People

Julia

Foam Party

we went to visit our good friend Julia this evening at UMBC. Dorothy and I visited the school one day last year but Cathy had never been. It was nice to see Julia’s dorm room and we also went to dinner with her. School hadn’t started yet, it was still orientation for a few more days, so not everyone was on campus yet.

After dinner in the dining hall we sat on a bench outside the dorm and watched as a foam party began on the lawn. It was an interesting time of people watching and to be honest, I can’t say it made me wish I was back in school.

A while ago I had a realization that was a little disconcerting but ultimately has been quite freeing. When in a situation like this, where most of the people are half my age (or even a third of my age), I don’t think I’m strange for wondering how I am seen by these young people. I don’t think it unusual for someone, particularly an older someone, to feel like they are younger than they are and want to fit it. The reality is that someone my age is mostly invisible to most people a third my age. Particularly in a situation like this, where the young people are probably more concerned with how they are seen, they are unlikely to care about that old man on a bench (even when two of his three companions are also a third his age). So, while they might see me enough to avoid walking into me, they are not liable to look at me long enough to have any idea what I look like or whether I’m liable to fit in. I’m virtually invisible.

Suzy and Calvin

I’ve had one picture of Calvin here before, when he was less than a week old. His big brother, Henry, has been in at least two posts (and possibly more — searching for his first name doesn’t help, because it’s on every page!). Here’s another of Calvin, now about four months old. I don’t know where he stands, percentile-wise, but he seems pretty big to me.

As you might expect for such a cute and even tempered baby, he gets passed around quite a bit on Sunday after church. This is Suzy who has him here and I think they make a handsome couple. She might be a little old for him, but he could do worse.

Hannah, Stephanie, and Lyla

I don’t have a lot to say about this photograph. As most people who know me know, I don’t really care for young people that much. These three, however, have been such good pals for a long while and I’ve enjoyed watching them grow from girls to young ladies. They spend much of there lives far apart, at their various colleges and it’s grand to see them together.

Evan’s Window Seat

One of my co-workers sons was in the office today. He didn’t make a lot of noise. In fact, I wouldn’t have noticed he was there except I happened to walk by him. He had found a window seat and was quietly reading one of the A Series of Unfortunate Events books, by Lemony Snicket (a.k.a. Daniel Handler). I asked if he minded if I took his picture. Knowing his mother and how photographically oriented she is, I wasn’t surprised when he said something to the effect of, “whatever.”

Dorothy and Cat

After our vacation, where finding something to photograph wasn’t a problem, I’m back at home where I get up, go to work, come home, fix dinner, and that’s about it. My commute doesn’t take me past much in the way of scenic beauty. My office is pretty barren, photographically. I wonder, sometimes, how long I can keep this up. When I got home today, though, Dorothy’s friend, Cat, was here. A photographic subject! Thanks, girls.

Oh, and cute haircut, Cat.

Rock Creek Church

It’s a pretty exciting time for us. We had a nice, relaxing week at the beach, returning yesterday. Tomorrow we leave for England. But today has excitement of its own. Our church has been without a pastor for over a year. In some ways it’s been a good year. There has been a lot of looking at and assessing needs. It’s also been a fairly hard year in a lot of ways. There has been a lot that needed doing and fewer people to do it. I was blessed to be involved in the pastoral search process. Now, I celebrate along with the rest of the church that God has brought us a new pastor and his family. This is much more of a beginning than and ending and there is plenty still needing to be done, perhaps more than ever, but this is a change I’ve been looking forward to for a good while. Welcome, Martin Family!

Dorothy and Karlee

As I mentioned when I posted the family picture from a few days ago, Karlee has been with us at the beach every time we’ve gone since 2006. Dorothy’s second cousins consider her to be an honorary relative. She’s become so much a part of the family for that week that we don’t so much ask if she can come as assume that she will.

It’s hard to know what will happen next year, as both girls will have graduated from high school. The years after that are even more uncertain, of course, when they are away at college. Time will tell, of course, and Karlee will always be invited.

