I’ve been hunting around for good writing prompts lately which has prompted me to look at a lot of photographs around the web and in our library. I’m loosely framing something together relating to ‘remains’…as in, what remains, lingering, physical remains, legacies…it’s all kind of floating around in my mind. In thinking about what remains in my life, I am predictably drawn to thinking about the life of this little child that we have created, the eventual man that he will become, and the very real reality that one day Drew and I will be memories and photographs for him. To me this is not a sad thought, but something absurdly sweet; I look at Asher every day and am awed by the notion that where there was nothing, now there is something. He remains. Parents obsessively taking pictures of their children strikes me not only as a measure of pride, but also a way of proving to ourselves that our children are really here with us. We aren’t dreaming, and all these daily microscopic changes are going to fly by before we are even able to grasp the truth of having become parents. In our wake we leave not only the remains of a life (hopefully) well lived, but a person too. I am so drawn to that story.
Monthly Archives: February 2010
home.
We are back from a really excellent trip to our southern home! The picture above was snapped on the plane as we were being bathed in the gorgeous red sky sunset light that welcomed us back to Virginia yesterday evening, and it sums up nicely the peace that we felt as we touched down. Tonight my mind is rife with all of the smiles and big laughs, and importantly, the gentle though strong feeling of bringing Asher home to the rest of his family for the first time. I don’t claim to bring any new insights to this parenting gig, so please forgive me for continuing to echo what so many others have said, but there is nothing quite like seeing the people that once held you as a child snuggling on your own baby. This unexpected and powerful sensation is one that continues to grip Drew and me as we watch Asher with our families, and it’s that feeling that I’m holding on to now. There is a lot to say about the trip (and even more pictures!) but for tonight, I’m just going to bask in the glow of a full heart and quiet house.
Oh, and how was the plane ride, you ask? Well that is a bit of a story that involves canceled flights, snow on the ground in 49 of the 50 states, a rented minivan, and a kid that nailed it. In a nutshell, he did great! More to follow…
puzzle pictures.
According to Robert Motherwell, collage is “the twentieth century’s greatest innovation”. This is a pretty bold statement from a man who saw the creation of everything from the car to the copy machine in his lifetime, and I can think of a long list of things that I might rank a little higher on my list of great innovations. That being said, I have always thought there was a certain poetic quality to mashing things together, with intention or irreverance, and am currently getting a kick out of Picasa’s collage function. And let’s be honest, this is a much more efficient way to deliver some of the 10,000 pictures of Asher that are hanging around.
Happy Monday!
SnowMG!

We woke up this morning to a glowing world that looked as though it had been draped in an icy doily. The 12″ + of snow that we got this weekend was very wet and heavy and so it is clinging to the branches with fierce dedication. Although this kind of snow makes the power companies leery, (well, and me too, to be completely honest) it sure does make for a picturesque landscape…even in the city. Drew and I cooked and shoveled our way through the weekend and, most importantly, didn’t lose our power. I got out for a little while this morning to take some photos of a world that has fallen under the Snow Queen’s spell, and felt some of the magic that comes with the specific silence of a world coated in a winter white jacket.
Click on this picture to see pictures of Rugby ave on ice:
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| Snow Weekend 210 |






