Thursday, June 22, 2006

The Lensless World 

Mom's old video camera wouldn't show or capture images, and it was too dark for the digital camera, as I've never figured out what shift in settings might stabilize pictures taken in near-darkness, from a great distance, of moving bodies.

But technical (and positional) difficulties nothwithstanding, it's hard to call tonight's pre-school graduation ceremony and performance anything but a successful milestone. Willow was exuberant and wiggly -- easily overshadowed, yes, and not yet as confident as the kindergarten five year olds, but certainly a force to be reckoned with, if not tomorrow, then very soon.

I took a few pictures with mom's high-end non-digital, but mostly I waved, my hand in the three-fingered sign for "I Love You", blew kisses. In between songs, Willow looked for us in the crowd, over and over; found us, grinned happily, held up her own tiny three-fingered sign, which she checked visually to make sure it was right before thrusting it out at us like cupid's arrow.

It was good, in a way, to end up different, more connected to her and to the event, rather than join the myriad ranks of videographer Dads surrounding us. Years from now, when we unpack tonight's thinpaper diploma from yet another childhood collection, it will be that connection, that moment made when our eyes locked in pride and mutual delight, the shared happiness of her growing spark of selfassured personhood, which we remember best, and cherish.

posted by boyhowdy | 11:52 PM |

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