This photo was one of only a few I took today. We spent the first part of the morning packing and loading the car and then spent most of the day driving home. It’s about 425 miles, including getting Karlee home, and when you add stops and heavy traffic on I95, it’s a pretty long day. I made sure to take a few, though, including this of Dorothy and Karlee, ending beach week.

Family Beach Photo

Today’s picture is of the portion of our family that was at the beach this year. We missed having Stephen, Maya, and Iris, who have come in recent years. We also missed Brady, George, and Carmela, although they haven’t been, at least not in a long while. But, we did have Karlee, Dorothy, Henry, Cathy, Albert, Dot, Ralph, and Tsai-Hong. While Karlee isn’t technically in our family, she’s been with us at the beach six of the last eight years and we didn’t go to the beach the other two, either.

Airborne

Our friend, Dave, took two other friends, Jon and James, up in his plane this afternoon. He had to return the plane to Frederick and get his car, so they flew with him, along with his oldest son, Conor. I drove them to the airport where the plane was and took some pictures of them as they took off. I underestimated how much runway this larger plane needs to take off as compared to the smaller planes that take off so very quickly and easily. They got off the ground just before they got to where I was by the runway. The picture taken right before this is a little better in terms of showing the plane. I was trying to keep up with them as they hurtled towards me and I’m afraid that the framing is a bit off. Still, I like this one because you can see James in the cockpit. Another future pilot, perhaps?

In Memoriam — Kevin Snider

February 6, 1952 – July 8, 2013

Guatemala Team

Dorothy left early this morning for Guatemala early this morning. We dropped her off at Church of Christ at Manor Woods at 2:00 AM and they were off by 2:30, heading to the airport. By the time we were home from church later in the day there was a post on Facebook saying they had arrived safely in Antigua. It’s going to be hard not being able to call and ask her how she is, but we’re looking forward to all the stories she’ll have when she gets home. This is the team, just before the piled into the bus and headed out.

Cathy and Dorothy

It was about 10:30 this evening and I hadn’t taken any pictures today. I asked the girls if I could take there picture and I took about a dozen. This one turned out quite well, I think. Others had one or both of them making silly faces, and while they are funny, it’s easy to get tired of silly faces and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of their ordinary smiles.

I love you both, girls.

Viki

As followers of this blog know, I had surgery in May and then again on June 12, just under three weeks ago. I was back in to have the staples removed last week and went in again today for what we all hope will be my last visit. I’m recovering nicely, although I’m still supposed to take it easy.

I don’t like telling people that I hope never to see them again, but when the reason you see them is that you need or are recovering from surgery, that’s a little different. Viki, the nurse at this particular doctor’s office, is very nice and cheerful and was gracious enough to let me take a couple pictures of her, after I told her why I carry my camera everywhere. Thanks, Viki, for making a bad time more pleasant.

Lilias, Michelle, Hope, Ben, and Yan

It’s hard to believe it’s been two years since we saw these lovely folks but when they were here last they were just under a month away from having their second child and now here they are with three! What a wonderful time we had catching up, hearing stories, and reconnecting. And what a beautiful family they are becoming. Lilias is becoming quite the little lady and Yan is cute, if somewhat wary of strangers. Thank you all for giving us a day of your time and God bless you as you follow him.

Dorothy, Hannah, Kendra, Emma, and Safiya

Dorothy and some of her friends left for summer camp this evening. It was a beautiful, warm afternoon and spirits were high as five buses of kids and counselors headed off for West Virginia for five fun-filled days and nights. As usual, I took a few pictures. In this one are, from left to right, Dorothy, Hannah, Kendra, Emma, and Safiya. Have a great time, guys.

Simone

I took some fern pictures this afternoon but fern pictures are pretty easy to come by. Dorothy visited with her good friend Simone this afternoon and I took some pictures of them. Pictures of Simone are considerably harder to come by because Simone lives out of town. Dorothy didn’t particularly like the pictures with both of them, so you get a picture of just Simone. Not that that’s a bad thing, just a thing. Here you are.

