I’m recovered from the cemetery panic, but momma might not be.   My growling scared her good!  I think she frightens easily though because someone gave her a stuffed, shark puppet for her birthday and she threw it across the room with alarm.  She’s so weird.   Anyway, I was practicing my walking skills and found her journal…open…again.   This explains why she seemed sad.

“Today I found perspective in a cemetery.   I’m not actually a fan of spending much time in random graveyards since I spook easily, but I had planned a stop at an old cemetery in southern Oregon. Cemeteries really are a great place to capture photos of carved stone, weathered wood, brick, metal, and any number of unique surprises.  This cemetery may or may not have been haunted, but it certainly was haunting.  Earlier this morning I had been griping about a sore knee, sleep deprivation (our one-year old is a horrible sleeper), and anxiety about too much to accomplish on my list.  I was just plain grumpy, stomping around, shooting photos.  And then I found a grave site from 1878 for a mother…and her ten children.  As I studied the dates on her towering, marble headstone and then on the scattered, skewed, miniature headstones, it was clear she had outlived all ten of those children, none of which had lived past nine years.  I closed my eyes, unable to imagine the despair and pain that cloaked her with each of those deaths.  She said goodbye to not just one baby, but ten.  Was it those goodbye’s and her sorrow that ended her life?   My breath caught in my throat, and my heart actually ached as I stood there in silence with my own baby on my back.  What an amazing gift.   Tears rolled down my cheek as I took a few more moments to cherish my baby, my family, my life, this moment.   When these opportunities for perspective come, you don’t rush them;  you embrace them, learn from them.   What sore knee?  What list?  What tired eyes?  All I felt was a grateful heart.”   

Yippee!!!  We are on a road trip for an extended field adventure!! I get to spend 14 hours in a car seat as we drive to northern Oregon!!!   I’m still working on refining my sarcasm at this early stage in life, but hopefully you were able to pick up on some of my disapproval.  I’m bubbling over here folks.  Strapped into a car seat…for 14 hours…not able to practice my new walking moves…staring at the back of the car (yes, I’m still in a rear-facing car seat).  Oh joy. *Growl*.    Sure, we stop to stretch, eat, and, of course, take pictures.   The picture-taking part this time is cool with me since it gets me out the car.   We were at one of the stops, an old cemetery, when this little incident happened.

Daddy claims that cemeteries freak him out, so he stayed in the car.  Yeah, right.  I’m on to him.  I know he was just saying that so he could do some super hero stuff.   Anyway, momma got me set up on her back, grabbed her “toy”, and we were off.   Momma was jumpy, but soon became focused on the carved stones, the moss, lichen, cracks in some brick, and the super cool metal fences.  I have to admit, it was too quiet, and I found myself holding my breath looking around quickly.  I scanned the cemetery for anything comforting…I wish I had my lovey.  Momma was stopped at one stone, reading a story, and she seemed sad.  She was so distracted that she didn’t appear to hear what sounded like footsteps behind us.  I couldn’t see over my back and became quite alarmed, twisting and turning.  It was so scary, that I did the only thing I could think of…I growled. I growled Loudly.  Momma jumped and spun around, exclaiming, “Nathaniel!!  Don’t do that!   Your growling scared mommy so much I just about peed my pants!!”   And that’s a bad thing?   I pee my pants all day long!!  What is she trying to say?   I shook it off, ready to growl again at whatever was approaching.   Instead I smiled in relief and yelled, “Hiya!” to daddy, who was standing right there in front of us.  Whew.

I am pretty good on my primary colors: red, blue, yellow.  NOW, momma keeps talking about warm colors.  Whaat???!!   You can’t “feel” a color or its temperature!!   Sigh.  Just for kicks and giggles, I’ll humor her…again.    So, we went out for a hike with the camera, and stopped at almost every tree there was so she could show me the leaves.  We got really really close, and she had me touch the red leaves, the yellow leaves, the golden leaves and the orange leaves as she told me their colors before taking a gazillion photos of them.  She said that Fall was here and that means, “the most amazingly lovely, warm colors of leaves as they turn shades of red, golden, orange  and yellow. Aren’t they just gorgeous baby Nate?! See, these lovely leaves are warm colors.”   Pshaw.  Lovely?  Gorgeous?  She’s such a girl.  And besides, why does she insist on calling me baby boy?  Doesn’t she know I fall into the toddler category now?

