The Reason for this Blog

f2.8, 1/250, 100mm, ISO 800

What is the reason for this blog? It’s not to give advice. I’m the last person who needs to give parenting advice. It’s not to lament the challenges of motherhood and raising a family. I think I do that enough. 
 
Here is a place to start: I can tell you why I take the photos. These photos are romantic. They portray our lives here in this remote region of northern California as an idealized version of our lives. I’m not going to post photos of kids wailing, or my yucky kitchen sink, or the kids chasing around the robot vacuum. Not that the photos aren’t real. They are, and that’s why I created these photos and shared them. 

​When my house is quiet, and I have time to read for hours in the middle of the day, these are the memories I want to savor. The sunsets, the fresh bread, the happy play between two brothers, the way I looked with red lipstick and a pink dress. I have my cell phone movies to remember they way Graham squeals when he turns on the vacuum and crawl-runs away. And, actually I have cell phone videos of my kids’ tantrums, because sometimes that’s the only way to cope.
 
But, will anyone want to read this? Why does anyone want to read anything? Do I care? If only my boys (including my dear husband) are the only people to ever read this, I will have been successful.