AHHH...Making Up for Lost Time

I've taken the photos, but failed to post them. Here are a few from the past week:

Yes, I'm a changed man. I  paid the meter before hustling in to Wardlaw for my first class of the semester.

Here's proof you don't have to escape into the wilderness to enjoy nature. The riverfront trail near the Gervais Bridge is a great place to rock hop, kayak, or picnic. During our couple of hours there we saw a turtle, many fish, and even a snake.

Of course, perhaps we should have read this sign BEFORE jumping into the water.

Instruction Manuals

How to Build the Acro Sport: A Custom Airplane explains in just 87 pages how to go about constructing your very own flying machine. 87 pages. That is some efficient writing and diagramming.

Pictured above are the manuals I received yesterday for a new reading series. Count 'em up: six ultra thick spiral bound books. What you can't see are the three CDs sitting on top. Take that aeronautical engineers - based on this data it is approximately 12 times harder to teach reading than successfully build an airplane in your garage.

Or, more likely, some may assume teachers are less intelligent than your average Joe trying to defy gravity.

Too Much Chocolate

Here's a photo of the incredibly tasty chocolate cake the kids and I made Tricia for her birthday. Tricia actually took this photo. She is taking a photography class at USC and has learned what all those buttons and switches on the camera are for. Here you can see she changed the aperture so only the cake is in focus. We also tried taking this photo in the kitchen but learned that the natural lighting of the sun is far superior to CFL bulbs.

Sunday Morning Slosh

One of Ainsley's friends from school e-mailed me a few days ago asking if we could have a "Dads and Daughters Hike" this weekend. That was exactly what she called it. How can you say no to a request like that? Thanks to their being Jewish and our being heathens, we all had Sunday morning free.

As seen in the photo, it absolutely poured rain the whole time we were driving to the park. However, everyone was still game and we were rewarded with a refreshingly cool walk through the mud. It even stopped raining about a third of the way into the trip.

One of the bridges was out and we had to balance our way across the narrow side of a 2" x 6" to get across a deep muddy pass. Later, Ainsley pointed out that there was a sign at the beginning of the trail alerting everyone to the fact that this trail had been closed about a month ago and that we weren't supposed to be on it. The sign had blown off a tree and I missed it. Oops.

Everything In Its Place

A new solution.

Happy Birthday, Ainsley

 

She has spent the day taking pictures of just about everything with her new camera.

Even a matchbox.

Even her feet.

Last week I took a picture of the spigot on the rain barrel. I have numerous pictures of my feet - sticking out of the lake, propped up in a chair, highlighting ugly blisters. I'm just sayin'... we shouldn't judge these things.

Making Up For Lost Time...The Beach

A little further down the shoreline there was a stretch of beach adopted by the closed-minded anti-humanists. You can just imagine what it looked like. I saw one of their members wearing a confederate flag t-shirt that read: If you're offended by this flag,  you need a history lesson!

Sunrise on the pier.

Bad Hair Days

Each of the boys wanted me to give them summer mohawks. Whether it's right or wrong, we don't allow them to have mohawks during the school year. However, once summer rolls around I pull out the clippers and do my very best to shave a couple of straight lines across the tops of their heads. The sides are actually trimmed low rather than shaved so I guess they are more fauxhawks than true mohawks.

When I was little I really wanted to have spiked hair like Chicago Bears quarterback Jim McMahon. Though they weren't thrilled, my parents let me do it. The barber, unfortunately, had no idea what he was doing and botched it pretty badly. In the years since I've had a mullet, chin-length bangs, feathered hair, and a 1/8 inch buzz cut. Suddenly those mohawks don't look so bad.

The Deer

  

This deer was watching us pull onto our street as we came home from running errands this afternoon. I hopped out and tried to get as close as I could before she turned tail and hopped into the woods. Since this photo was taken using full zoom I obviously didn't make it very far- probably about fifty yards or so. 

Did you know that deer are the deadliest animals in America? This is true but like many statistics it is misleading. The vast majority of deer-related deaths result from car crashes. I once hit a deer with my Ford Escort. I'm just sayin'...the deer won.

A Peculiar Book

After a two-day hiatus due to internet issues I was able to snap this shot at the bookstore today. I was there trying to find a book for Harper when I came across this strange title, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. The story is told from a collection of photos the author found at various swap meets. I love the idea of using photographs to create a story. On the way home from the bookstore I was thinking about how each of the photos I've posted to this blog could easily become the subject of an essay or other longish piece. My goal this year is to do lots of  photography with my not-so-peculiar kids at school and see what comes of it.

