sometimes love just aches

Bean and I were in the backyard the other day. It was damp and gray and cold and her face was the only light and color that could be found. The only thing worthy of a shutter click.

I am leaving for a 24 hour trip to visit a friend and I did not want to let go when I squeezed her good-bye before school this morning.

I love her so much it hurts.

taking the higher view

I know, lately I have this thing for bird's eye views. But you see, I tried a few perspectives but couldn't get all of the kids in the shot and I so wanted to capture all of them, with all of their gaming devices. (Well except that poor kid in the right corner who is regretting that he didn't charge the battery in his.) A perch on the bed with my lens at its widest angel and I felt like I was peering down from the ceiling like a hovering, ghostly observer. 

As I snapped it I had a brief moment of perspective. How come I never take this perspective with my own life?  In the middle of my chaos, tears, quiet, or quarrels I could simply stop and climb the ladder, snap on my wide angle lens, and view my moment from a mosquito's view. No, a wall-crawling spider's view. Wait, how about an angel's view? 

Hovering a bit, I just might discover that leaving the earth releases the tethers of emotional and mental ruts. It brings everything and everyone into an unemotional, nonpartisan, clarifying view. (Any more adjectives you wanna add?)

I miss important details when I'm stuck in my earthly, self-centered worn out spot. Details like, there is more going on than what I can see. There are other stories I may be missing. Or, maybe, just maybe, I am not the only one inhabiting this planet.

Well then, that's humbling. 

Won't you join me in climbing the ladder this week? There's clarity up there that I have been missing and I need a fresh view. Maybe you do too?

p.s. on a funnier note: I thought this photo was chuckle-worthy...and a bit telling. I find it funny that there is a language being spoken amongst this crew that I have not a clue how to speak. It is a world I have, nor ever will enter. It is telling in that it reveals what our culture now defines as "playing with friends": meeting up in a fantasy world to compete against each other for points and status. This picture proves that I am now one of the "older" people in the room.

birthday bounce

It's your birthday...

you bounce
you laugh
you swish your hair up in the air
you request pasta for dinner and cake for dessert (carb? what's a carb?)
you dress up for a fashion show and charge an entrance fee
you watch some Tinkerbell on t.v.
you impatiently wait to open your presents
you are the last person to finish your slice of cake, savoring every bite
you don your new favorite pj's and show them to everyone
you let your Uncle Mo carry you to bed and tickle you till you exhaust yourself with laughter

Doesn't everyone celebrate life this way?

Weekend smile

I have never been a person who is ritualistic. The very thought of a ritual makes me squirm. But today I am admitting that I have formed a ritual that has become obsessive. Like please don't ever ask me to stop. **

Every morning after my eyes flutter open I reach for my iPod to check the time and then check in on two blogs. Both are of the type that document the hilarious moments of motherhood. One is written by a high school friend who has two beautiful, yet goofy, daughters and the other is written by a "blogging friend" who has a young Star Wars obsessed son.

It is with great restraint that I keep from writing totally LOL'd! on every post and I dare you to restrain yourself as well.

Go visit And Another Thing... and Smacksy to receive your daily laugh. And don't just read today's posts, scroll through the last month, or year.




**Lately I have been rolling over only to discover that Bean has been quietly creeping in to my room in the early morning hours to snag my iPod and play Lil' Pirates. Apparently someone else has a little ritual of her own.

Oh yes, there have been words.

Little Faith

Faith was born a week ago to one of my sweet friends. I am not exaggerating when I tell you that my friend has been through a lot of stuff these past nine months and bringing Faith into this world was a brave decision.

Of course the minute Faith entered the world we all fell in love with her. She does not like to have her clothes changed. She does not like to be put down. And she always leaves her mom a "treat" in the middle of a diaper change. (Something about that cool sensation of the room air hitting the toosh.)

But the main reason I love her is because she is a daily physical reminder of what faith is and faith does: it is a seed of certainty that bolsters my belief in a God that can bring beauty and hope into the darkest of my hours. And, more importantly, that seed can only be enlarged and matured when I walk through the dark places with him.

When I look back on this crazy difficult chapter of my life I will thank God for the greatest gift he could have ever given me: the enlargement of my faith. For to me, a deepening faith in my God is a treasure that can never be taken from me. It is more valuable than financial security, popularity, talent, attention, success, or approval, all of which are fleeting, earthly, and mortal. 

Can I hear an amen?

iheartfaces: smile!

Yippie! iheartfaces is celebrating with smiles this week to celebrate their birthday. When you have a birthday you kinda wanna do that...smile. So here's a little guy, with a big smile. (If you'd like to see more of him, click here.) Or click on over to iheartfaces to see how others are celebrating!

inspiration

I followed him outside onto the newly poured concrete patio because the light was so beautiful and because he was out there alone with this adventurous spirit that I thought might be fun to capture.
Well, all I can say was that it was a God-given moment, one that inspired me and reminded me of why I love to pick up my camera. (I do believe beautiful light and kids do that to me.)

Here is a little slide show I made to capture that time.

I'm smiling at what some cool red-flamed Vans and a flying turtle does for one's inspiration. (And btw, he choreographed every single move--even the shoe show-off.)

If you have trouble viewing below, then click here to see.  (If you ask me, I think it plays better at the link site anyway.)

Enjoy!


cool Vans and a flying turtle from Tracey Morris on Vimeo.

solitude

I took this picture a couple of days ago. I thought that maybe with a quiet moment to myself I just might want to pick up my camera not just with my hands, but with my heart. 

In my wondering I found another friend who was settling into her own quiet space and our individual moments of solitude bumped into each other for a brief quiet moment.

She was settling in for the evening, tucked away in her stall. I was enjoying the hush of quiet and the fading winter light. I took this picture and then jumped into the warmth of my car and waited for Bean to be done with her riding lesson. 

Solitude is so healing.

color

Early December I made good on a long ago promise to capture a friend's birthday party. After rescheduling due to stomach flu's back in the fall, blah blah blah, I found myself with my camera in hand during our holiday break...when I had not picked up my camera in quite some time. I am just now getting around to editing them. Last night as I landed on these I forgot how much I had enjoyed discovering the fun color pot names.

They just make me smile. Hello Lipstick. Hello Blue Isle and Cotton Candy.
Funny how color finds you when your own world is a bit gray.

Well hello my Bean...

Funny how life has a way of speaking to you in the middle of your gray. Little signs to remind you that what you have closest to you, like family and dear friends, is what colors your life in a way that nothing else can.

Right now I don't ever want to forget this precious lesson.

after the storm

Before the turn of the new year, the rain let up and the skies cleared for one beautiful day. We went down to the beach with friends to explore and I was amazed how the sandy beach was flattened, wind- swept into an even horizon. The winter tide was so far out, enough for hoards of gulls to feast off the ocean floor, that we were left to run and roam the expanse of shoreline.

I suppose a winter storm is good at flattening everything into an even horizon so that all that's left for the eye to see is the empty landscape. Sometimes that is for the best, you know? Where else can newness find space and root? 

I took my camera with me this day and fired off a few shots. It felt good to be on the stretch of the flattened winter sand, soaking up the warmth of the sun, walking with soulful friends, and leaving our new footprints behind.