Apparently she did such a good job of sharing her excitement because all I see now is red, orange and yellow leaves.  Some even look like a rainbow of reds and yellows!   Momma’s right.  They are pretty, and seem soft and warm like my stuffed giraffe, Wilson, and my lovey.  Ooooohhhh, I get it!  Not only do they appear soft and warm, they make me feel like I’m getting one of momma’s or daddy’s super hugs.  They seem so alive that I now find myself somewhat captivated by the trees as we are driving.  In fact, I catch myself labeling as we go by the passing trees and objects.  It goes something like this:  warm, warm, ooooo, nifty, cow, moo, warm, big truck, vroom vroom, *yawn*, warm, motorcycle, vroom vroom, pretty flower, ooooo, bird, cukaw cukaw, *yawn*, warm, warm…

You should really find the nearest car seat or stroller and get outside to see this!

Inspired.  Whatever THAT means!!  All I know is that my super hero dad keeps saying momma has inspired him.  What???!!!  Super heroes don’t need inspiration!!!    Now, not only does SHE take pictures whenever she can, she has turned HIM!!!   Now dad carries a camera everywhere and even turns the car around out of excitement over gauges, signs, nuts, bolts, fans…all the “guy stuff”, he says.  All I can do is raise my eyebrows, breathe heavily, and shake my head until I feel dizzy and forget that this has happened.   Of course, these actions have sparked a few discussions between them about grumpiness and odd or alarming behavior patterns on my part.  Real Sherlocks they are.

After daddy gets home from doing super hero stuff all day, he hugs me, tells me how much he missed me, plays with me for awhile…and then…wait for it…SHOWS MOM ALL THE PICTURES HE TOOK!!!  They sit there all excited about the images and the categories that are “filling up”.  They make plans for field adventures and add to their list of items to capture and places to go. Oh man.   I would be lying if I said some of these field adventures weren’t amazing and fun.  Next on the list of inspiring, errr….I mean, JUST places:  the beach, the zoo, a train depot, and an old abandoned concrete warehouse.  I guess you could call them inspiring.   Don’t repeat that to anyone!!!

Just as I had suspected, the new toy for mom took us out on a field adventure.    It took her maybe 27 minutes to decide that is what we needed to do with the afternoon.   I was totally playing with my cars too when she whisked me away while flashing that goofy grin of hers.  Not cool.  Not cool.   We were going to a bunch of carved wooden poles when she got excited by a skate park and all the cool graffiti there.   Don’t we have enough graffiti shots??  Well, there were a few skater dudes there that stared at us for awhile, and then started talking to my mom.   Here’s what momma has to say about the encounter.

“Today I was so excited to take my new-to-me toy, a Canon 40 camera, and get some great shots for the site.  I had heard of some totem poles in the south part of town, so Nater Tater and I headed that way.  We were minutes away when I got sidetracked (surprise!!) by a mostly vacant skate park with pretty cool graffiti art.   I figured the kids in there would probably just ignore me and I’d ignore them as I snapped a few pictures.  However, as I entered, the kids, who looked a little rough around the edges, just stopped skating and stared as though I was trespassing.  My plan was to ignore, but Nate, ever the charmer, decided to engage them in baby talk.  At first they didn’t respond…but when I told them we didn’t mean to interrupt, we just wanted some photos of the great graffiti art, they flashed big smiles and started pointing out different tags.  There was so much pride in their voices.  More than that, there was so much respect.  Respect for me and Nate in the way they talked (they apologized for swearing), respect for the art and creativity so evident, and respect for other skaters who had died.   They told me the stories behind some of the tags, how long they had been skating at the park (they were just 15 and 17), and showed me the tags of skaters who had passed away.   Those tags are a memorial, and no one is allowed to tag over them, while some won’t even skate over them out of respect. 

