Monthly Archives: May 2009

Photo-A-Day

Preserving History

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Preserving History
Photo-A-Day #1514

Today our family came together to celebrate Grandma Theresa. They came with an amazing array of photo albums. My Uncle Richard and my Aunt Donna brought many photos that they had. My Aunt Luann brought albums that were my Grandma Theresa’s personal albums. I spent a good five straight hours scanning each photo or shooting the photos with my camera. The loose photos got scanned and the ones in the albums were photographed. What was really nice about the albums was that under most of the photos were names of a few people in each photo written in my Grandma’s hand.

It is a little overwhelming to pour through moments in a persons history in one afternoon. Seeing them grown from young to middle aged to old. The thing that came across in seeing all these photos was that my Grandma valued family very much. When she was surrounded with family her smile radiated. She loved large gatherings and making sure that everyone had everything they needed. She wouldn’t sit down until everyone had a full plate. She was busy keeping everything going behind the scenes. And she made it look easy. She was the quiet ringmaster of this three ring circus called family.

So, did I spend any time with everyone who came to the house? Yes, I had a really nice morning with my cousin Shaun and his wife Morgan and their son Logan. I took today’s photo of Eva and Logan because they were very cute together. Well, that was when Eva wasn’t being bossy. She needs a sibling to temper that bossiness.

I also spent some time with my Dad going grocery shopping and getting ready for the cookout. We made sure that we got plenty of corn on the cob for everyone in honor of Grandma’s love for it. I don’t know the number but I’ve heard that she broke some family record for eating corn on the cob. I remember one cookout at the house in Wareham where we had fried chicken and corn on the cob on the octagonal table that my Great-Uncle Richard built and the one that now graces our patio. There were many family gatherings with my Grandma and she remembered what everyone liked and made sure that there was more than enough of it on hand. As a kid I loved mashed potatoes. I could eat tons of them as a kid. As I got older I moderated more of what I ate but I remember that Grandma always made a huge pot of mashed potatoes because I liked them. She was great like that.

My Cousin Carissa (In California) chatted with everyone via the webcam on Allison’s netbook. I also got a chance to talk with my Uncles about my Grandma, that was great because I will be giving the eulogy along with my sister Tara. So talking with everyone and seeing the great photos from Grandma’s life helped spark many of my memories and also learn stories from my family to properly honor Grandma’s memory at her funeral on Tuesday.

Photo-A-Day

Where are the Lemurs?

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053009_1514
Photo-A-Day #1513

Today I scanned a number of photos of Grandma Theresa for the wake. I also scanned them so that I had them in my collection. I love old photos. I love how they look, how people in them looked and the feel of the photo itself. It is actually pretty amazing that there were so many photos taken, especially with how expensive they must have been.

Our family has such a rich history. Taking photos has always been a big part of my life. At each family event someone had a new camera and I was usually shown it first to figure out how to use all the features. We took so many photos. Tomorrow our family will come together for a little cookout to talk about, celebrate and reminisce about Grandma Theresa. My Uncle Richard has a number of photos that I will also scan. We talked today and he reminded me of some fun that we had when I was a kid.

Today we spent a little time with Eva at the Capron Park Zoo. She loves the animals and I want her to have some strong ties to the Capron Park Zoo too. As a kid this was one of my favorite places to visit. I loved seeing the Polar Bear (Frosty) and the Buffalo. They are obviously no longer at the zoo but there are some other great animals that Eva can enjoy like the Ocelots, the Lemurs and the Otters. Eva also loves the Kangaroos, the Lion and the Llamas.

Since Eva probably won’t start to remember these zoo visits until she is older I take a bunch of photos to keep in our digital scrapbook. Like this one.

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This was taken shortly after Eva was almost knocked down by a hyper little boy who was slightly older than Eva. She stopped and ran over to Eva and hugged her. She didn’t want much to do with him. Later he ran over and gave her a hug and a little kiss. She was not at all pleased. I then ran a little interference after that. No strange little boys are gonna go kissing my little girl. So on her face there is a look of concern that the little boy was coming her way. He was but I scooped her up before he could get closer.

Lemur island opened recently and as you can see from these photos the Lemurs have some pretty nice diggs.

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The home of the Red Ruffed Lemurs

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The home of the Ring Tailed Lemurs

You see the Lemurs on their Islands from a brand new bridge through the pond. Eva stood on the bridge and peered through the fence. I leaned over and held my camera upside down to take Eva’s photo. then in Photoshop I rotated it 180 degrees. I used the Wide Angle for this shot and the flash too. It is interesting how an upside down flash makes a photo look.