Last night, I had the chance - first time in absolutely weeks - to get out and take some pictures.Nothing makes me happier than walking along our waterfront and soaking up the sights. Last night was another first, as well. I walked the better part of 2 miles with NO knee pain. It is well and truly done!!!
Yesterday, I also decided to take the next step in my photography. On June 27, I will begin taking courses at a professional photography school. A lot more expensive, but I think I'm at a point I need to learn the next level. It will mean losing a night in an already very hectic, busy time but at the same time, if I am serious, I need to make time.
Taking the picture above was an interesting moment. While I walk, I am fairly introverted. I don't really pay attention to the people around me and kind of get lost in the moment. I'm a pretty shy person, until you get to know me. Enter the wharf and my elderly aunt, who is going through a very challenging time in the mental faculty area. Each night, she gets more and more paranoid. My Mom and I are now used to receiving up to 10 phonecalls each from her on any given evening. Every 20 minutes or less, the phone will ring. They will be increasingly frantic or argumentative. She will accuse us of lying to her, for example. 'What's that noise?' 'Nothing, there's no noise', 'I can hear something, you're lying', 'Um, the TV, I think you can hear the TV', 'No, there's nothing on TV.' Not answering the phone makes it worse. The phonecalls will increase to every 5 minutes. Getting angry doesn't work because she doesn't have the mental acuity to realize it.
So to put it mildly, my Mom and I are both at the end of our ropes on this. Which is why I went for a walk.
As I'm on the wharf trying to set up a shot, the phone rings. I look and it's her. I don't answer. The phone rings again right after. And finally again, on the 3rd call, I answer. But, unbeknownst to me, I had caught the attention of a couple of people walking along because of the distinctive ring tone.
After speaking to my Aunt and attempting to calm her, these people came over and struck up a conversation with me. To my surprise, my guard was down and I ended up chatting with them for nearly 15 minutes. It turned out they went to school with my brother. We exchanged phone numbers and emails. Now THAT was a real first.
I wandered along the rest of the way, smiling. Maybe stepping outside of my comfort zone isn't such a bad thing. And maybe, just maybe, my camera is a little bit of a buffer to break me out of that shell.
For a few moments, I even forgot how stressed we've become with my Aunt's health. Of course, a half hour later, the phone started ringing again and that magic was lost. At least I got a few minutes anyhow.
Other than that, a lot of time lately has been spent at ball parks.
My niece is back pitching. Before she had Hayley, she was a promising pitcher with scholarship offers from some of the best schools in the US. But at the tender age of 18, headstrong and under pressure, she chose to turn them all down and move away with her would-be husband. Hayley came soon after. It's good to see her back on the field though.
The circle does revolve though. After years of saying she wanted her kids to be involved only in what they wanted, now she has become hopeful that Hayley will pick up her Mom's athletic ability. And I think the Little One may just do that.
