downtown small town

*


downtown Lawrence is all lit up as well. We took a little walk down through the lights. Feels like the season is supposed to. That's new to us Californians. It's really nice.





some of Wendy's photos that turned out really well. She's getting bigger and more aware. So much fun.


*

TV time has begun

*


our little girl is sitting up (in her little helper chair).

she watched some baby einstein videos today.



we don't have cable, but the fascination with and indoctrination into the society of the spectacle has commenced. we're just doing our part as good consumers to prepare her for the world. let's shop!



*

plaza lights and a dress

*


On Friday we went down to K.C. to show the family the area and the festival of lights (or something like that) had just started. It looks really nice. It's funny, though, I think the people around here get a little too excited about it. It's nice and all, but...

one more photo of grandpa Etter with V.

One for those (Mom!) who feel that Violet is being represented as unfeminine. This little dress is for you.

She seems to like it.

it does look really nice when it snows. it might snow on wednesday.


*

Thanksgiving Day -and a gentleman's game.

*


Grandpa Etter was in town to see his new granddaughter. I think there was some love in the air.

My sister Alison was here as well. Such a pleasant young girl...

Kristin as well. It has been really nice to have everyone here. I know I've said that before, but it has helped the transition to new parents to have everyone support us by coming out to visit. Many thanks.



my mother was there in spirit...

thanksgiving day at Linda's home.


we were given cards and then had to match them up with one on a plate to mix up the seating arrangement. It was fun and everyone said one thing that they were grateful for. New friends for sure.

then the feasting began.



the pie table. homemade pumpkin, pumpkin cheesecake, sweet potato and pecan pies.

all day bocci ball madness until late into the night out by the tree. a gentleman's game, appropriately.

new mother and daughter.



*

protect me from what I want

*


On a recent weekend, I found myself sitting around a twenty-foot pile of wood in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. The air was crisp with fall and the colors on the trees reminded me that I was somewhere unfamiliar. As the stars came out overhead in the cloudless sky someone started the pile of wood on fire with a torch. I sat and looked around at the hundred or so people gathered around the soon-to-be bonfire and noticed my wife showing someone we only just met how to hold our ten-week old daughter and saw them both sharing the slightly nervous smiles of the newly acquainted.

As the fire starts to really get going I think about my friends out in Los Angeles and how I miss them and how upon returning there from SF, I thought I would never make any that really mattered to me. I think the same thing here sometimes and yet this should be evidence that we find the people we need if we open ourselves up to feeling a little stupid. I was able to find friends there and we already have here. My mind dances around like the flames as I think about the years back there and what it means to be away from people that you have a strong bond with and I enjoy the feeling of nostalgia that it brings but the fire keeps my mind here.

I can’t believe we live in Kansas now and that we love it. It feels like evidence that even when we think we know what happens next we rarely do and it’s often better than what we wished for.

(image by Jenny Holzer)

The fire gets a little out of control and the flames jump thirty plus feet in the air. I have always been around people who are drawn to that kind of energy and most are now trying to tame it. It’s interesting to see as people grow more excited and some just scared. It all just seems like a metaphor of our reactions to life, to me. Awed, most people can’t speak for long without their attention being drawn away to the power of the fire. I wonder how the hell we wound up here and if I would have made the decision to come here 10 years ago or 10 years from now but that seems irrelevant, really. Right now I don’t care about the how of it and decide to enjoy the evening. We are here now and let’s hope that there’s more than we can expect around the corner.

that's right.



*

ewoks are go!

*


violet is looking and feeling like a baby to us now. she is growing so much and is so strong now. she is so alert and engaged with us.

yoda?



i love this time of year. we never got this in cali. the leaves look like snow. it's invigorating and exciting to be outside. winter will be here soon.



*

your phone's off the hook, but you're not

*


i swore i wouldn't be one of those gushing, geeky dads talking endlessly about my daughter but the proof of the changing tide is here. everyone i meet is required to see this and show the appropriate admiration, or i keep showing them until they do. pretty sad, but look at what i see every time i open my phone. hard to stay angry or miserable with that.

this is a photo from leah (who, by the way, will be cut off from the site if she or kim don't leave any comments very soon). it doesn't really need words.

little friends.



*

full moon tennis ball trees

*


the season's definitely changing. it looks almost like winter but feels like fall.


our friend John was out here this last four days. it's been great to show friends and family our new life and have them out. Lot's of hanging out and laughing... and Borat.

these things are called something like hedge fruits. they look like a sculptural art installation. sometimes i miss art school and sometimes i don't.





*