Maddox - The Slide Show

What do you see baby boy?

Maddox - A most Adorable Baby Boy      
 **watch the slide show (click above)

BaBY fAcE

This Baby was 

so much fun to photograph

Love Love Love

This baby is adorable

Watching the mom interact with her baby

was heart warming

iN a yEaR

Things change in a year

Some things stay the same

Last year spring break was all about skate boards

This year it's baseball cards

Driveway basketball is getting a lot of attention

The skateboard is getting dusty

There is talk about Lacrosse

But that'll have to be in the future

because baseball

is baseball

GuMbAll MaCHinEs

When I see gumball machines I still think of pennies

When I see gumball machines I still think of gumballs

Gumball machines have changed a lot

First of all the gumballs are a lot bigger

Gumballs don't cost a penny any more

25 cents now 

The gumballs are often not gumballs

These machines that I still call gumball machines

Aren't always gumball machines

they

Have other stuff

toys

tatoos

squishies

bouncy balls

sweet tarts

hot tamales

I have no doubt the machines 

will change in our future

will entice our kids and grandkids

will hold???

What's your guess?

PeRsPeCTivE

Today someone asked me what I like to take pictures of

I couldn't answer right away

I had to think about my answer

My answer to her was

People

But that's not right

Because 

For me it's not WHAT I like to take pictures of

It's more of  HOW I like to take pictures

And WHY I like to take pictures

I try to take a picture that is interesting

I want the picture to create a reaction in the viewer

Reactions come from PERSPECTIVE

size

shape 

color

angle

lighting

mood

a story

pattern

design

interpretation

time of day

Looking at things in a new way

JuNK YaRd

Truck factories build trucks

After they are built they need to put them somewhere

So there is this great big lot 

Behind the truck factory

Hundreds of trucks lined up 

Waiting

Rows and Rows of trucks

Mostly white

My dad says the rows of new trucks

is a litmus test of how well the business is doing

But what about the garbage?

Everyone has garbage

The juxtaposition of the clean white new trucks

Directly across the street

A junk yard

The Ghosts

The skeletons

A Llama?  That's cool. 

Kinda like life

The shiny new stuff is fun to show off

The house

The cars

The Diplomas

The job

The clothes

The talents

The vacations

The toys

But we all have a junk yard

with ghosts & skeletons

It's part of our history

It's part of who we are

Not very pretty

Kinda hard to look at

We don't show it to everyone

But there's some interesting stuff in there

Don't judge the junk yard

It's part of the journey

Just be careful what you put in there.

oLD sTUfF

I find old stuff beautiful

Interesting

Full of character

There are stories and memories

If you look closely you can see a cool car here

This car was something in it's day

This car was someone's new car

It went on dates

Took vacations

Carried children with the windows down

Went to grandma's house 

Brought christmas presents to the family celebration

Drove the family to church on Sundays

The car got old

The people got a newer car

The old car sat

Now the old car is but a rusty momento

in  a field

on a back road

in a small country town

Dodge Center, MN

where only a curious passerby 

might find it

if they get off the road and wander

I was the lucky passerby

with my camera

willing to wander

The CoNTinuUM of SHoeS

My shoes laid out end to end

My shoes in a pile

20 pair

I'm thinking I am at the low end of average for the American woman

Maybe below average

I might be wrong

I don't feel like I have many shoes

compared to others I hear about

I always have a pair to wear

I usually buy several in the summer

Sidewalk sale downtown

at my favorite shoe store

Then I'll buy another pair

usually full price 

in the fall

boots

I have two pair of tennis shoes

they both need to be replaced

Two pair of heels I am giving away tomorrow

they hurt my feet

I can't wear them

I wonder how many shoes my neighbors have

I wonder about my friends

I don't really care

I'm just curious

I'm curious of where I am in the continuum of shoes

Where are you?

WhAt's DoWN ThERe?

Even without making decisions, conscious decisions
life is going in a direction
It is the cross sections of our decisions that often direct our lives
It is the who or what that crosses our path
New ideas
New people
New opportunities

One Tuesday in 1986 I went to work as a kindergarten teacher in Denver
I met a substitute teacher in the Teacher's lounge that day
He had just returned from the Peace Corps
I came home that same day
joined the Peace Corps
Changed my life

In 1990 I went to buy a car at Kuehn Motor in Rochester
I used to babysit for the owner
He directed me to a young salesman
my age
I bought a car from the young salesman
I asked him out on a date
Married the guy

Went for coffee with my husband a few years back
Stopped in to an open house on our way home
Bought the house
We weren't really house shopping
it was coffee

Life is interesting
What has directed or redirected your life?
What minor incidents led to a life changes?

WAiT

I have waited for spring for a long time

I am still waiting

Waiting more would be good for us

the wait helps up appreciate the gift of whatever we are waiting for

My friend Harlan Wickre told me once that long stop lights

are good practice for patience - we need that

Many people don't enjoy the wait

What if we decided to enjoy the wait?

What if we carried a book with us at all times

or a camera

or a notebook

or just decided to sing as we wait

Having kids has allowed me to learn to wait

I wait in my car a lot

I wait in the car for the kids to get ready to leave the house

it's better than nagging

"I'll be in the car" a statement

I wait in parking lots

I wait in lobbies

In bleachers

in auditoriums

I meet people while I wait

I finish books while I wait

I take pictures while I wait

I sleep while I wait

I discover things while I wait

sometimes I explore while I wait

Today I played Angry Birds while I waited

How do you wait?

ToDAy I BouGHt ....

