Sunday Brunch

After five more inches of snow and a broken plow, we couldn't get out of the driveway for church.  So we put together an impromptu brunch: fresh eggs, crunchy bread, spicy sausage.  The atmosphere of the kitchen was almost overwhelming to me and I started to think (as I have been lately) of when I won't be waking up to this.  There is chatter and laughter from multiple rooms, and little boys shoveling snow outside.  And those sounds mixed with the sizzle of cooking food creates a music that I could record and listen to over and over when I am lonely.  And so even on the most imperfect of days, these moments will still be remembered as some of my favorite.

Aching for Summer

give me summer.

1.  Sitting in the back of a truck bed at 9:30 at night next to a highway might not sound appealing, but when it's shared with three friends who love to laugh, we don't even notice how odd we look.

2.  Put your bare feet as near as you can to the flames without getting hurt.  Scoot your chairs closer.  Now listen.  Let me tell you a story.  It will make you laugh and it will make you smile.  Then another.  This one will make your skin tingle and you'll say you hate me for telling it.  So I'll sing songs across the flames in funny voices and I promise you won't hate me anymore.

3.  Produce covers the counters until the white tile underneath could hardly be seen.  And still buckets full to the brim sit on the ground.  "It's because of last year's drought", we say, trying to explain how so much food could come from what was planted.  The funny thing about gardening is that eating the produce isn't the best part.  No, I know the very best part is watching a friend drive away with a bag full of fruits and vegetables, knowing their dinner will consist of something we planted with our own hands.

4.  Memorize this feeling.  Don't you dare let it go.  Don't you forget what it feels like to sit on these bleachers with the friends that make you who you are.  You're watching your best friend show sheep and another friend show cows, but really, you're soaking in friendship.  You're walking around the fairgrounds and buying expensive ice cream that melts all over your hands, but really, you're soaking in summer nights.  Soak it in until it starts to leak out.  Soak it in so that on nights like this one the memories are still sweet.

> Some words about my favorite summer memories.  Some film scans from the time I bought a disposable camera to capture the last weekend of summer.  Both because it's only January 12th and I'm already aching for summer.  

slowing down

I know it's true; that slowing down life is better than constantly going.  But the actual doing it - that's harder than the knowing.  I have less than a year to spend as much time in this place and with these people as possible.  And the only way I've learned how to do that is slow down and take it all in.  My sisters and I went on a hike on the first day of Fall Break, and it was good to do something other than school.  With senior year classes and the fall busyness of photography, there hasn't been much time to slow down.  But the rest of October holds some (crazy awesome!) exciting things, and I intend to enjoy all of it to the fullest.  And as a photographer, the best way for me to remember and enjoy moments is to take photos of them, so there will be much more to come!  

sister portraits in the snow

sometimes photos explain wrinkled-nose smiles better than words do.  sometimes ten minutes in the falling snow means more than "i love you", no, it means "i care about you","i want to spend time with you", and"i want to capture you the way i see you, full of life and innocence and joy."  sometimes sisters look so beautiful in the beginnings of four inches of snow that you have to let the flakes melt on your camera, have to let your hair get soaked, have to capture what you see.

adventuring

Brothers are fun to go adventuring with, especially on fifty degree February days.  I call it adventuring, but really, it was just a walk in the woods with our boots and my camera.  This is my brother's element - he likes to say that someday he's going to live in a small cabin in the woods.  And if I'm honest, this is my element too.  I love it.  I don't come out to these woods often enough, but it's one of my favorite things about the place I live.  There's something I love about getting my hands (and my camera) covered in dirt, stepping over fallen branches, noticing small things like deer tracks and glass bottles, and walking paths made by people and animals I will never know.  There's stories that have started in this place - an abandoned beehive sitting on a rotting picnic table, a bridge built by someone long ago, and two rusted chairs on the edge of the creek - stories that I have to finish in my imagination.  I'm going back to this place.  Adventuring is my favorite.  :)