Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Following his own path


Noah the Explorer
London, ON, February 2008
About this photo: Thematic Photographic slowly winds down its white-themed week. You're always welcome to share your own white vision by clicking here. If not, click anyway and feel free to visit this week's participants.
Since my wife teaches at our kids' school, I don't get to drop them off or pick them up as often as I'd like. So when I do, I like to walk them into the school yard, give them a goodbye hug and then watch them for a few minutes. It's a silly thing, really, but I can't help the feeling that they're growing up at light speed, and I only have so many moments like this before they're gone for good.

Sometimes - okay, always - I bring my camera along, and some mornings I see something that prompts me to crack open the bag and get shooting. That's no small thing when the temperature's well below zero and I've got all of 20 seconds to work before my fingers freeze. But that's an issue for another day.

On this day, I stood silently by as I watched our son cross the newly snow-covered field not in the footsteps of a classmate, but on his own path. The thought made me smile as I packed the camera away and headed for home.

Your turn: Why we follow our own path. Why this matters as much as it does.

7 comments:

Hilary said...

Beautiful photo of your son. He must have been playing around in that fluffy stuff just moments earlier. That feeling you get.. of their growth? It's SO true. Sigh! But they do follow their own paths .. as it should be.

theMuddledMarketPlace said...

love that shot

been thinking so much about this over the past week~some people never get the chance to make their own paths, their own choices, their own mistakes

then
blink twice
those same children are adult and all totally UNprepared for lifes adventure

so sad

let 'em stride out in their own furrows, making their small mistakes when they're small

Anonymous said...

Beautiful, all the way around!

I, too, would watch them make their way as they left me at the schoolyard gate. I still do it, in life.

We train our children but they each have their own lives to live. So we stand back and watch and pray.

Thank you again, Carmi, for your thoughtful comments the other day.

Tabor said...

It matters because we each have only one unique path just like those unique snowflakes.

bobbie said...

An adventurous young man. He will always make his own way - but your early teaching and guidance will always be with him, and he won't go far wrong. And he will always find his way back to you.

Mojo said...

You speak true Carmi. Before you know it they'll be all grown up and these moments will only exist in your memory and your photos. Trust me on this one, I've got a couple of 20-somethings now that I swear I had on a changing table just last week.

And of course I couldn't let a week's worth of white go by without a little snow. Lucky for me we actually had a little bit last winter (none so far this year). But before that, let's look at a bit of spring.

Thematic Photographic 84: "White" v.5.0 - Lovely Girl, Iris

Thematic Photographic 84: "White" v.6.0 - Embracing the Cliche

Cloudia said...

Lovely post photo and thoughts



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