Every day that Daisy lives at my home, I do her a dissevice. I am "busy," my time is "so important." And ... she is forever patient. And her chocolately eyes, the ones that match my own, are only ever so slightly reproachful .. as they should be.

I can do better by you, dog. Really, I can.

And then she lets me rub her belly, and all is right with the world.

Birthdays are pretty special in my book. With each new birth year, we have a fresh start to do something we didn't the year before -- to take that trip, to make that change, to try something new and perhaps be a little more daring.

I love photographing little folks' milestones ... like First Year Photos! There's always a little frosting involved. As there should be ... for the first and each birthday thereafter.

One aspect of photography I've been the most grateful for, is when my friends ask me to capture pivotal events in their family life. The decision to add a new member to the family, and then to see the fruition of that -- well, it's pretty special.

A big thank you to Molly & David for letting me capture newborn images of Miss S.

The 4th of July is a magical holiday, and for me, it gives Christmas a good running. It's not that I'm overly patriotic, I just like sparklers.

The Summer Day

Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean-
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down-
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

 

from New and Selected Poems, 1992

 

This was pretty awesome last night. Probably the nicest night we'll have all summer in Kansas City. Good beer, funny film shorts, and a great date to hang with on a blanket.