weekend lookback, fifteenth birthday edition

My baby (!) turned 15 this weekend. Can. Not. Believe. The Phillies were playing in DC (a short 3 hour drive from us, as opposed to the 5ish it takes to get to a game in Philadelphia), so we spend his birthday at his happy place: the ball park. We try as much as we can to give experiences more than things, (although, let's face it, I like things too) and while this post is not meant to be a lecture about consumerism and whatnot (and trust me, we consumed plenty in this experience), I can't say enough how wonderful it was to roll out of bed early with no other intent than to spend the day with the goal of pure enjoyment and being together as a family.

That was good. On the drive up, Cal was asking us about his birth and our reactions to his arrival. It's been a long time since we've recounted that story (Don't worry, I won't do it here.), and even now after all these years, the thing that stands out to me is the way he turned his head to look at me as if to say, "Oh yeah. There you are." Fifteen years later, coming out of school, crossing the street, standing rows apart at the ball park, countless other times throughout the days and years, I can still see that look on his face.

"Oh yeah. There you are."

My dearest son. Where would I be without you?

friday photos, august challenge recap

Look, it's Friday, and I'm here. Who would have guessed? After a summer of not feeling well (did I have that sinus infection all summer, do you think?), and sporadic blog posts, it feels like it's time to take things in hand a bit. I've had some thoughts about September and moving forward with this space, and I figured I'd better share them before the first week is out.

But first a quick lookback. I believe I've mentioned a couple of times that I tagged along with a great group of photographers who were needing to push themselves out of their comfort zone for the month of August. The creator of the group decided to push herself to not photograph flowers or her kids, and since what I was really craving was some structure of any sort, I jumped right in. The pictures you see here, are the result of August's work. If you'd like to see them full sized, you can check out my Flickr Album.

As the month was drawing to a close, we all wanted to keep the group intact despite deciding to go in different directions with our personal challenges. Some of us are working on technical aspects (like manual focus) and others are just working on shooting with intention (like looking for great light). For September, I'm getting my butt in gear for some personal projects that have been gathering dust in my mind for awhile.

I'd also decided to use this August project as a reboot of my 365 project. I'd started another one for 2014, but it's been a haphazard endeavor at best. Time to pay attention.

And what does this mean for the blog? Well, I really do mean to reduce my posting schedule. But there are so many stories left untold from this summer, and September seems a nice time to catch up with that. And I'm interested in keeping myself honest and accountable with this photo thing, so I think I'll save Fridays for a weekly recap of the 365. Starting next week. Fingers crossed it keeps me from getting too far behind.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my kidless, flowerless August. I might have walked the thin edge of the wedge, just a little tiny bit, in one or two of those shots, but what are rules unless they're made to be skirted a little.

Finally, I want to say thank you all so much for your sweet support of Cal yesterday. He had a great day! His speech went great! We were so proud and his adviser was pleased. It was wonderful to see all the support he had from his friends and teachers, just a really, really great day. I think, if I do say so, that he set the bar high for the speeches for the rest of the year.

Have the best of weekends, dears. Someone I know is turning FIFTEEN on Sunday.