The other day we went on a field adventure to a place where people used to catch a lot of fishies and shrimpies. Lyla was wearing Momma on her back while Daddy and I walked around a super neat place by the water. It was some sort of park. In a state. There were boats, and sticks, rocks, hills and buildings. It started out great! I had my listening ears on, Momma and Daddy were smiling and taking pictures, Lyla was…well, doing what Lyla does- growling. Daddy gave me his camera to practice shots. After all, I gotta work with a camera now, not just write. The sun was just right, not too hot, not too cold. I found this stuff on the ground under a tree, and decided it was a good place to take pictures. “Pictoos? Pictoos of dat Dadda?”, I asked as he watched me. “Sure Mr. Man…I’ll help you,” he answered back.
Tree Skin. Gross.
I pointed and asked my favorite question, “Whhhaats dat?” For the biggest effect, I like to ask this about eleventeen times in a row. “That is…the skin of the tree. It’s coming off the tree and landing here,” Daddy answered. That. Is. Just. Gross. Worried, I looked at my own skin and then back at the tree, and then to the ground.
It’s possible this is what set me off, or maybe it was the salt air, but my listening ears kind of fell off, like the tree skin. After finishing my pictures of the tree skin, I looked around and noticed Momma and Lyla ahead. Camera still in hand, I ran down the hill after them. I could hear Daddy yelling in back of me, but somehow his “no’s and stop’s” sounded like, “run away faster”! I was almost to them when I was lifted straight off the ground. Daddy grabbed my overalls and hauled me into his arms. Uh-oh. He had his angry eyes on. I turned around to see Momma…yep, she had her angry eyes on too.
There was a big story about listening, not running away, being careful, not getting hurt, not having the camera alone, and some other stuff. The story wasn’t as cool as Papa’s stories. I heard some of it, but mostly just started hearing the birds tweeting, Lyla growling, and the songs in my head. It would TOTALLY have been Daddy’s fault if I had dropped the camera. I was just trying to work. I gotta work! After a little bit of silence and angry-eye blinking, I summarized for them. “Not a good idea, Nate.”
Because my listening ears fell off, I didn’t get to take more pictures on our field adventure, AND, had to wear Daddy in the front of my backpack. Their loss. I could have taken so many cool pictures. I guess you’ll just have to settle for theirs. Maybe next time. Gotta listen. Gotta work.
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