Jan
08
Taylor, Rex and Baby Avery
Jan
02
Judy Watson and her great-granddaughter Avery Yau.
Our sweet, sweet granddaughter entered our lives on Sunday night.
Her great-grandmother — my wife’s mother — left us on Wednesday night.
Oct
12
Since our granddoggy Rex loves bringing in the mail so much, we got him a mail dog outfit to make it official.
Before the funeral, he is curled up in a little ball on his daughter’s bed. Outside, Saturday happens. Lawnmowers whine, trucks bang by; his subdivision is subdivided.
Dec
04
The yin and yang of popcorn. Photo illustration by Rodney Curtis
I’m popping popcorn. Standing at the stove, I slowly turn the little handle on our ancient popper as one or two kernels escape the vat. It’s unusual for me to be doing this at this hour, 4:30 in the evening. As the kernels twirl, the emotions swirl behind me.
Aug
20
I exist between Space and Time. But I’ve become accustomed to it; it’s only for a week.
I got to attend my nephew’s wedding along the Northern California coast over the weekend, but they didn’t have an official photographer. So Uncle Rodney kinda/sorta took over using his trusty ol’ iPhone. What a fun time! Navarro River and Mendocino were almost as charming as the couple themselves.
Elizabeth and Lawren are a very playful couple.
Jul
20
The sun sets from my vantage point perched atop a mountain on Tortola in the British Virgin Islands.
The moon is reflecting off the bottom of the pool. I look down to see up. Directly in front of me is infinity and I see the saints; John and Thomas, rising up from the sea. No, I’m not dreaming and no, the drugs haven’t just kicked in. This is me taking a late evening dip in the pool, atop a mountain on the outer edge of the Caribbean Sea.
May
15
My daughter, Taylor, alternates with me between napping and driving across The Great Plains.
We just passed a shrink-wrapped boat. What it’s doing in the middle of Nebraska, I have no idea. But there seems to be all manner of transport along this flat, gray, rainy Pony Express trail.
My daughter sits next to me napping on her “Hug this pillow until you can hug me” fluffiness, given to her by her new hubby. It’s sweet. Even though we’re traveling at a pretty steady clip, we’re not taking great pains as we drive across The Great Plains. Destination: Cheyenne, Wyoming and her next three years. Why oming? Her Air Force husband just re-upped for duty and she’s got a job working with older folks at the Veterans Administration. Her new life awaits her.Read More
May
04
Mom and Dad sat for one of my early portrait sessions back in the mid-1980s.
So I’m hanging out, chatting with my wife and daughter after running some errands, having a salty snack — the usual slow afternoon things — when KABLOOEY, it hits me; I’ve outlived my father.
12