s greatest river in a way they never had before. Others feel connected to their hometown or their childhood or the memory of their last great road trip. Sometimes, Serendipity has brought people together across miles and differences in lifestyles and connected them in ways that have seemed downright miraculous.
Her reach continues to grow. The Author Facebook page is just a few months old and at this moment, 923 people have “Liked” it. When the Springfield News-Leader feature appeared in July, 520 people clicked the button to share the online version with all their Facebook friends. And 320 of you are now following this blog! A huge thank you to every one of you. That’s how I continue to know that I’m doing what I’m meant to do!
So, I’ll be back VERY soon with more details and the actual launch date! For now, if you can help spread the word, a HUGE thank you to you!!!!
Love, Gayle