I'm doing a writing prompt each day for Advent, and today's prompt was about wonder. As I sat to write, I found myself thinking a lot about daily photos. I realized a huge portion of what I've loved about this ongoing project is how it opens my perspective to wonder. I don't discover it every day, but some days in my considering what to photograph I find myself wide-eyed and amazed at the beauty or goodness or simplicity or hopefulness I bore witness to that day. Even on the hard days this is sometimes true.
My sister mentioned the other day that my little nephew Jameson's whole life is filled with wonder right now. He sees an airplane and points with a "wow." He'll stare at the Christmas tree, delighted. He begs to go outside, outside, outside all day, every day, constant in curiosity and generous in his assumptions towards wonder. It's childlike, wonder. Perhaps this project adds value to me because it propels me towards the wisdom of the very young: to be present to a moment and let it be what it is. To find a daily wow of my own. I like that thought. Here's a bit of July's wows. Can't believe it's been half a year since these days passed.
How do you find wonder?
July 1: A pre-July 4th gathering at Uncle Eddie and Aunt Nancy's. A happier couple is hard to come by.
July 2: How to Cape Cod.
July 3: Summertime hangs with the best dog in the world often looked like this.
July 4: Burgers on the grill so fixins on the counter.
July 5: I love our library.
July 6: Arrived at my sister Debo's late after a very delayed flight, and Archie immediately decided he wanted a sleepover. I was so tired I didn't care.
July 7: The day Woody, one of dearest friend's baby, and Jameson, my nephew became friends and co-conspirators.
July 8: Moving away meant moving away from some of the littles I love most, and seeing these three on a Saturday morning before I shot a wedding with their mama made my day. I miss them.
July 9: My favorite in our favorite place doing one of our favorite things.
July 10: Can you guess which niece was feeling some big feelings about their upcoming transcontinental move? This was the day we said goodbye.
July 11: Our cats didn't move with us right away, and this was their day one in our Connecticut home.
July 12: The lush of Connecticut summer will put some wonder in your line of sight.
July 13: Stretch.
July 14: Sorting through our CSA bin.
July 15: Weekending at Ikea, as you do.
July 16: I took a bunch of photos at the Hartford Yardgoats game, mostly of the ballgame, but it was this photo that resonated with me most.
July 17: Explorer.
July 18: Date night.
July 19: Summertime hangs with these two looked like a lot of this.
July 20: Walked out of a hair appointment to find a guy dressed as a squirrel hanging out in a tree. As you do.
July 21: New do self portraits.
July 21: Speaking of wonder... what about seeing a mascot for the first time? Also, toddlers in glasses. Gah.
July 22: Meal planning.
July 24: Married life, a self portrait. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this photo of us. Years from now I can see it remaining a favorite. We look like us to me, in the realest sense.
July 25: Chores. He works hard. He takes care of things. He rarely complains. I'm grateful.
July 26: Open window bird song trance.
July 27: Corporation Beach on Cape Cod at dusk.
July 28: Photo sessions with repeat families make my day. They were seal watching, but little Henry found the ocean a bit on the scary side and spent a lot of the shoot saying, "bye, bye beach."
July 29: Kites on the Cape.
July 30: Dallas friends visiting our home. Abigail left for college a few days after they returned from this trip, and Lucas was not quite ready for his big sister to move to school.
July 31: Happy birthday, Harry Potter.