Little m Long a

Photography is not my forte.  Come to think of it, I’m not sure I have a forte.  I’m pretty much one of those guys that can do most things adequately (at best) but in no specific area would I dare call myself an expert.  That has never really stopped me.  I’ll still jump right in and participate in just about any activity.  Within reason.

My latest foray?  James from Quirkee.com and Daddyshack fame has organized a group on Flickr called the Daddyshack Scavenger Hunt.  Each week our task is to photograph a group of selected items and post the pictures to the scavenger hunt pool on the Flickr group page.  Interpretation is left entirely to the photographer.

I have found these past few weeks that the scavenger hunt has provided an enjoyable outlet.  It shifts focus from otherwise mundane and ordinary objects in our environment and makes me think. It has also turned into a bit of a family activity as Zoë has started to ask for the list and will help me to find items as we travel here and there throughout the course of the week.

It’s a fun way to shake the dust off of your camera and start snapping pictures all in a laid-back, no pressure sort of way.  If for some reason you are unable to get all of the shots during the week—”No worries!” to quote an often used phrase by James.

Here’s a link to the Daddyshack Scavenger Hunt page on Flickr.  Stop by, sign up and start hunting.  You’ll be glad you did.  Oh, and tell em Ed sent ya.

Today, Monday August 25 is the first day of school. I have two children in elementary school this year. Zoë will be starting Second Grade and Zane will be starting the First Grade. After Labor Day, Zia will begin Pre-K attending three days a week Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays in the mornings. For me, this is big. Real big.

I offer my kids to strangers, trusting that they will do the right thing. That they will care for my children as I do. I’m sending them to school. I should feel a sense of relief and relish the freedom gained if only a few hours worth. It’s not that easy.

As we transition some of the daily care of our children to members of our community—namely the educators we have entrusted to supplement and augment the fundamentals we have been teaching at home, concerns manifest. I worry. I fret. I pray that my children will be safe and that their love of learning and their love of life will continue to be nurtured.

I’m sending their teachers a little note…..

Dear Mrs. Teacher Lady,

Good morning and welcome to our school. (I know, that’s something you should probably be saying to me but really, with what I’m paying you guys in tuition, I kind of feel I have the right to call it MY school.) I trust that you had a wonderfully relaxing and enjoyable summer vacation. I know my kids certainly did.

We both knew this day would arrive, though I’ve got to be quite honest, I wasn’t expecting it quite so soon. It seems we had just gotten into a really good summertime groove. That’s OK. We had fun and now are ready for school to begin as I’m sure you are, also.

You may recognize my kids, having seen them around. In the coming months you are going to have the opportunity to intimately know my children. I’m sure that it will not take you long to realize that my little Zoë has an incredibly free spirit. She is an absolute bundle of joy and energy, she loves life and loves laughter more. She’s as smart as a whip but sometimes will need a little push because challenges tend to intimidate her.

Zane is not shy, don’t be fooled. He’s intense and will absorb every word you utter. Be careful what you tell him. His heart is larger than yours and mine combined. He’s a good kid. He’ll never back down from a challenge. Nothing is beyond him and he has no fear of the unknown.

I present them, Zoë and Zane, pure, eager and excited about learning. I expect to have them returned to me in the same manner. Your task is epic, your responsibility enormous. If I felt for one second that I could do what you so willingly do each day, believe me, I would. I know, though, that teaching is beyond me. Though unable myself to provide perfection I expect it from you. Sorry, but that is your lot.

I don’t expect you to do it alone though. I am here. My wife is here. We have committed to provide the greatest quality education possible and will do anything in our collective power to see that goal achieved. We are in this together.

Take care of my Zoë and of my Zane.

Because I have trusted you, they will, too. Do not forsake that trust.

Sincerely yours,

ELamaze

Ed Lamaze

It’s been a few weeks.  I bet you thought I had forgotten.  I bet you wish I had forgotten.  Sunday Sonnets have returned, at least for this week.  And no, I have not gotten any better at composing sonnets.  I’m not studying sonnets or reading sonnets for inspiration.  Fact of the matter is, I really don’t even know what a sonnet is!  I know it’s supposed to have 14 lines but I think the lines are supposed to have some sort of meter and quite possibly rhyme.

I’ve got 14 lines.  That’s about it.  I just picked the moniker because I thought it sounded good.  I  could have just as easily called the series–Hey Look, I Wrote a Poem!  But it’s not really poetry either.

So, anyway.  It’s been quite a long week full of activity, last minute school preparations, end of sumer blowout family fun days, kittens, and more.  Yet somehow, this weeks Sunday Sonnet was inspired by a fairly traumatic personal experience for me where in I replaced my wallet, my companion, of some twenty years.  The replacement wallet came from a little Amish leather shop we had visited on Tuesday.

It lasted 3 days!

