I {See} Pictures

I take a lot of pictures of K.

She's just about the only one that I can still boss around. And that's only because I hold the keys to the car. So I ask her to model for me a few minutes at the end of the day. For the most part, she's fairly patient and long suffering. To get a smile like the one above, it takes about fifteen shots like the one below. Then I can coax it out of her.

You're going to have to make me laugh, Mom, if you want me to smile, she says.

I can't make you laugh, says I. You don't even like me right now because I'm pestering you to pose for me. How on earth do I make you laugh?

I don't know, but you gotta get funnier. That makes me laugh. Oops, wrong person.

I shoot all the time. Except when I'm at work. Or asleep. Or at knitting. I guess I don't really shoot all the time. 

Just most of it. 

(Even in the midst of tornado threats. Ask M. She's still talking about our ride home the night of the tornado and how calm I was, snapping away at the unusual sky while she was wide-eyed, looking side to side for a tornado.)

I've been trying to figure out why I feel the need to document life through photographs. And why other people don't. I think it has something to do with the visual. 

When the Man and I were dating, I discovered fairly quickly that he was not a top-notch speller. He was always asking me how to spell a word. Since I'm a decent speller, it comes easy to me so I never minded doing it for him.

One day, he asked me to spell a word, and I must have been a wee bit impatient because I said to him, Just read it off the chalkboard in your brain.

What?, he asked.

The giant chalkboard in your brain. Don't you see the word written on a chalkboard in your brain? Simply read the letters and write them down.

No, he said, giving me a strange look. There's no giant chalkboard in my brain.

Huh.

I think I'm onto something. I {see} things in a way that some other people might not. Through pictures in the brain. But I think other photographers might {see} things like this, too. So let me know in a comment. Especially about the chalkboard. Anyone else spell this way?

M gave me a baby aloe plant. I probably shouldn't have taken it, poor little thing.


It deserved a long life in her house. 


It's not looking good over at mine.


Are aloe plants supposed to turn yellow? Sissy told me to stop touching it. And she's going to tell M not to give me any more plants.

The Man bought some straw to put down on our very.pathetic.lawn. 

I commandeered it for a few minutes so I could stage a few shots. These sweet little pink flowers are everywhere right now. The flower beds are full, full, full of them. 

Don't you love that pink? What a happy color.