365: Week 20

Day 134

May 14: Matt says this shot makes him look like a ninja. I say it looks like a shot from the closing credits of Grease 2.

Day 135

May 15: Another weed. Is this a dandelion too -- are there different kinds of dandelions? Either way, it's a bit of sunshine. 

Day 136

May 16: Action shots. 

This is not a great picture, but it was a great moment. This is Matthew (in green)  scoring his last goal of the season -- this is the only goal I came to close to capturing (a sports photographer I am NOT). The Green Gators went undefeated this season!

Day 137

May 17: The great sunday night water balloon fight! My kids are not great shots from a distance -- so they decided to try the up close and personal approach.

Day 138

May 18: At first glance it looks like a stand of aspens in the Autumn afternoon...but it's not Autumn and these are just weeds in the field behind my house. 

Day 139

May 19: I think May is the best month of the year for sunsets. The longer evenings are still a novelty, and we have yet to barricade ourselves in our air conditioned homes, from the hot summer nights. 

This almost looks tropical, doesn't it? 

It's just a good old Farmington Utah sunset. 

Day 140

May 20: Self portrait. 

No, that's not me on the surf board. 

I live in Utah, and have only tried surfing a couple of times (and mostly just tried not to drown, or get eaten by sharks) -- though I do love the beaches of Santa Cruz and San Diego. But, I think maybe I have an old surfer's soul -- the ones that ride the long boards on the long slow waves. 

This is how I dress all summer long. 

Things I did once: #5

Let me state, to begin with, that my wife is a great, passionate and tender kisser. She can singe the tips of my crooked toes with one of her smoldering lip locks. 

Let me also state that, at the time, I was working a very odd graveyard shift -- every other night, which just wrecks you. 

I'd also like to enter in to the official record that I was very relaxed -- a state I also attribute to my wife (then girlfriend). 

I would like to point out that this only happened once. 

AND Indiana Jones did it in Raiders of the Lost Ark. 

While my wife (then girlfriend) was kissing me (tenderly, passionately, smolderingly):

I fell asleep. 

And I will NEVER live it down. 

Photostory Friday: The Emma Show

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

Tender moments have a way of sneaking up on you. 

We went to Disneyland last week, and it was a wonderful trip, where memories to last a lifetime were made, but the most moving moment for me came, unexpectedly, as we sat on the shuttle taking us from the rental car agency to LAX, to return home. 

Emma had chosen the seat at the very front of the bus, right next to the driver. She sat there, unaware that I was watching her, with her Disney Princess t-shirt on, and her Disney Princess backpack, wearing her Disney Princess Mickey Mouse ears -- the ones with the tiara and the lacy veil -- and holding tight to her Sleeping Beauty doll, smiling as she looked out the window -- wide-eyed and awaiting the next adventure. 

I began to think of how many of those precious memories this little girl had provided to us. 

To me. 

Dissolve to Emma, feeding her adrenaline addiction on the Indiana Jones ride. Each time she went on hesitantly, and came off with enough energy to power the whole park. 

Fade to wide eyes, dangling feet, open mouth and giddy laughter as she experienced "Soarin' Over California." 

Fade to Emma announcing loudly -- and proudly -- to the entire boat, on Pirates of the Caribbean, that she had kept her eyes open THE WHOLE TIME!!

Fade to Jordan, Emma and myself as we walked, exhaustedly, through the World of Disney store when, out of nowhere, Emma starts beat-boxing, and then rapping "It's a small world" -- complete with dance moves. I honestly have no idea on Earth where she learned to do that.

 

Fade to Emma, braving the Green Grilling Ghosts of the Haunted Mansion (Grim Grinning Ghosts).

Fade to the little hand within the big hand, holding tight and squeezing tighter, to punctuate her words, as she talks about what's coming next.

Fade to the little girl who hangs her Minnie Mouse sunglasses from the front of her shirt. Just like her dad. 

Dissolve back to me on the airport shuttle, taking my own sunglasses from the front of my shirt, and slipping them on -- not wanting to explain why my eyes are suddenly tearing up. 

She's slipping through my fingers a little more each day, and if she's going to fly, I know I have to let her go. But, as she steps into the spotlight at center stage, I'll happily fade into the wings.

 

Because I love to watch this show. 

