The boys and I went on a day hike last week. We set out with water, granola bars, two cameras - one for me and one for Theo - and nothing but hope for a really good adventure. On the trail, Theo mostly stayed by my side. He's a budding photographer, already training his eye to see the world around him from a different perspective. While Sully is almost always twenty steps ahead and throwing something at something, Theo is paused, thinking, framing. It had just rained and the heavy canopy of dense clouds gave way to a blue sky with steam visibly coming off of the red rock. When Sully wasn't running or throwing found sticks and stones he was crouched over puddles, brimming with juicy pink worms, picking. All around us the constant din of our everyday was muted and replaced with a flutter of electric blue dragonflies and, overhead, the birds. Oh, the birds! Western bluebirds, magpies, the fancy performers - the tree swallows, and one beautiful female Stellar's jay. I was gobsmacked by the beautiful blooms, most of which I could (sadly) not identify, along with a mental note to bump a western flower guide to the top of my purchasing list. The boys prayed, just prayed, they'd see a rattlesnake. (We didn't!) I prayed for more of this. More dry, clicking, high desert. More beauty. More wild.
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I've also been meaning to pop in here and share some book recommendations. I have read so many good books in the past couple months, but these are the ones that I really loved.
The Complete Poetry - Maya AngelouSmall Victories: Spotting Improbable Moments of Grace - Anne LamottIt's What I Do: A Photographer's Life of Love and War - Lynsey AddarioRemembering Miss O'Keeffe: Stories from Abiquiu - Margaret WoodTwo - Melissa Ann PinneyThe Carry Home - Gary FergusonHold Still: A Memoir with Photographs - Sally MannHoney & Co. : Food From the Middle East - Sarit Packer
