September  7, 2012

Hi folks, Nate here again.  I’m still a little bitter about being excluded from the field adventure the other day.  It’s hard for me to talk about.  Still too hurtful.  So, I’m going to share another journal entry of my mom’s that  I found.  What???  She’s the one who keeps leaving it out!    

“I am so blessed.  Besides having an amazing family, a fantastic support group, a great little house that is remote and quiet, I have the best job…ever.   You see, my job allows me to work from home and hang out with my little guy, Nate.  It took about 10 years for time to bring him to us, so I want to enjoy as much of being his mom as I can.   Now, that is a cool part of my work, but the best part is that I get to “see” the world.  Not travel, though I’ll write about that later.  What I mean is the everyday world.   So many people just go through their days not noticing the beauty of everyday tasks.  They don’t notice the texture of the pillow on the couch next to them, the depth of the bark pattern on their trees, the intricate beauty in the veins of their tree leaves, the vibrant colors on their kitchen counter,  the maze of wood grain on the office floors, the way the light bounces off the ice in their cups, the fabulous character in the brick building across the street, the personality of the clouds above them…I could go on and on.  I, however, get to look FOR all of these things, daily.  I get to literally search for and find these textures and images in order to capture photographs.    And I have to tell you…it kind of makes my day.  Try it.  It will take your breath away.”

September 5, 2012

“Uh-oh” was one of my first words, so I know it well.  And this definitely calls for an “uh-oh”.   Okay, maybe I’m too vocal about how crazy I think my mom is with her quests for the perfect shots, the number of photos she takes and uploads, the pictures she takes of the sidewalk, the adjectives she uses to talk about dirt (you should hear them…about dirt people)…all that stuff.  Can you blame me?   I mean, there’s passionate about one’s work…then there’s a line…and then there’s crossing the line.  She’s on the other side of the line in my opinion.  It gets worse when you bring in the others she works for and with.  I know, you’re thinking, “uh-oh”.   But that’s not the “uh-oh” I’m referring to.    Anyway…yes, perhaps I voice this opinion too frequently because today she dropped me off with Papa and Gram so she could do a field adventure alone.  I’m actually composing this now as I sulk in the corner.  She’s got NO IDEA how much she needs me out there!  Who’s going to point out things?  Who’s going to help keep track of categories?  Who’s going to charm all the strangers and gawkers, distracting them from her odd behavior?  What is she thinking???   I’m going to miss all the fun!!!  I mean, errr…did I say fun?  Uh-oh.   Ooo…gotta go, Gram is coming my way.

September 3, 2012

Have you ever heard the expression, “Good luck getting all your sh** done because I’m not taking naps anymore!”?  No?  Well, let me back up a few thoughts…

One of the best things about the work my mom does is that I get to hang out with her all day long!  That’s right, she’s home; and when she’s not, we’re out on field adventures together getting a gazillion photos.   I put a lot of effort into planning our days…the swing, books, puffs, throwing balls, piano, puffs, walks, dancing, books, puffs, chase, etc.   Honestly, sometimes it just doesn’t feel like she appreciates my effort.  She tells me I should rest a while, take a nap so she can get some things done on HER list.  HER list?  I should be HER list!  Selfish much?  Geez.  Does she really need all that time to take photographs, upload them from the little thingamajigs she puts in the camera (if I EVER get my hands on one of those!), sort and tag the images (what happened to tag with me?), chart and write too?  Ummm…no.  She even acts like she has fun doing it!!  So, I came up with this little idea.  My solution:  give up the naps.  That way she can spend all day long with me doing the things I have planned!  Brilliant, right?!  I don’t see a problem with that. You’re welcome mom.  *Yawn*

September 1, 2012

Hi folks, Nate here.  I found this little journal entry from my mom.  Yep, you should know the crazy field trip coordinator is my mom.   Well…anyway, she left her diary out, and I read this (shh!).  Please read it…hang in there.  Remember I mentioned she mumbles…and rambles.  It really explains a lot about her.  *Sigh* 

