The wonder of it all
Atlanta, GA, January 2008 [Click to embiggen]
Sometimes, I wish I could hear what our kids are thinking as they're experiencing something extraordinary. I wish I could bottle up that knowledge and use it again in future, as if it could somehow help me be a better parent.
That isn't possible, of course. But it didn't stop me from musing over my daughter's shoulder as she took in this beyond-lifesize vista at the Georgia Aquarium (wiki).
Your turn: Wonders of childhood. Please discuss.
One more thing: As the dateline on the photo suggests, we're back from vacation. We were in Florida for a bit, and stopped in Atlanta on the way home for a quick trip to the aquarium. Since I don't pre-announce vacations on this blog - rob my house, please? - I now have a pretty huge backlog of photos and experiences from the trip. More in the weeks to come.
Make that two more things: I've got a Facebook page (click here to see my profile.) I've posted an initial batch of aquarium pics to a photo album imaginatively titled "Georgia Aquarium" (click here to see it.) I'll post more albums in the days to come if you want to see what I brought home from vacation. The photographer in me despises Facebook because it strips photos down to low-resolution snapshots. But it's a decent medium for quickly sharing batches of pictures.
Ooooohhh....I hate that you were SO CLOSE and I had no idea!! Did you come up through Tennessee on your way home?
ReplyDeleteAtlanta is about three hours away...we love going there for a few days with the kids here and there! I hope you had a great trip! :)
I feel we stay young by looking through the eyes of wonder in kids. About your vacation, I have a funny. A girl I know recorded her usual voicemail greeting then added this: "By the way, if you're a burglar, you should know that I have a Doberman and a German Shepard and they are trained to attack and kill". She was so serious I was laughing too hard to leave a message! Enjoy!!!
ReplyDeleteI had to smile at Jennifer's comment...I was thinking the same thing (except I'm about an hour and a half straight up I-75). We were even in Atlanta for New Year's, how cool would that be if we had passed on the street and never knew it. Hmmm, I wonder if I've passed other bloggers I "know" without knowing it.
ReplyDeleteChildhood wonders...perhaps what best characterizes that is delight in the ordinary, and seeing it as spectacular--fireflies, ladybugs, roly polies (are you seeing a theme there?)...dandelions and honey suckle...and fish at the aquarium. Having children around is helpful in remembering. It's intoxicating to feel even an iota of that when we see something (usually for me, in creation) wonderful and I have a hard time letting go of those moments (the most recent thing that comes to mind is a shooting star I saw a few weeks ago).
To capture that essence...to bottle it? Now THAT would change the world!
I think that one of the things I loved about becoming a mother at the age of 35 was seeing the world anew through my childrens' eyes.
ReplyDeleteWe become so jaded, and then these little creatures come along to brighten our lives and show us joy in the simplicity of little things.
That's a lovely photo.
ReplyDeleteKids see so much more than we do, I think. I can see life better through their eyes. I really believe this.
CARMI! YOU WERE IN MY NECK OF THE WOODS. WE ARE IN ATLANTA NOW. NEXT TIME DROP ME AN EMAIL! :) WE CAN FINALLY SHOOT TOGETHER!
ReplyDeleteHope you enjoyed your trip down south! I see there is another commenter from Tennessee as well - did you venture through our fine state?
ReplyDeleteI hope you all had a wonderful time enjoying each other and your vacation time.
Childhood wonders - all those little things that make you pause as an adult when you see your little ones in deep observation or when you overhear their conversations and you think 'I need to write this down'!
I love the photo. It is so professional and will be a wonderful thing to look at years from now. :-)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy the way kids think 'out of the square' because they haven't yet been molded to fit the square. I used to teach science to school kids and their questions were just amazing ... and very hard to answer because they were so much out of the square ... I loved it!
ReplyDeleteEllen sent me a brochure of that aquarium (near her home). They have 2 young whale-sharks also. Cool place! I'll go next time I drive through. It Wasn't built there yet in '01...
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a kid, we did the Boston Aquarium field trip every year. I used to think the fish could see me, n I would blink at them!
There's a restaurant down the street with saltwater tanks where I go to stare at the prisoners, I mean, fish. They always look boered, stressed out, n wondering about me. I feel a strange kinship with them, hoping I'm amusing them as they are me!
I'm so sorry the Florida weather was not typical of our paradise. It only stayed cold for a couple of days.
ReplyDeleteNow we're back to our beautiful sun and warm days.
Next time, take time to come to the west coast, the best coast, of Florida.
Oh, wow -- what a fantastic shot, Carmi! We were in Atlanta over the past couple weeks as well -- thought I saw you!!! ;) Seriously? Welcome back, and I'll be looking forward to hearing (and seeing) your adventures!
ReplyDeleteHow funny! My Canadian friends were at the aquarium on Friday. I need to visit the aquarium more often.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was 14, my art class visited the Dallas Museum of Art. When I walked around the corner and first saw The Icebergs by Frederic Edwin Church, it took my breath away and I stopped in my tracks. A painting had never evoked an emotional reaction in me, yet the size of the canvas, the track lighting, and the shimmering colors in the water conveyed such loneliness and silence of the Arctic that I lost all track of time. My teacher had to come back for me.
I bought a print of the painting a few years ago, which now hangs on my wall, and a book about the painting, which had been lost for many years before it was found on an English estate about 30-years ago.
I like to think I still have a little childlike wonder in me, especially when it comes to the natural world. And when I finally made it to Europe last summer, I was also awed by all the history, art, and architecture. At the Tower of London, I literally skipped up to the life-size Paddington Bear - a favorite from bedtime stories all those years ago - and hugged him. Now, bottling those feelings and experiences for later use? I must agree that would be a spectacular achievement that could change the world!
ReplyDeleteGreat picture!
ReplyDeleteI like facebook for connecting with friend, but for pictures I much prefer flickr. Makes it easy to post pictures on my blog to and add to me rss feed.
MK
How did you enjoy Atlanta? I used to like living there, but I'm not sure it would be a great place to stop as a tourist unless you knew people there.
ReplyDeleteAnd you were pretty close to me -- a couple of hours away --- just as with all the others above me!
N.
Wow, great fishy photo. Rich color. I love it!
ReplyDeleteMichele sent me to see what you've been up to with that camera of yours. :)
~S