365 Weeks: 18 and 19

Hi! Remember me? I used to blog here. 

And then I went on vacation, and fell off the face of the earth. 

Day 120

April 30: Another Spring surprise. Our home was landscaped by the previous owners, and we keep finding new surprises. When we moved in, last July, there were daisies and roses and ferns in the front yard. We thought they were very beautiful, but we had no idea what was awaiting us this Spring. 

When the ground thawed, we suddenly had a yard full of daffodils. We were pleasantly surprised. But, imagine our greater surprise when, after the daffodils wilted, we suddenly had a yard full of tulips.

Thank you previous owners!

Day 121

May 1:  After 120 straight days of taking pictures, after sleet and hail and rain and snow and cancer and surgery and work and soccer....today 

I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE!!!!!!

Day 122

May 2: Matt got some sweet new prescription sunglasses. He doesn't usually wear his hair like this, but it was a special occasion. 

Day 123

May 3: Ah, the hammock. The perfect place to kill time. By this point -- 48 hours before the trip to Disneyland -- we were all pretty much useless. 

Isn't Jordan's pre-teen scowl coming along nicely?

Day 124

May 4: This is one of the luggage tags sent to us by the Walt Disney Travel Company. That's right, we went in style! This picture was snapped very late, as I finished packing -- narrowly avoiding the mistake I made on Friday (May 1).

Day 125

May 5: Here it is ladies and gentlemen, the eighth wonder of the world, coming to you straight from the World Famous Jungle Cruise....The Backside of Water!

Day 126

May 6: Pssst. Have you ever heard that Disneyland is home to a super secret, and exclusive private club called Club 33? Well this, my friends is a shot from the lobby of Club 33. 

I went on a tour at Disneyland called A Walk in Walt's Footsteps, where you tour the park for three and a half hours, getting the backstories of many of the attractions that Walt Disney had a personal hand in developing. One of the stops was the lobby of Club 33 (that's as far as they let us go). If you find yourself there, and you're a big fan of Walt Disney (the man), I encourage you to take the tour -- you'll never look at Disneyland the same way again. 

Day 127

May 7: Self portrait. Plus one. 

Emma and I on the Autopia ride. 

I was driving. 

She was backseat driving. 

Day 128

May 8: Our last day in Disneyland, we finally got to one of my favorite attractions -- the Mark Twain Steamboat. This is a shot of one of the massive stacks. 

The Mark Twain is an island of serenity in a sea of chaos. 

Especially on Fridays. 

Day 129

May 9: Heading home. 

What you can't see is that Emma also has a Disney Princess T-shirt on, and that back pack is full of Disneyland paraphernalia (and that's a Sleeping Beauty doll in her hands -- the greatest of all Disney Princesses, according to every female in our household).

I'd say the trip was a success. 

Day 130

May 10: This caricature was drawn, and painted, in Disneyland (duh). The artist did a portrait of Jordan last year as well. She commented on something that I had never noticed before:

All of my kids have different noses.

Don't tell anyone, but Emma's is my favorite!

Day 131

May 11: For those of you with short memories, did I mention that our home was landscaped by the previous owners, and that we now have a yard full of tulips?

Day 132

May 12: I title this picture "Bored and waiting in the Bronco for soccer practice to end, and looking for something to photograph, because I am now paranoid that I'm going to forget again."

It's kind of catchy, huh?

This is the Polynesian whale-bone fishhook that hangs from my rear view mirror.

Day 133

May 13: Have you washed your car at a self serve car wash lately? The suds that come out of the foam brush are rainbow colored. I was so mesmerized that I failed to notice that I was flooding the place in rainbow soap. 

Don't you just want to...taste it?

I'm sure no one saw me snapping pictures of the foamy rainbow. 

Pretty sure...

Photostory Friday: Sacred Ground

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

The day we moved into our house last summer -- before we unpacked a single box, even before we put the beds together -- I went and bought a basketball hoop.

Among the fathers and sons, in my family, basketball hoops are very important.

 

We're not great basketball players. 

None of us play on a basketball team.

We don't spend an inordinate amount of time following any basketball teams.

We don't keep score. 

The truth be told, we don't really even play basketball -- we just shoot hoops. And with only one rule: you shoot until you miss. But, I wouldn't trade what happens under that hoop, for anything in the world. I can't think of a word to express exactly what that is. "Bonding" is the closest approximation I can come up with.

