At the Park

Okay, this entry has several photos. I am including ten attached photos that I like a lot and at the bottom I have embedded a slide show with several more photos from the same outing that I made with Becky and Gabe this weekend to Village Creek State Park.
I am trying to turn over a new leaf. It is spring time so it is a good time to turn new leaves over. I am making an effort to be more honest, more positive, to live more in the present (that was my New Year's Resolution), and to work more on my personal relationships - especially the relationships that I have here in my home. Really, I blame my friends for this. I have some good friends (who will remain anonymous here) who have encouraged me in different ways to open things up here a little more - to include a little more information about my family and to put more work into my family relationships. Thank you, friends! What would I do without you?
I think that a big part of our perception of the past - even of the immediate past (something we often confuse with the present) - depends on the records that we keep: journal entries, photos, blogs, etc. Every memory fades, so the types of records that we keep have a very powerful effect on determining what we remember and how we remember things. Therefore, my goal here is to find positive things to report each week as I work on being a better husband and a better father. And if I can't find positive things to report I am going to create positive things to report every week by really working on loving the people I live with. One other important element - and you can help keep me honest on this one: no complaining in the record keeping about my family. It does no good to report postive things that are laced with poison. Again, memory is as much perception as reality and it is up to us to sell our own propaganda - to create our own perception. I am starting here and moving forward.

So here is my first report: I have really been trying to be here for my family this weekend. Friday, I went to the movies with Becky and Gabe. We saw Monsters versus Aliens in 3D. It was AWESOME. I have never seen a movie like that in 3D. I had a really good time. I don't think that I would have enjoyed it nearly as much in 2D though.

Yesterday, after sitting in the house far too long, we finally got out and went to a nearby state park that has streams, a lake, woods. We hiked a short trail. Gabe had a a great time. That is what all the photos here are about. I will share a little more in the explanation of the photos, but mostly I will let the photos tell our story.

Last night, Becky got a babysitter and we met some of my co-workers at a restaurant for happy hour. We all had dinner. They all had drinks. I think that everybody enjoyed themselves, but I don't think that I can say the same for the people at the table right next to ours. I work in the foriegn language department at the University and the conversation at my table last night was, for the most part, loud and littered with bad words as it flowed freely between English, Spanish, and French. Perhaps it is cultural, but if I had to judge anything based on the conversation last night, I would say that French is just a louder language than the other two languages. One of the women I work with who teaches French, who is typically super quiet at work, really let her hair down. Anyway, that is enough about that. It was a good time.

Back to the state park now. It was really the part of the weekend that I enjoyed the most.

I love this photo. I like flowers a lot, but what I really love about this photo is the flower that is still all wrapped up.

I don't think that I could get away without including a comment about these. Gabe saw these things and started calling them "crickeries" and then he decided that it was his job to sweep them all off the trail. He is a lot of fun.

Here comes Gabe, with a flower for his dad!

I LOVE this photo! I took three that are all a little different, so this might be something to look for in the slide show at the bottom. I don't know why I like this sort of thing so much; to me, it just says "forest".
This is my current desktop background. It is simple, and I really like the balance of the rock and the leaf. (The leaf is far enough in from the corner that it isn't hidden by my sidebar or my taskbar).
I was having fun with the macro setting here. I am not sure that I really like the outcome - it made the part of the trunk that is in focus look really, really flat. But it is a fun shot, just the same.

I was trying to get Gabe in focus from behind a tree that was not in foucs in the foreground, and I just about had it but before I could take the shot that I was looking for he came toward me really fast and to keep him in the frame I had to adjust things and just take a quick photo. I am really happy with the result.

This could be the one I like the most. I just love the light on the "hairs" on the leaves.

This photo is the definition of springtime - flowers, fresh greenery, and sex. Okay, it is just bug sex, but still....

Finally, it is too bad this photo wasn't taken one step further up. Gabe is reaching for my hand here, and when he got it he said, "You saved me," in his little, three-year-old voice. (I loved it!) That is the pay-off for being a parent.