James Imitating Jacob

I went to pick up Dorothy this evening and ran into a few old friends, some of whom I haven’t seen in a while. James was there with his grandmother and I took a few pictures of them. She was talking about her newest grandson, Jacob, and told James to show me what Jacob looks like. This is what he did.

Apparently Jacob was a bit of a crier at first but recently he has become interested in everything. He stares around with an amazed expression on his face similar to this one.

Jean, Maria, and Buck

We went to two graduation ceremonies today. The first was in Fairfax and was for our friend Maria, shown here with her parents, Jean and Buck. It seems like only yesterday that she was just a little girl and now she’s a beautiful young lady, off to college in the fall. Congratulations, Maria, we are very proud of you, and I know your family is, too. Sorry we couldn’t stay for your party, but we had a second graduation to go to.

Hannah Blowing Bubbles

We spent an enjoyable evening having dinner in our friends’ barn. It was a really nice time of being with old friends as well as making some new. Dorothy’s friend, Hannah came with us and towards the end of the evening she enjoyed blowing bubbles. This picture has been modified slightly (but only slightly), but it’s how I saw what she was doing. So, think of this as an impressionistic view of Hannah blowing bubbles.

Piano Recital

Dorothy had her annual piano recital this afternoon and we enjoyed listening to her play. Her good friend Julia also takes piano lessons from Rhonda and she was right after Dorothy. Actually, I enjoyed all the performers. I don’t know if it’s because I’m getting older, or what, but I find it easier and easier each year to enjoy the music of all levels and not wish it would just end. Well done, everyone. We had a special treat this year. One student, the boy on the right in this photograph, played his piano pieces and then he played a duet with his teacher with her on the piano and him on the clarinet. That was lovely.

Preston / Hoberman Sphere

We had a group of folks over this evening, including young Henry, whose photograph has been featured here a few times. We got out some toys for him and the older kids enjoyed showing him this Hoberman sphere. He wasn’t so sure he wanted anything to do with it. Preston, on the other hand, thought it was a lot of fun wearing it on his head.

Karen, Bob, Julia, Dorothy, Maureen, Stephen, and Kadie

Two days ago I showed you Julia’s ceiling. Today, you get Julia and her family (plus a few). We enjoyed the graduation ceremony and are very proud of Julia as she moves into the next phase of her educational career. We’ll miss seeing her quite so often but swill look forward to her visits all the more for her absence.

Well done, Julia. Thanks to you and your family for your love and friendship.

Hannah Admires Julia’s Ceiling

We have some pretty artistically talented friends and Julia is one of them. She has a particularly beautiful singing voice, she plans the piano and guitar, and she is pretty handy with a pencil and paper (as well as other media). I’m not going to try to illustrate her musical ability here, but instead will pay silent homage to her drawing skills.

The ceiling over her bunk is decorated with sketches and this picture shows another talented friend, Hannah, admiring them. I have enjoyed watching her skills mature as she has grown into a beautiful young lady. I look forward to watching the next phase of her journey, as she heads off to college in the fall.

Dorothy Rose

Well, we’ve had a lot of rose pictures so to ease us back into the non-rose world, I thought I’d post a picture of Dorothy Rose. Actually, I’m mainly posting this because it is one of only six pictures I took today.

On Sunday I passed photo number 60,000 with this camera. As you probably know, I’ve been taking a picture every day since four days after I got my current camera. As of today I’ve taken 60,045 photos in 886 days and I’ve gone 882 consecutive days taking a picture. That’s an average of just about 68 photos per day. Obviously some days I take a lot more than that. Other days, like today, I take only a handful.

As you might expect, I have almost certainly taken more pictures of Dorothy than of anyone else. Dorothy and her friends are fairly common as subjects of mine.

Ellen — Grande Jeté

I took quite a few pictures this evening but most of them were sort of run of the mill. I asked a couple girls to give me some dance moves that I could photograph and this is what I ended up with. It would have been nice to have a completely blank wall (i.e., without the chair rail) and my focus isn’t perfect, but the timing of the shot turned out well (it was the third of three tries). Thanks, Ellen. Grace, beauty, brains, and heart all in one package.