Today I bought point shoes

a pair of jazz shoes

some rubbery toe cover things dancers sometimes wear

and

a bottle of pop

I read an article about a group of people

that committed to not spending any money for a month

They didn't buy anything unless it was a necessity

A necessity as defined by them

What would my necessities be?

Would I prep food for month?

Buy only fresh produce?

Gas?

No eating out

No coffee from my favorite coffee shop

No impromptu grocery visit

I think I'd limit myself to one grocery visit a week

then I'm dependent on whatever the pantry holds

I suppose I'd even dig into that venison in the freezer

Judith Levine wrote a book 

"Not buying it: My year without shopping"

A year is a long time

April is just around the corner

I think ... maybe.... I'll give it a try for a month

OuCH!!!

Mind the Mailboxes

This has been a winter for the record books

ski heaven 

pot holes

record snow falls

mailbox casualties galore!!!

I found this poor guy laying in the street

I picked him up and placed him atop his post

I've seen mailboxes in all states of repair

bandaged in duct tape

mounted at the end of a long board stuck in a snow drift

laying on the snow

tied to a pole and a tree

It's been a tough year to be a mailbox

My mailbox has faired well

too well

I've been wanting a new box

something creative

something with flare

a flowerbox

mailbox

I don't know how to build one

my husband could

but unless he sees the need.....

I think I'll have my mailbox around for a while yet

IT All sTaRTeD wiTh a BiKE

Remember you first bike?

Mine was a green Schwinn

Good Things happen when you learn to bike

It's a path way to independence

Play with the big kids

Be a big kid

Melanie learned to ride to a bike

It led to good things

It led to many bikes

Many rides

One ride, a big kid ride

Ride the Rockies

2006

350 miles

A ride with her dad

Ian was there

Nice guy

Fast Forward 2011

Ian and Melanie Get Married

A delicate bike theme

Texas wedding

Cowboy boots

A vintage orange schwinn stingray banana seat bike

Eli rides the bike in the wedding

Not the ring bearer

The Town Crier

"Here Comes the Bride!!!"

Good things start with a bike

Memories among them

What's yours?

THe fiNAl sNoW of 2011 (i HoPE)

They say not to wish anything away.

But snow in Minnesota?

Have "they" ever been through a Minnesota Winter?

The snow has been incredulous this year.

Really something to behold.

With snow in today's forecast and the week ahead in the 50's

This could be nearing the end of our Winter

I don't mind snow.

I don't even mind cold on occasion

It's the long that gets to me.

Everything has a timeline.

Enough is enough

I love the first snowfall

I love the last snowfall

It's the five months in between that I don't care for.

I'm thinking this will be the last.

Please don't prove me wrong.

What has dragged on too long for you?

I DiD aND I dO and I'D Do IT AgAin

Will You Marry Me?

I don't know.

Maybe.

I'm scared.

 Let's get married.

October.

I do.

You the introvert.

Me the extrovert.

Saturday is Cleaning Day.

You want to take over all the house cleaning.

Really?

Deal.

I love hanging with you.

You support me.

You balance me.

You buy me flowers a couple times a year.

You let me grow.

You don't make me a cup of coffee every morning.

Something to look forward to.

ViCtoRY

Either team could have won this.

They were evenly matched.

The game went into double overtime.

We just happened to score first.

Game Over.

Why does all the gear come off when you win?

I guess it comes down to the need to throw something?

And if that's the case what do the soccer players throw when they win?

Oh, and remember it's not ok to throw things when you lose.

huh?

I agree with this, but why?

I suppose one is an expression of joy, the other of frustration.

Hope you win something today.

Let me know 

What you throw

to celebrate

LoVE YoU!!!

Tears ran down his cheeks as he opened the card and read the note.

The plain brown box.

The bright red ribbon.

The chocolate kisses inside.

Then the card.

A hand drawn heart by a 10 year old with mediocre drawing ability.

Then the note inside in the script of his son.

His son who makes spelling mistakes.

The spelling mistakes take nothing away from the heart felt meaning of the note.

The note that says it all.

He loves his dad.

He loves hockey.

He loves his dad for loving hockey.

He loves his dad for loving him and sharing his love of hockey.

He thanks God for it all.

LiGHtiNg iS EvErYThiNG

If the lighting is right..... magic.

We all look better in good lighting.

We all feel better in good light; sun vs overcast.

Good lighting just makes you feel happy, sexy, awed, charmed.

As a parent I use lighting all the time in interactions with the kids.

I have to present things in "the right light"

It's an "art" that I am still practicing.

Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I don't

Chester's in Rochester has their lighting right. 

Especially around the bar.

You feel hip just being there.

We celebrated Dad's 77th birthday in the lighting at Chester's.

Happy Birthday Dad.

I like light.  

But I don't like light beer.

What light has moved you lately?

GeAR

Hockey gear is necessary and mandated.

Every piece has a purpose.

The pads protect you, the skates allow you to glide across the ice,

the stick allows you to move the puck,

the helmet (with some luck) will protect your head.

My arena is an elementary school.

My gear is what ever I decide to wear that day.

My bunions are a part of me and there is no denying them.

They scream at me if I even look at a pair of heels.

So although I try to dress in contemporary fashion my shoes keep out of "high fashion".

Frankly it's a blessing.  

I envy the woman that can wear the heels and be safe and comfortable in them at the same time.  That woman is not me.

And so it is with flat shoes and comfortable clothes

I head to the school I teach in.  

I also make sure I have an extra layer of clothes.

It is not so much that there are hot and cold spots in the building.

There are.

But it is more that I am living in the body of a menopausal woman.

A menopausal woman with extreme hot flashes.

ugh.

So that's my gear on a day to day basis.  

What's yours?