pandemic summer
Kissing Fish
Our days of living within steps of the sea are over, and we are working hard at feeling “back at home” in our ocean-less valley.
I had to add this one last post of photos from our time in Maine, to document the fish situation. Zeb spent much of the time in Maine standing on the dock, fishing pole in hand. He caught many (many!) little fish, and a few bigger ones, and I learned about how before you let a fish go, you kiss it on the [fish] lips (!).
There was also some amount of diving for sea stars and sea urchins and sand dollars, cold water be damned. Basically, the kids were delighted by the whole fishy scene, and I was glad to take pictures of their delight.
A hair cut on the deck
"It's a baby whale!"
Actually, no, it isn’t.
(But we weren’t the first well-intentioned folks to make this mistake.)
SO WHAT IS IT?!
It’s an ocean sunfish! We first encountered this crazy, giant fish the other day, right before a storm rolled in. The water was darker than usual, and visibility was low. Concerned that the large creature we could almost see beneath the surface of the water might be some kind of a mammal in distress (it floats at the top and occasionally flaps a pathetic flipper), Meg and I headed out in the row boat to investigate. My wife brought a pocket knife (in case we needed to free the would-be mammal from a net or something), and I didn’t bring my camera (because “THERE IS NO TIME; WE MUST SAVE IT”), and it was only after we instructed some other people whom we passed by to, “CALL THE COAST GUARD!” that we realized we were bearing witness to a regular, non-distressed, totally healthy ocean sunfish (at which point I wished I could take a picture).
Luckily for everyone, we got to have a second up-close-and-personal encounter with another Mola Mola today. The kids were delighted. Jasper and his friend Julian took the kayaks out while Zeb and I (with camera, this time) spectated from the dinghy.
What a strange, strange fish.
The ocean sunfish waves goodbye.
Wrong Side of the Camera
In my family, I’m almost always the one behind the camera, taking the pictures. And this is the way it should be (or, at least, this is the way I like it). This summer, I’ve been trying to make more of an effort to be IN some of our family photos, so that the future versions of our children can know that I, also, existed.
Today I set up this shot, and then handed my camera to my daughter Aviva, who snapped these pictures of Meg and me.
Meg wasn’t totally feeling my “let’s take a picture together” vibe, and her less-than-enthused expression probably makes me like this series more than I would if she looked happier. After all, she’s the one who’s taught me to love taking the pictures there are to take (vs. wishing for something to be different so that I could take some sort of a fantasy picture instead: the version where everyone is looking at the camera, or where no one is crying).
Dip Your Baby in the Cold, Cold Sea
Post-dip, take a luxurious, hot, outdoor shower.
(I think Edith preferred the cold ocean.)
From early on in my pregnancy with Edith, I fantasized about taking pictures of the “the fetus” (as we called her then)—fully gestated and freed from my womb—with my wife. In fact, it was this particular fantasy that kept me afloat on the days when I felt so ill that I could barely remember what the point of this endeavor was (there were many; pregnancy does not agree with me).
In this case, the future has not disappointed one bit.
Edith Jumps, too
Since early on in my life of lining my kids up to take a picture (or 100) of them, I’ve been asking them to jump for a photo or two.
Lately, it’s rare to have the opportunity to photograph all seven of my kids at once—in decent light, especially—and I’ve had to start settling for smaller groups of them. Luke couldn’t come on vacation with us this summer because he was busy being a CIT at a camp, so it was a slightly smaller brood of jumpers for the requisite vacation photo.
Meanwhile, Edith is big enough that she can [sort of] join in on the jumping. (Yikes.)
Mother, Daughter, Ocean
It’s not warm, that Maine ocean; it’s not warm at all.
More Maine, More Beautiful
We’re still in Maine, where life is salty and good.
Susan's Farm
One fun part about Susan’s place in Maine, is that in addition to being ON THE OCEAN, she has a small farm with longhorn cattle, chickens, and ducks. The cattle were especially cool looking, and I wished I were a bit braver about getting up close to take pictures of them.
I also wished Zeb were a bit braver about getting up close and personal with them, since his hair was exactly the same color as the cattle. He obliged to a relatively high degree, but I didn’t get quite the photo I had in mind. (He thought I was totally nuts, and didn’t want to hug either long-horned beast.)
Sink Bath @ Blue Hill
Lobster Night
In celebration of Susan (my dad’s partner and our extra gracious host for this vacation), and her birthday, we had lobster for dinner. Our kids have had lobster before, but it had been many years, and they’d never gotten to partake in the cooking of the lobster before this night. WARNING: the rest of this post contains images of lobsters being cooked and consumed.
Edith was just starting to warm up to the presence of these strange creatures, when one of them managed to rapidly approach her from across the counter. (She didn’t love that part.)
Liesl attempted to reassure Edith that the lobster was a friendly guy, but Edith remained skeptical.
Jasper and the lobster, both dabbing.
Edith ended up crashing before dinner and sleeping through the whole feast.
You can’t go to Maine without eating lobster at least once (I mean, unless you’re a person who doesn’t eat lobster). It was delicious.
Leo and Edith (on the dock)
Life in Maine
Yellow and Gray
I know I’m not the only one who’s taken with the combo of yellow and gray these days. In fact, it’s probably boring that I like yellow and gray so much as I do (I mean, seriously, who doesn’t?).
Still, this yellow lichen (is that what it is?) on the rocks along the shore here pleases me beyond reason.
Blue Hill, Maine
We’re in Maine with nearly all the kids (6 out of 7) for nearly a week, and so far it’s cloudy and glorious.
Rachael and Luke's wedding
We flew back home from New Mexico, and went straight to our friends Rachael and Luke’s wedding. I was NOT the photographer for this beautiful celebration, but I did bring my camera, and I took exactly one photo (shown here).
Edith's morning egg (a progression)
I’m here in Santa Fe taking a photography class called “Editing the Visual Story” at Santa Fe Photographic Workshops. It’s fantastic, and I’m having a great time.
Here is the visual story of Edith and her morning egg.
Cozy Adobe
We’re back in Santa Fe, living the good adobe-casita, sink-bath life; we are so lucky to be here again so soon.