I left the skate park humbled because those “punks” showed me more respect than I showed them.  I felt so grateful for the reminder of avoiding snap judgments and relating to people with respect.   Although I got great pictures of graffiti and later of some cool totem pole carving, it was the encounter at the skate park that made my day.”

Speaking of toys…we really REALLY need to address the definition of a toy.   If I can’t play with it, can’t lick it, can’t bounce it, it doesn’t make noises…then momma needs to stop calling it a toy.  Seriously.

Yesterday, my mom was doing this weird movement she claims is dancing.  She was squeaking and yelling (not mumbling for a change), “It’s here!  It’s here!  My new toy is here!!  Wahoo!!”  And then she did more “dancing”.  I’m so glad my friends weren’t over because it was SO embarrassing.

Because she said “toy”, I was waiting for something pretty exciting to come out of the box.  So I watched with one of my new expressions of surprise and big eyes, ready to say, “Tada!”  when she pulled out the toy.   Only it was not a toy.  No way.  She carefully lifted this black rounded contraption-tool-thingy I’ve come to know as the picture-taker…the camera.  She kept calling it a Canon 40-D and saying it was lovely and amazing.  I’ll tell you what’s lovely and amazing… my push cars and bouncy balls.   Needless to say, while she lifted it, ooo-ed and aaa-ed, smiled big, jumped up and down, and generally made a fool of herself, I went down the checklist.   I KNOW I can’t touch it.  She and daddy have made that clear.  That doesn’t mean I don’t try, but now they’ve put the special tool-thingy up on a shelf…way out of my reach.  (Don’t worry, I’m working on my climbing skills and general core strength.  Ha Ha Ha!)  And, basically since I can’t touch it, that means I can’t lick it, bounce it or discover the noises it makes.   Epic fail as the definition a toy if you ask me.   Momma insists that it is really fun to play with though, and she DOES look really happy!  She looks so happy, that I find myself smiling back at her.  Of course, she mistakes this as my own excitement over said toy.   She says someday I’ll have my own.  Yea yea.  Yawn.

Well…momma’s new toy (I’m still not convinced it is a toy) can only mean one thing:  we’re off on another field adventure.

Happy Fall!  Speaking of weather (although Fall is really a season, not general weather), I’ve been feeling a bit under it for the past few days, so I haven’t written much.   Don’t worry though, I’m BACK!

So…my momma is very “twicky”!  My dad is also, but I expected as much from him.  He’s a superhero.  Anyway, I overheard them discussing a trip to REI for a new family toy.  Of course, my ears perked up at the mention of a toy.   I would have driven to the store myself if my legs were longer.  A new TOY!!  OH BOY, OH BOY!!!   (Hey, that rhymes.) What will it be?  A ball…a drum…a car…a book???   Drive faster!   Okay, we’re here!   What is it, what is it???  A….backpack???!!!  What am I missing here?  Wait a second (as I’m being lifted into the backpack)…this is a twick…(I’m in the backpack)…I protest!…Wait…this is AMAZING comfort!  Wow! (I’m on dad’s back).  This is the Cadillac of backpacks for sure.  And the view up here is cool!  If momma and dad brought their camera, they could get great shots of the concrete floor and the galvanized pipes overhead.  Not that I care about that stuff…I’m just saying.

On the drive back home, I listen sleepily (I should really take more naps), to them discussing a field adventure tomorrow to try out the backpack.  I’m game.  I’ll ride in that thing all day long!   The comfort, the things I can see.  Okay, okay.  I get it.  Although…we might have to discuss the definition of toy.  Clearly the parental units don’t know what a toy is.   But, this new “family toy” will buy mom more time and patience from me for some field adventures.   Very, very twicky indeed!

Hi everyone.   So…once again, my mom left the journal out.  Okay, maybe I went looking for it.  The details are a bit sketchy, but let’s just agree to not discuss it.   Here is another entry from momma, titled, “Thank You”.

