Dirty Sink

Dirty Sink, originally uploaded by ashwink.

It's the same old story. I'm on a task, something catches my eye, I drop everything and fetch my camera.

In this case, the soap against glass and the window blinds made for an interesting pattern. Or so I thought.

When you're doing the dishes, everything else is more interesting.

Ouch! This Can't Be Good!

I asked if it was okay for me to take their picture and added a tongue-in-cheek remark about how they could do nothing about it anyway. :-) The young adults (6 of them) obliged and I got a bunch of shots.

The other members of their party soon started to throw some food around them to attract the birds and a commotion ensued.Luckily for them, my little boy and his friends started chasing each other, squealing and screaming, and unintentionally frightened the birds away. Boy, were they relieved!

Kindness returned, I told them.

What would possess sane humans to get themselves into such situations, I don't know!

(This foto was taken while on a picnic in Illinois State Beach Park (Lake michigan shoreline). If you didn't know better, you'd think it's a sea, complete with beach, waves, and water as far as the eye can see. Considering we live in mid-western USA, so far from a real sea, this is a sweet deal.)

Wide-Angle And Wide-Eyed

Sometimes, it is so much easier to travel and appreciate beauty in far-off places than in your own backyard, and that has certainly been the case with us. Close to where we live, there is an equestrian training and boarding facility surrounded by expensive equestrian homes, complete with bridle trails, barns, green pastures, and white picket fences. Every time we drive by, we slow down to catch a glimpse of the horses. "One of these days we must stop by", we say, and in the 5 years we've lived in the area, we have never done that.

Yesterday, after the little fellow was done with Summer Camp, we had the rest of the day to ourselves. The rain had finally stopped and it was lovely outside. The Park was too wet and yet, it was a shame to be indoors. "Let's see the horses!", I blurted out. Little children make you do impulsive things like that.

The folks there were surprised to see us but welcoming nevertheless. We peered into the stables, picked our favorite horses, watched one being groomed, all the while keeping a safe distance. In the Indoor arena, there were developmentally challenged kids in a therapy session. Finally, it was time to see the horses in the pastures, roaming wild and free. There were none. It had rained all morning. But, of course! Sheeeeeesh!
"One of these days, we need to stop by to see the horses in the pastures", I said, as he happily splashed through every single puddle on our way back to the mini-van.

NOT On My Couch!

NOT On My Couch!, originally uploaded by ashwink.

It requires special talent to put on a sunny expression, not let your utter terror show and let the budding artist blossom and enjoy his queasy paints. "Oh, that is wonderful, babe! Sure, let's try that black paint now..."

(What I'm really thinking: NOT on my Couch! No, don't touch the floor! Only on paper means ONLY on paper!! Mind your shirt! Finger painting is not an Art form, so could we stop and try crayons now?... )

Except for some paint on the hardwood floor which came off easily, yellow on his chin which required some scrubbing, blueish-green under his toes which I completely missed, and some brown under his nails which I chose to ignore, the Art project went smoother than expected. I might have missed a few heart beats but I'm okay with that.

The final masterpiece looked quite different; a dirty brown color, bolder strokes, heavier layer of paint but just as precious.

Now, it was a completely different story when we went out for Ice cream that evening and he had his very first cone. Let me just say we shouldn't have let him pick that bright blue-colored stuff with cookie bits in it.