I've been busy lately! I've been shooting photos and keeping Olive alive and well, among other things, although not many other things, because that's enough to keep a person occupied. Olive is on the go, she's at a 75% crawl / 25% slither and it's as awesome as it is terrifying, because David and I are two of the un-tidiest people on the planet and now we have no choice but to change our "laissez faire" habits or tragedy will befall our home. And Change We Will, people, because Change it Possible and we have risen to the occasion many times before in our marriage, although perhaps never an occasion quite this challenging.
A few weeks ago, a reporter from our local news station came over and gave me less than half an hour's warning. (A different story for a different day- a story that is still playing out, much to my chagrin.) A most sensational cleaning blitzkrieg resulted and, finding the closets already filled to capacity, I had NO CHOICE but to scoop up all the stuff- which to be honest wasn't all that much, but even a hint of clutter becomes overwhelming in a house as small as ours- and pile it all into the oven. Bad idea? You think?
I had no choice. I just told you that.
But rest assured, we recently shipped in my best friend, one Ms. Lisa Neimann of Seattle Washington, a quasi-minimalist, and we spent a glorious week tidying, organizing, and clearing out the house. We did other things too. I don't remember them. I do remember that we organized my closet by color and then by size WITHIN each color, and I felt on top of the world.
As you can see, raising and keeping little five month old Olive is much more than board books and stacking cups. It runs deeper than that, there are many layers of depth at work here, and somehow the takeaway of all of this is that hanging my clothes twice-organized has made me a better mother and a better person in general.
Now I'd like to discuss some photography. Ladies and gentlewoman, I am excited to announce that I am currently scheduling Mountaintop Mini Sessions on the summit of my favorite peak here in the Blue Ridge Mountains. I'll keep you guessing as to the exact location although you don't have to dig very deep on this blog to figure out where it is.
I've never done mini sessions before, but once I considered them, they really make a lot of sense. It's a little less of a commitment than a full family session, but your radiant mountaintop images of your radiant selves and children will last you a radiant lifetime. (Photos really do last a lifetime, and not many other things can say the same. Not even memories. We think they will, but mostly, they won't.)
Diamonds, perhaps. But I'm not in the diamond business.
A number of locals have already signed up, and I am so excited to meet and-or see you in April. My invitation to those of you living elsewhere in the Southeast: take that road trip to Asheville you've been thinking about. Oh, you've been daydreaming, I know you have. Asheville, where beer is made, where sits America's largest privately owned house. Asheville, where you don't have to participate in the Friday evening downtown drum circle no matter what you've heard- I never have! I never will!
Wild & Bright Photography
Spend half a day exploring the Parkway and the Blue Ridge, make the brief yet rugged trek to the top of (Name Redacted) peak and enjoy a 20 minute photo session; they're actually a lot of fun, even for dad, who never seems too jazzed about the idea until about five minutes into the shoot and then he suddenly is brimming with his own ideas for poses and camera angles, it happens every time. Then spend the rest of the afternoon or the evening rambling around the soaring mountain balds. It is absolutely gorgeous. It appears as if you're surrounded by an ocean of deepening blue waves, but it's only mountains- range after range of mountains.
Click here to learn more about the Spring 2018 Mountaintop Mini Sessions.
Click here to take a look at my work.
And now I hear noises from the nursery. My captain calls, I must obey.
I'll see you up there.