It's where the generations of sons and their fathers come together, on common ground. 

It's where my dad and I developed a true friendship, in the last few years of his life. 

It's where my son and I spend hours talking about the important things of life. And the unimportant things. And sometimes not talking at all. 

It's where we show to our fathers, and to our sons, that they are important -- that we have time for them. 

It's where I feel my dad's presence most powerfully, and where my son and my father -- who never met -- join me in an unbroken line of hoop shooters. 

To me, it's sacred ground. 

365: Week 17

Day 113

April 23: Good.

Bill Cosby has a bit where he talks about how we -- human beings -- are not very humble. I'm paraphrasing: We build a building, and proclaim it great. We build a massive bridge and call it magnificent. We take a picture of a beautiful scene, and call it breath taking. 

God creates the entire Earth, and calls it...good. 

Sunrises are good. 

Day 114

April 24: Have I mentioned that we're going to Disneyland next week, and that I can't seem to concentrate on anything else? 

A few more days and we set course.

Second star to the right, and straight on 'til morning...

Day 115

April 25: Home repairs scare me to death. 

This shot represents the biggest, most successful home repair I've ever made (You'll be less impressed when I tell you the rest of the story).

When we bought our home, last July, the home inspector suggested we have the previous owners replace the kitchen faucet. And they did.

With a seventeen dollar faucet, which lasted about as long as you would expect a seventeen dollar faucet to last. It's been leaking for months -- until Saturday, when I -- ME! -- replaced it. 

By myself.

And it works.

And it doesn't leak (yet).

No one is more amazed than I am. Please try to contain your enthusiasm. 

Now I just stand at the sink, turning it on and off, and think about the clog in the dishwasher...

Day 116

April 26: Emma was watching me wander all over the back yard, searching for something to take a picture of -- it turns out the best shot that day, was up on the deck. 

Day 117

April 27: Here's the second in a series:

"Shots taken, seconds before something landed on me." 

You may recall from last week, the shot of Emma hanging from the monkey bars...this time I figured I could shoot the basketball, then shoot the picture and then get out of the way.

(I know, I know, it seems a little optimistic in retrospect).

As it turns out, your (my) depth perception is screwy while looking through a view finder, and I took one in the face. 

I also thought "At least no one saw that..."

I was wrong a LOT that day. 

(No cameras were harmed in the making of this picture.)

Day 118

April 28: Jordan's first piano recital. 

Jordan has been taking piano lessons for about six months now, and like every other kid who takes piano lessons, she doesn't like to practice. But tonight we got a real glimpse of what she is capable of. 

While not bothering to hide my bias, I have always believed that Jordan could be a terrific piano player -- she has both the artistic inclination, and the love of learning. How do you keep them focused until they learn to get past the drudgery?

I think the applause at the recital helps...

Day 119

April 29: Self portrait. 

I chew a LOT of gum.

I also blow a LOT of bubbles. 

And I don't even chew bubble gum!

How do you like me now?

Actually, I was trying to blow it big enough to block out my gigantic forehead. 

See you next week!

Photostory Friday: Beauty

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

I was once told, by a kind old gentleman, that I have a gift for seeing beauty. 

I'm not conjuring up a romantic image here, this really happened.

 

And he didn't say it was a talent, he didn't say it was a skill -- he said gift. And he implied that with this gift, came the obligation to share the beauty that I see. And I know he was talking about real beauty. The kind that isn't skin deep. The kind of beauty that is radiant. The beauty of God's creations -- all kinds. 

That was nearly eighteen years ago, but I've thought about it ever since. From that day forward, I've been more conscious of my surroundings. I found that beauty -- real beauty -- is everywhere. If you have, as they say, eyes to see it. And ears to hear it. And a heart to understand it.

 

Don't misunderstand me, I'm not claiming some great insight into the human condition here. But I have found that when you look closer, when you wait patiently, and when you learn to expect it, beauty presents itself -- even in the most unusual places. Those are my favorite -- the ones you have to work for.

I'm not sure how best to share beauty. I suppose that's why my hobbies have gravitated toward things like writing and photography. If this is truly a gift, I am grateful for it. 

Life is hard enough without seeing the world around you as an ugly place. 

True beauty is a blessing and a gift. 

At least to me it is.