“Not only do I get to “see” the world every day, I also get to share it with people during the day…as long as I don’t miss the opportunity.   Besides the little helper on my back, sometimes I do get so wrapped up in taking pictures,  that I do forget people are around me!  This day was different though.  I decided that on today’s field adventure, I’d make it a point to make eye contact with passersby and engage them.  And if I didn’t, Prince Charming on my back certainly would!   So, today’s outing took us to Sonoma, California.   We were taking pictures around the old barracks there, the mission, and the old town square.   There was great light and an abundance of adobe, mud, wood and stone.  I was deep in thought and excitement over these textures when a man stopped me.  He said, ‘Excuse me.  Excuse me.   I’ve been watching you take pictures and I just wondered what it is you’re taking photos of.’   Here goes…so I replied, ‘I’m glad you asked! Thanks…  I’m taking shots of texture.  So look at the wood grain on that beam, or the peeling paint on that window frame.  Or check out the brick pattern on that building across the street- so cool!   Oh! Oh!  …And then there’s the broken glass or the stained glass in those other buildings.  I guess I’m headed there next!!  They are all so beautiful, and so often missed… and when you just isolate these textures in the images, it’s really amazing.  Again, thank you for asking.’ 

He stared at me for seconds, shaking his head.  Then he surprised me and thanked ME for helping him realize what he had been missing around him.   We said good bye, he complimented the helper on my back and we parted ways.  Not bad for a day at work!”

The other day we were on a field adventure, looking for graffiti to shoot.  No, not bang-bang shoot people…geez.  Take-pictures-of shoot.  I hear graffiti is when someone paints in places they shouldn’t…like walls of buildings,  dumpsters, and fences.  Some say it is artistic.  So…I’m just trying to be artistic when I draw all over my bedroom walls.  Is that a crime???   Anyway, we were walking along, and all of a sudden my mom realized my lovey wasn’t in the stroller anymore. (The lovey is the MOST important blanket ever, necessary for all daily functions and special operations).  Everyone should have a lovey…it gives you special powers, I swear.   Well, I kept my cool, but my mom totally panicked.   So we went from a leisurely walk to a sprint, all to find my lovey.  It was odd because I knew we were looking for this strange painted art, but we passed sooooo much of it! (Who’s in charge of graffiti abatement in town?  Are they napping or what?? Don’t they know naps are overrated???)  My mom, she just kept running and running!  She must really love me and know how much I love that lovey!!    After about 15 minutes, we turned the corner…and there it was!  On the ground…right where I had chucked it out of the stroller…right next to the most beautifully painted graffiti dumpster.  The best shot of the day!  See…the lovey has special powers.  The look on my mom’s face as she handed it to me…she seemed so proud to have found it, so happy to give it to me, so full of joy.

September 11, 2012

Today was huge.  Big, big day.  You see, today was my birthday!  Yay for birthday cake, balloons, and bouncy balls!  We had pancakes and bananas for breakfast, my favorite.  Mom even put cream stuff on the pancakes. Heaven.  After breakfast, we hit the town for a walk…and of course pictures.  You’d think there would be tons of photos of ME on this day…but the camera was also for images and textures.   That’s fine…I can share:  sharing is caring, after all!  I had to, of course, do my job of distracting and disarming those who stare at us while momma was shooting photos.   She stopped at a wood table that had scratches all over it.  Super distressed wood (this is where momma starts using words like “aged”, “weathered”, “scratched”, “worn”, “engraved”, “old”)…well, forget the wood, I became distressed when an entire family stopped and stared at my mom while she snapped photos.  She, lost in her world, didn’t notice them, but I had to really turn on the charm, pulling out all the stops.   I waved, said, “hiya”, and then did a really surprised look and pointed behind them.   It worked!  Mom finished up and we moved on to the water fountain.  Yes!!! I love that fountain!   Again, she zoomed in on the bubbles in fountain, the splashes, the moving water…and again, the people began staring.  They always go from her, to whatever she is focused on…and back and forth a few times.  In my act of distracting a couple (they looked like really cool grandparents), I flashed a big smile, and got this response from the lady: “What a cute baby!  He’s just adorable!”   A baby????  Me????  Shut the front door!!  What is she talking about?  I’m not a baby.  I’m one as of today.  That’s a big deal.