Red Wine Blues
You know you’re getting old when that 1/2 bottle of 1981 Lafite Rothschild that you’ve been storing in the wine locker since 1984 is over the hill.
All Grown Up
It’s been said that when you take photographs at an event you miss the actual life experience of what is going on around you. Sometimes this is true with school plays, sporting events, and even jobs that I’m shooting. I loose track of the score, the plot and what shot we are on. My little world becomes what is going on in the viewfinder and tune whatever is around me out.
The other day while camping in Sequoia we were getting ready to eat Sam’s birthday cake around a large redwood picnic table. We called everyone who was at the campsite to gather around. Some people were out mountain biking, hiking, or soaking in a hot tub. While Debbie was putting 18 candles on the cake people were making jokes about Sam being all grown up, going off to Iowa for college and voting. I had my camera out and was setting up “the shot” of the cake and trying to find the best background. I looked over to my side and saw Sam watching the action and taking it all in. Simon walked up to Sam leaned on him and held his hand very tight. I knelt down and shot a few frames and returned to the cake. When everyone was singing and Sam was blowing out the candles that the wind didn’t already blow out I knew I had the best present I could ever want- Those few frames of my littlest boy and my young man.
Simon Turns 4
Early Morning Treat From The Birthday Fairy
I try to think back on my 4th birthday. It’s hazy. Actually,  I don’t remember a thing. Are our boys going to remember all we’ve forgotten? We are back home and immediately driving around. I see billboards on the sides of buses for sequels to movies which I’ve never heard of. I hear radio ads for the season premiere of t.v shows I didn’t know existed. I’m lost in a loop of time made relevant and precious by our boys growing up. Their birthdays, first waves, first wins, first losses all plotted out-seemingly scattered- not linear but in a circular pattern – like the Doppler effect starting out strong and tapering off. Then the next celebration comes around with its present day clarity like a needle placed on a scratchy record only to fade in and out.
Hey Jude
The Birthday Boy
Breakfast Before School
Simon had a nice birthday . Pizza and ice cream. What’s not to like. On the Friday after his birthday we had a little gathering in the afternoon at Will Rogers Park with some friends and family and a few dogs.
Ollie vs Django
Simon spent most of the afternoon flying a kite and eating the frosting off of cupcakes. I wonder if he’ll remember this day. I will.
Simon Looking Up
Mommy and Ollie Wraslin'
Back in the car again. I ‘m at a stop sign thinking about traveling in a circular path. Only if the track is small enough do I actually know I’m going around in circles. My circles are loose, uneven, full of currents and eddies. The car behind me gives me a friendly toot of their horn. I’m waiting for a sign that says Go.
The End of the World Cup
Oh the noise, the noise. When I turned on the first match of the 2010 FIFA World Cup the first thing I noticed was this strange noise. It was a whirring sound that sounded like high tensions wires on a damp night in San Pedro. But this wasn’t San Pedro, this was South Africa. Perhaps the network was experiencing technical difficulties with the audio broadcast. This sound lasted the entire match. I later learned this sound was the vuvuzela, a traditional plastic South African horn which spectators played non-stop throughout the entire match and every other match during the month long tournament. Anyways, I did learn to tolerate the sound. For me it became a a bizarre part of the futbol experience like “the wall” of players lining up covering their crotches during a penalty kick. Don’t they wear athletic cups?
Just Do It...
I’ve learned to tolerate the noise around here too. Schools out and we are counting down the days till we leave for Kauai. We got a ton of things to do to get out of here and are running out of time. Let me try to recap some of what’s been going on…
3 of our Noisemakers
Henry had his 12th birthday amidst all the sports going-ons in the world. Henry starts sentences like this, “So tomorrow, it’s going to be big Dad.” Is he talking about World Cup, Wimbledon, Baseball, Basketball or Golf. One never knows. He wanted BLT’s and Caesar Salad for his birthday dinner followed by vanilla ice cream with dolce de leche for dessert.
Pains du Jour
Lines of Pork
Henry’s birthday also coincided with Game 6 of the NBA Final between the Lakers and Celtics. He invited a couple of his tennis coaches over to watch the game so I baked a couple of loaves of bread cooked over 7 pounds of bacon and Debbie made the Salad .
It was a kind of build your own BLT kind of night with an atmosphere kind of like a cross between Hooters and a nice wine bar.
Compare and Contrast
Our  kitchen, sun porch, dining and living room got a new look. It was looking pretty shot after 103 years and we were getting our fair share of splinters so we covered up the douglas fir sub floor  with white oak.
More Noise
It’s a beautiful floor. It feels like a real grown ups house. But, there is some part of me that is sad that the old is being replaced with the new. Memories being covered up with each plank nailed in. Sort of like a high tide that will never get low again.
Schools out but there’s Junior Lifeguard, Dolphin Camp, swim lessons, tennis lessons and tournaments and all the attire that accompanies these activities. All this means many loads of laundry and many  lunches being packed and more schlepping that only a sherpa (and Debbie) could do with a smile. Simon just woke up from his nap, so I’m going to wrap this up with a few images of  summer around the house. Have a safe summer and we’ll catch up on Kauai!
Don't Ask
I said Don't Ask
Ollie's 7th Birthday
The Last Star
When I made our Advent calender back in November of 2000, I made a mistake. I put on a 25th day. I remember being out in my workshop listening to the Bush vs. Gore election debacle on NPR. Something must have overtaken me, some radio spirit of Christmas future saying, “add another day, add another day.” So I did. That’s okay, elections results are supposed to be a reflection of who the people voted for, not a Supreme Court decision. Advent Calenders only have 24 days. So, the 25th of December is always reserved for our Ollie.
Waiting for the Big Day
It’s hard on Ollie sharing the spotlight on his birthday. Some of the concessions we’ve made with him are that he gets a present on his 4 brothers birthdays and we try to devote Christmas evening dinner to his birthday celebration. We used to do a big Christmas eve dinner but as our child volume increased our Xmas eve gift wrapping started to creeping into the daylight hours. We need to give some time for Santa to make a visit to our house, right?
Santa and Ollie
The other day in Ollie’s 1st grade class Debbie told the story of when Ollie was born. He was born at 1:10 am Christmas morning. Debbie and I did not tell any relatives that he had arrived. I don’t know how, but we somehow convinced everyone associated with Good Samaritan Hospital that we needed to get home by 7:30 to watch our other boys open up their Xmas presents. When we got home that morning we relieved our friend Beth who had graciously spent the night with our boys. We called up Debbie’s parents to come over to watch the boys open presents and have breakfast which was sort of tradition. When they walked in the door we said, “close your eyes, we got a gift for you.” Debbie put little new-born Oliver Moss Catanzaro in his Omi’s arms. Needless to say, they were both speechless and in tears. Happy birthday Ollie!
Ollie reading note from Santa
May all your wishes come true