The Fish

So there are, in fact, fish in that lake!

The Home Brew

AM - Learn how to brew my own beer at the Keg Cowboy.
NOON - Learn how to bottle beer at my buddy Tim's house.
PM - Enjoy a few while fishing and playing guitar.

Ah, the days of summer are quickly fading.

Banished from the House

Tess loves the lake.
Tess loves the lake so much
that sometimes she sneaks down the trail
and takes an unapproved swim.

This unapproved swim leaves her wet for hours
and smelling
not-so-fresh.
We do not care to have
not-so-fresh
smelling carpet in the living room.

Thus,
she is banished
from the house.
Poor,
poor
Tess.

The Beanbag - Deconstructed

Wanting to wash a beanbag from her classroom, Tricia cut open a seam and attempted to dump the little balls into a couple of trash bags. Well, as anyone who has ever tried to corral one of those clingy little balls knows...

Sunset After the Storm

I was sitting in the living room last night when I noticed how pink the sky looked through the trees. I grabbed my camera and ran down the trail to the lake and was rewarded with this spectacular sunset. If you look closely you can see drops of rain still clinging to the tall grasses.

Two of Several

While perhaps a bit disgusting, it was all too easy to make a few of my blisters the first photo since returning from our trip. I somehow doubt Keen will want to use this as a promotional photo for their hiking shoes.

Loading Up

Two suitcases, a cooler, five school backpacks, five backwood backpacks, thirteen pairs of shoes, a box from school, two bags belonging to my mother, a foot spa, three books on CD, and a captain's hat. The van is packed with room to spare.

I see now that a photo each day is going to be tough. However, it's like writing - I have to learn to see things worth capturing. The difference with a photo is that that story has to be captured in a single image. I plan to do this with my kids at school - tell a story across a series of photos. Hopefully they'll help me figure this out!

Record Heat

After ten consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures and a fairly serious drought, Missouri lawns aren't so comfy under bare summer feet.

Daisies at the Botanical Gardens

Daisies at the Missouri Botanical Gardens. I love the sunlight coming in through the leaves. Not long after this pic we spread out a few blankets and enjoyed a nice family picnic among the flowers and trees while catching up with some old friends.

Exposed Roots

As we walked along the creek at Castlewood State Park tonight we came upon this tree whose roots have been exposed by the receding bank. The water was very low in the creek, but nice and cool. The kids enjoyed splashing around and trying to skip a few rocks. I've recently noticed how many of our favorite activities revolve around water.

Schlafly Bottleworks

 

Tricia and I had dinner tonight at Schlafly Bottleworks. I've become somewhat obsessed with taking photos for this blog. I snapped some of my beer, signs posted inside the door, the strange hand dryer in the bathroom, and the poster of the Fonz above the urinal. I also saw a guy sitting at a table on the patio wearing knee high green rubber boots, sipping a water, and smoking a cigarette. Later, at the movie, I noticed a guy sitting alone holding a big shiny purse while his wife went to the restroom. I wanted to ask both of these men for a photo but Tricia didn't think it was a good idea. I bet they would have been happy to oblige. Still, I'm beginning to think a bit about etiquette - especially in public restrooms.

Anyway, here's today's photo. If that tall glass of glass of Schlafly Summer Lager looks tasty I have a bottle or two packed away to bring back to anyone posting a comment on this photo (that's you Tim!).

Gamecock Hat

Reading is a meaning making process. When confronted with text we each use our own collections of experience, knowledge, and expectation to construct understanding. For instance, in Columbia, South Carolina Tricia's gnarly pink COCKS hat is read as a collegiate garment supporting the hometown Gamecocks. In St. Louis, however, readers create a different meaning from this text.

Ma and Pa's Kettle

While in Mansfield, Missouri to visit the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum, we stopped in for lunch at Ma and Pa's Kettle. If ever you were looking for a dining experience that provided an authentic taste of small town rural America this might be your place. It was a straight forward, no frills diner that offered an all-day breakfast menu.

While there, Tricia came back from the bathroom looking a little unsettled and said "DO NOT go to the bathroom here!" I wish now I would have taken my camera in there. That would have provided the beginning of a nice photo project - public restrooms across America.