“In my life, it is hard to stay focused!    Take this morning’s run for example.  It was to be an easy 5-miler, home within 45 minutes.   It started out at a great pace… for the first 300 yards.  Then I saw the sun hitting the oak leaves.  “Oh man! That would be a great shot,” I mumbled to myself.  Just keep running.  “Whaaaat?!  Those grapes are lovely!” I exclaimed.  I wondered if I should turn around and grab my camera…but then what was I going to do, run with it around my neck?  I guess I COULD…hmm…NO… just keep running.  Out the driveway, I focus on my breathing, settling into a nice pace.  As I set my eyes on the road ahead of me, I notice the great textures in the gravel with red, white and gray pebbles illuminated by the rising sun.  “Must. Have. Camera.” I think to myself, “…I could capture some amazing shots here…that ivy … the railroad tracks …that pile of firewood…the oil stains…squirrel…the graffiti on the overpass…the eucalyptus leaves.”   Never mind. Just run.  Resuming my gazelle-like form and speed, I trekked on.

By mile 3, I had seen a gazillion more shots and was trying to pick up the pace in order to return home for my camera.  I shook my head in a scolding frustration,  wondering if it would be physically possible to kick myself (it would have to be more of a heal jab than a full frontal toe-kick).    As I rounded mile 4, I groaned at the deep purple plum tree leaves, and the old, battered pile of doors and windows in the back of a parked truck.  Beyond them, vineyard equipment.  Beyond that, a field of white and yellow flowers (wasn’t it late in the year for them to be blooming?  And what is that bird doing over there?).   I started blinking furiously as though I thought my eyes were capturing the shots.  This, of course, translated to a twitchy, head-shaking, mumbling runner. 

Not that I was distracted or anything, but at this point… I tripped.  Okay, so maybe I run more like a clumsy giraffe than a gazelle (sorry if you’re a giraffe reading this).  Fortunately, I regained my form without a complete face plant.  You’d think this near fall would have reigned in my focus, or what little attention to running I could muster.  But as I righted myself, I was face to face with a weathered barn full of character, covered in moss and old signs.  With a shake of my head, I decided to walk the rest of the way home.  It just seemed safer!   That’s it, I was grabbing my camera and heading back out… with any luck, the lighting would still be good in some of the spots.   My frustration abated, I turned up the driveway satisfied with my focus.” 

August 30, 2012

Hi folks.  Well, I survived the embarrassment of the sidewalk photo incident the other day on our field adventure.  Barely.  Let me tell you, it didn’t stop there though.  That crazy lady found some blades of grass that she called “lovely”, cracked dirt (dirt, really???!!), a warehouse roll-up door with less than friendly characters napping in front of it (mmmm…. napping).  She even ran out in the middle of the street between passing cars for a shot of some circle on the ground (maybe it was a square…I’m not up on all those shapes).  I think I heard a horn as my life passed before me. I have to admit there were some pretty cool bird feathers and leaves that she spent 15 minutes taking photos of. Not that I would tell her.    On our way back home, I heard her talking to someone on the phone saying, “I got about 417 shots this afternoon!  Wahoo!  I’ll get to sorting them tonight. So cool!”  Cool?  What would be cool is her focusing more on the number of puffs she gives me and less on the number of shots she gets!  Hey, I get hungry too.  Is that a crime?

August 28, 2012

I’m Nate.  I didn’t ask to have this woman strapped to my front.   Sure, she asks me every now and then in a nice enough way, but she doesn’t listen to my answer.  I just get a goofy smile accompanied by some cutesy nickname.  Lame.  But whatever.  Here I am, with this dorky woman stuck to me.  Resistance is futile…at least until I’m fully bipedal with core strength.  * Note to self: work on core exercises.

So, here we go again, out on another “field adventure” as she calls it.   Today’s destination is an old railroad and industrial district in town. The field trip coordinator in front keeps going on and on about metal, concrete and brick buildings with great hardware.   One look at the brilliant blue sky (yep, I know my primary colors, yeeaaawww!) and she breaks into all kinds of exclamations.  They seem like happy things, though she mumbles so much it’s hard to tell.  We stop in the middle of the sidewalk to take a few pictures…of the ground.  Did you catch that?  The MIDDLE of the sidewalk for goodness sake people.  For pictures of the SIDEWALK!!  Not just casual shots either, but down on bended knee, zooming in. Doesn’t she see the strange looks everyone give us?  Correction…give HER.  I strain over her shoulder to see what on earth needs this much attention.  I see nothing…so I turn my attention to damage control and begin casting charming smiles at passersby to distract them from the crazy woman strapped to my front side.  This is real stuff my friends.  Welcome to my life.