just what kind of influence I have on my nieces and if it is, in fact, a good thing.
When they come over, we stand in the rain and try to catch raindrops on our tongue.
We stand on the porch in the dark of night, talking to the man in the moon and try to count the stars.
We watch lightning bugs and look for meteors.
We laugh at silly stuff and listen to music.
We bang on the piano keyboard making all manner of noise and then pretend that we know what we are doing.
I play Mahler, Beethoven and Bach for them and then we dance like mad to Crazy Train.
We watch Lord of the Dance and documentaries on Alaska.
We make up songs and sing them loudly, through a hairbrush microphone.
We burn incense and light the lava lamp.
We brew tea using a teaball and have tea parties with Irish Breakfast tea.
We sit in the floor and draw pictures using markers, chalk and crayons.
Blue is my favorite.
We let the dog in the house during a thunderstorm because I have a hard time denying them anything.
We don’t watch TV and we rarely watch movies. There is so much that is there that they, as little girls, don’t need to know.
There is so much there, that me, as a big girl, don’t need to know.
I want to let them know how much I love them without exposing them to the things about myself that make feel crazy and out of control.
I don’t want them to know that sometimes my thoughts race, my mind falters and I don’t, more than any other hope I have, want them to be like me.
Manic and exasperated or crying and inconsolable.
I want, though, to let them know, that it is OK to be different from everyone else, to march to their own drummer, to follow their dreams and to seek what they want to know.
I want them to know that wherever they go, whatever they do, whatever endeavors they undertake, I will support them, love them and will always, always stand in the rain with them.
joy unspeakable
youthful innocence
A Photographer's Heart 