 |
| Aligned Laval, QC October 2012 Please click here for more Fall Colors Thematic |
It had been a miserable day both inside and outside. Spitting rain had scuttled our planned walk outside, and the kids were itching to stretch themselves beyond their grandparents' apartment. It's a lovely place to be, of course, but not big enough to contain the energy of my cooped up munchkins.
Eventually, with the sky still a threatening grey and the wind spitting a light drizzle, we decided to chance it. The kids grabbed their cameras and we headed for the walking paths that trace the riverbank in this bucolic corner of an otherwise bustling suburb. The goal: fill their memory cards with memories.
I hung back a little as I watched them get into their groove. It's easy for me to pick out what I think is most worthy of a picture, but a little more difficult for me to say nothing as I watch them work through the process on their own. It was a joy to watch, as they bantered between themselves about the things they saw, and the way they wanted to record them.The pics I've seen so far are good enough that we're already counting the days until our next walkabout. They have an eye for detail that I simply didn't have at their age. They're thoughtful with a scene in ways that make me wonder just how good they'll get if they stick with it.
In Yiddish, it's called shepping naches, or deriving joy from the achievements of your children. On this day, I shepped naches. Only it wasn't simply based on the electronic bits they managed to record through their lenses. It was the way they went about it, the spirit they showed each other, the smiles on their faces and in their voices.
It was a delightful slice of time, and I got to drink it in from a few feet behind them. May we have plenty more photo walks ahead of us.
Your turn: When did you pick up a camera for the first time?
What a great experience to share with your kids! My first camera was an instamatic around age 10, with my mother always warning me "don't waste film."
ReplyDeleteMY goodness... I feel as though, from an outsiders perspective, I am now a much older man... It only seemed like yesterday, my first reading of your blog many years ago now, that they were such young children... But now, after these photos, they are turning into fine young (almost) adults...
ReplyDeleteWould love to see the work that they proiduced though... Any chance? ;)
It's always nice to see our kids become interested in the same things we are. You must be doing something right!
ReplyDeleteI got some big square plastic camera from sending in cereal box tops. I think it was when I was in elementary school.
ReplyDelete~
can you shep naches from your kind of step-grandchildren? Even though Dave and I aren't married, I take joy in what his grandchildren (and children) accomplish :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm with Bernie -- all of a sudden Dahlia is a young woman! Time flies.
ReplyDeleteMy dad bought my first camera for me, a 110, rectangular boxish thing with that flash strip that clipped into the top! Totally aweseome! I got my first point and shoot 35mm when I went to my senior prom. He said I needed a good camera to take good pics. :-)