Thursday, March 28, 2013

Helloooooo, ball!


The girls' preschool had a Father's Day event called "Tee Time with Dad." The fathers were all invited to come have a snack and a round of makeshift miniature golf with their kids.

I was showing Elyse how to play golf. I took a golfer's stance in front of the little white plastic ball, holding the tiny plastic putter in my best approximation of a Jack Nicklaus grip, and told her, "First, address the ball: Helloooooo, ball!"

Elyse thought this was hilarious (for reasons that probably don't have anything to do with why it was funny fifty years earlier when Ed Norton said it). For the next few minutes, every time she approached the ball she would say, "Helloooooo, ball!" in her sweet little three-year-old's voice, and laugh and give the ball a good whack.

These are the things that make life really wonderful, you know?

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

Happy Birthday, Mister Rogers



When I was a little boy, Mister Rogers encouraged me to be creative and curious and patient and kind. That encouragement was a wonderful gift to give a sensitive little boy. But of course, it wasn't for me alone; it was a gift he gave to many millions of people over the thirty-five year run of his PBS TV show.

Those of us who watched him every day when we were four or five or six are unquestionably better off for his influence; for his absence, the world is unquestionably poorer.

Had he lived, he would have turned eighty-five years old today. I'll be wearing a red sweater in his honor.

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Breakfast


I spent more time taking pictures of it than eating it.

Friday, March 15, 2013

Various Objects on Gold Metallic Poster Board

I bought a piece of gold metallic poster board at Hobby Lobby to use as a background for tabletop/still-life photography, so of course I had to find some stuff to test it out with.

I believe it was more than fifteen years ago that my friend Margarette Rogers (Pearl) gave me this beautiful Colibri Winnie-the-Pooh pen, my favorite pen in the world.


In 1996 at my housewarming party for my first house, the one in Lawrenceville, Shannon Etherton gave me a set of Winnie-the-Pooh wine glasses:


Finally, Crayola markers, without any Winnie-the-Pooh reference whatsoever:


Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Reminders of the Corporate Life

More than 15 years ago, when I still worked in the corporate world, I was given this business card holder/clock as an "Attaboy!" for some work I did on a project:


Now that I've been out of the corporate world for almost a decade, and haven't worked full time in that long, too, these little reminders of my former life mean a lot more to me than I thought they would. Much to my own surprise, I find I miss my working life more than I expected.

When the girls are both in school I plan to go back to work doing something at least somewhat like what I used to do; I find myself looking forward to that. (However, I wouldn't trade my time as a stay-at-home dad for anything. It has been the most wonderful, the most sacred--and yes, the most frustrating and challenging--experience I can imagine.)

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Jessica's Glasses

On Friday Jessica got her new glasses!


She picked the frames herself. She tried on several pair, but these were by far the ones she liked best.


Unlike her parents, Jessica is farsighted, rather than nearsighted, so even at her young age, glasses are necessary to help her as she reads books and papers that are right in front of her. (Farsighted means most able to focus on objects that are far away and trouble focusing on things that are close. Nearsighted is the opposite. I know, it's hard to remember which is which.)

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Monticello, GA

I went on a little drive today to take some pictures, and ended up in Monticello, about fifty miles from where I live. I found some wonderful colors and shapes and textures to capture.