August felt quiet. So many of these photos are daily rhythm photos, nothing overly exciting, and yet I look back over them and feel content with the memories. The highlight of the month was the arrival of my nephew Freddy, who I meet just a few days after his birth and had the privilege of documenting in his early days. I love seeing my sister become a mom and our family expand the way families do to love a teeny tiny human with an overwhelmingly big love. It is the best of what I get to photograph; it is humanity at our best.
My brother Jono visited at the end of the month as well, and we went to Massachusetts and New York as summer started to wind down, enjoying a wholly different feel to those months (in New England it cools off at night!) than the familiarity of a relentlessly hot, months-on-end summer.
While I have been in the process of pulling photos for a 2017 recap of all the incredible sessions I got to photograph and am planning on sharing them as one big "best of" as well as some individual session posts as well, I feel perpetually behind on blogging. That post requires more time than I have this morning. I'm going to shift from apologizing for that and accept that life's pace these days makes me a s l o w blogger, but I do intend to keep blogging, as I enjoy it and have heard from some of you that you do too. This project helps me pay attention to my own life, which in turn- I hope- helps me pay more and better attention to those I photograph.
August 1: The morning rush.
August 2: Did our cats destroy the underlining of our couch and create a hammock out of it? Yes, yes they did.
August 3: Ty helped me adjust some lighting and backdrops in the studio at the hospital, so naturally I had him sit for a portrait. This is so him, and I have this photo sitting on my desk now. Eerrryyyybody, print photos of the people you love.
August 4: Farm stand blueberries.
August 5: Cat life.
August 6: It was a cool afternoon with lots of sun that almost shouted that one ought to throw a quilt on the ground in the backyard and grab a novel. So I did. Darby felt the same.
August 7: The weeds between the house and the deck looked so un-weedy.
August 8: Our grill got so much play over the summer, and we ate like kings.
August 9: August's rhythm contained lots of dinners in with fresh fish and veggies and the 9th looked like tacos after work.
August 10: The heirlooms at our CSA arrived, and we had our pick for several weeks.
August 11: Dinner guests and bubbles and our backyard. Olivia and Emma's mom referred me my job at Connecticut Children's. We'd become friends through the process of engagement, wedding and family photos over the course of the last few years, and when she heard the photographer position had come open about a year before this photo was taken, she mentioned it to me, thinking I'd be a good fit. Crazy how much life can change in a year. Crazy and amazing.
August 12: Prepping to pickle.
August 13: Sunday afternoon feels.
August 14: The best dinner date.
August 15: Before work walk with my best girl.
August 16: Finally getting photos on the wall. Making our house home more and more by the day.
August 17: Her perch. I love the light in our house in the summer.
August 18: Ever naughty. Ever curious.
August 19: Finally, Freddy.
August 20: Here's what I remember of Freddy's first days. He slept through the night from the get go. He stared like he looked at your soul. He was content in your arms or on the bed or wherever, the most laid-back newborn fella. He won me over. And somehow immediately I couldn't remember life without him.
August 21: Milk drunk.
August 22: First Blinn visit to our Connecticut home looked like Jono (after a very long ride in the Jeep with Ty, brave soul).
August 23: Milkcraft. Liquid nitrogen ice cream, made to order, served in waffle cones- literal, soft, bubbly and warm waffles. It is heaven for the lactose and gluten tolerant.
August 24: Old Crow Medicine Show Concert with my favorite. Photo by Jono.
August 25: Ever notice how a walk after dinner leads to the best conversations?
August 26: Times Square and one of my favorite photos since I started this project. We walked 13+ miles that day, and I'm convinced the best way to see New York is by foot, utilizing public transit and taxis as little as possible.
August 27: Wearing all our feelings about Jono's departure on our faces.
August 28: Kevin sold us our house, and I got to take his photo.
August 29: I am not crazy about this photo, though I am grateful Ty took it because I love running past our house when I do one of the loops I frequent. It feel so happy that we get to live here.
August 30: Ever watching.
August 31: Foreshadowing fall.