You Never Had a Chance

It’s not your fault, believe me.
You had no control over how this would play out.
It’s not you, it’s me.
Really.

You tried.  You gave it a go.
I tried you also, but my heart was never in it.
Don’t get me wrong, I like you.
I do.

But you’re not the same.
You never will be.  You never could be.
We had a history.  A lifetime.
You had three days.

I gave you a chance, but you never really had one.
Twenty years is just too much to overcome.

(Last night, I pulled out my sewing machine and repaired my dear old wallet.  The way I see it, it could last another couple of years.  Maybe then, I’ll be ready for a replacement.)

This past week, as part of our Big End of Summer Family Fun Days Blowout Spectacular, well that’s what we have decided to call it, we took a little day trip to Holmes County in northeast Ohio.  Trust me, you don’t just happen by the little communities we visited in Holmes County.  You sit down and Mapquest the directions to specific locales and then curse the powers that be at Mapquest for omitting the fact that not once, or twice but three separate times on three separate county roads they failed to mention–the bridge is out.  Fact of the matter is, the bridge has been out since before Mapquest ever existed and no indication of planned repairs is evident.  We turned what should have been an easy two and a half hour drive into a odyssey of epic proportions.

By the time we stopped for lunch the kids were hot, tired and restless.  Nerves were fried and patience was wearing thin.  At one point, Maura went to the restroom and I called and emergency group meeting.  In no uncertain terms I explained to the children how very close we all were to losing our Big End of Summer Family Fun Days Blowout Spectacular and that if they didn’t straighten up and fly right it was over.   They all agreed to act good and for the better part of the next five minutes actually did.  We pressed on.

The big draw to Holmes County is the fact that it’s Amish country.  The countryside is filled with a people who have dedicated themselves to a simpler way of life devoid of modern conveniences.  Their crafts and workmanship are of the finest quality, skills having been passed gown for generations upon generations.

Most notable, at least to my kids, is the fact that they use horse and buggy as a means of transportation.  Though seemingly ever present, my kids did not grow tired of screaming, “Amish Buggy!!” every time they saw one.  OK, that might have been me, but you gotta admit, it’s pretty cool.  My kids did not tire, however, of asking questions about the ever present Amish Horse’s poop.  “Why do they just poop in the road?”  “Are they going to clean it up?”  “Why couldn’t they wait and poop in the grass?”  “What’s in horse poop?”  “It this horse poop fresh?”  “Man, horse poop is big!”  It clearly left an impression on them.

We did a bit of the touristy shopping stuff and drove around a bit.  It really was a beautiful area.  We passed a little elementary school and I made Maura go back so I could get a picture.  Something just struck me as funny about it.  In case you are unable to read the picture it says Charm School.

One of the most enjoyable parts of our Big End of Summer Family Fun Days Blowout Spectacular was a short hike took.  We stopped at one of the trail entrances of the Holmes County section of Rails to Trails.  The trail extends for miles through some very nice farmland and woodland areas.  An interesting aspect to this trail, however is that it is shared with the local Amish community.  Half of the trail is paved for hiking, biking, jogging, etc. and the other half is left for the horses and buggies.

The kids rode their bikes and Maura pushed the twins in the stroller as we all just soaked in the beauty around us.  It was a gorgeous day and I think despite our earlier frustrations with poor directions and kids being kids we had a good time.

With a muffled voice, she called them to dinner.  Habit.  Muffled because also out of habit she did not wait for them to arrive before beginning to eat.

“Ee ya…Oh ee….” she called.

“Llella!”  Zander corrected her.  “They’re not here.”

And certainly, they were not for  Zoë and Zia have gone to their aunt’s house this evening for a sleepover.  Yes, the same aunt who just last weekend kept Zane on his first sleepover.  Zoë and Zia felt that they needed some auntie time themselves.  So much so that they have given the auspicious occasion a fitting moniker–BFF Sleepover.  I think that’s Big Fun Filled Sleepover or something like that.  It’s a girl thing!

With a nonchalant, “Oh,” she turned her attention back to dinner and never gave the subject another thought.

As we sit on the deck this evening, Zane, the twins and I, an overwhelming sense of serenity, of calm, surrounds me.  The wind chimes behind me resonate deep, rich tones as the gentle breeze takes some of the heat out of the heavy August evening air.  I watch silently, as my kids play carefree.  Games are made up on the fly with simple rules that would appear to have been present for ages.  There is no bickering.  Interests wain and children race down the hill toward the swing set.

I close my eyes and take it all in.  Birds singing, gathering last minute morsels before nightfall, the cicadas, the wind chimes.  A train passes–it’s a mile to the tracks but it sounds like it’s just beyond the tree line, a church bell tolls the hour.

And above it all, the laughter of children.  Children that are happy.  And that makes me smile.