April 25 2009 Raining

It got really wet and cold today.  Only have one raincoat for two kids. Tents held well, wind was high, practice this evening was the bundled variety. 

Also only have one chance at photo posting. Used regular camera today, and the limited internet access. I am limited. 

April 24 2009 Evening

Day one's evening, with push hands, catching up, watching and playing. It's the mellow version. Stay tuned for the more energetic evening.

This is the first post via cellphone. Barely service, limited internet.

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April 23 2009 Marathoning Avatar

One kid is recovering from a cold, the other is just catching it. Me, I've been working most of the day. So as the evening closes, we're all watching the invasion of the Fire Nation by a rag tag team of the Avatar's invaders. We've been watching since Book 2, Volume 2 non stop.

I actually liked the flash on this photo. Other than that, it is nondescript. A photo of a screen.

April 22, 2009 Giving New Meaning to "64 Box"

Happy Earth Day! Today, we harnessed the sun's energy to rebuild some old crayons, with the help of some old candy and soap molds. My daughter gave crayons to all the guests of the Earth Day Picnic she threw as a thank you. She had spent months planning, given she didn't have a concept of time necessary to plan such a thing. She put thought into every detail, from transportation of each of her guests, to water usage, to the fabric the clothes she wore were made from. She studied the environmentally friendliness of local, organic, energy for cooking, shipping, home-grown, and more. After the picnic, she planted her Easter Tulips. The boy saved some of the broken crayons for his picnic, which "will not be an Earth Day Picnic." He does "not want an Earth Day Picnic."


Shooting 64 non-round crayons is a bit harder than just photographing a box: takes up much more surface space. Auto, shooting from above-ish and away-ish. Composition is pretty much the only variable different between the shots I got.

April 21 2009 Setting Up Camp Early

Headed out across the Utah border today to scout both tent locations and group photo locations for the upcoming week of camp. Nearly never left. Truly, the life my instructor has built out in the desert is exactly the kind of life I want to live. Heck, it's even near the train tracks. There are mountains in the distance, the river a short walk away, no neighbors, no traffic. He built the home himself, and all the intensive training camp amenities, like showers, clothes cleaning, hot tub, kitchen, training hall, and privies. Anything else you want you get it yourself. It's a dream.



Landscape setting, 4x zoom.

April 20 2009 Packing, Preparing, and Piling

It must be late: I find my alliteration amusing. I've spend the day making lists and crossing things off of it. I've written lesson plans, taught, studied and researched, and I've organized, mended, laundered, washed, dried, and packed. This here a visual representation of what I've accomplished, though there is still a sleeping bag hanging to dry and stacks of other achievements around the house (not the least of which is that I have finally found my printer ink). Camping in the high desert with two children and their babysitter--for the hours I'm studying--is no small task. Also, the dirt and dust has destroyed zippers on my tent in the past, so I am packing everything in zipperless bags. I found straps to wrap around the sleeping bags, I'm using diaper-wipes boxes for electronics (which also hate the dirt) and toothbrushes and such, and I think I only have about ten more hours of packing and loading until I'm actually ready to be on my way. Call me crazy, but starting early never hurt anybody.


Auto+stand-back-and-zoom= photo. A bit of composition to avoid showing the stacks of clothes that still don't have a closet (stay tuned, maybe a closet will be in the photoblog works for May or June).

April 19 2009 Reiterating Something I Mentioned

I did say Montrose is a pretty place. I was severely underrepresenting the scenic nature, even with a photograph of a photograph of the mountains in that other post.As we headed further east for part of our class, I knew that this view would show up. I aimed out the window and shot at every moment I had a clear field as far in the distance as to not have trees or buildings between my view and the mountains, not that you couldn't see this mountain above said trees or buildings, but it's the layering that really takes your breath away.




Landscape setting. This camera's stabilizer is remarkable, in that we were in our stiff-shocked van on windcarved pavement, and the photo came out fantastically.