Lesson (re)Learned

Friday was a gorgeous fall day. I decided to take a little drive with my little guy – hoping he’d take a nap on the way. I wanted to go to Centennial Park in Columbia, MD where they have a great walking trail around a gorgeous reservoir. When we arrived at our destination, however, my Lincoln was still wide awake. Which meant that his nap would be on the way home, which meant that it would be way too late, which meant that bedtime was going to be way too late, which meant that I was not a happy mama.

Well, I thought, at least I have my reflector in the back of the car and I can set it up and try to get a few good shots of Lincoln. Why didn’t I remember that it’s IMPOSSIBLE to keep that kid in one spot for more than two seconds?! Lincoln played near me while I set up the reflector, but as soon as it was up and I was ready to shoot, he was trying to engage me in a rousing game of “Catch the Two-Year-Old”. I literally got two shots of him – one of half his face as he started to run away, and one of him crying when I caught him and put him back in the right spot.

I was deflated. Not even my back-up plan was going right. I even called my husband to grumble, wishfully thinking that he might be able to use his magic wand to fix it all.

And then I looked around. It was truly a gorgeous day. There was a new beautiful something everywhere I looked. I let myself breathe and observe and I walked away from our afternoon with some of my favorite nature shots and wiggly two-year-old shots(!!) that I’ve taken in a very long time. There is beauty all around, if we will just relax and look for it!