611

Like my father before me, I love photography. Unlike my father before me, I don't have rolls and rolls of film and albums upon albums strewn about the house. Instead, I have an external harddrive and a paid Picasa account, both of which came in extremely handy last night when I began downloading my more than 300 photos of my camera. Even though I expected more than 300 pictures, I was not prepared from how grossly I underestimated my snap happy state while on vacation.

My camera even tells me how many pictures it has room to hold, and ticks down the numbers as you shoot away. I tought my camera was lying to me. It would blink "748" and the number wouldn't register. The next time I look down, it would blink "542," and I'd think, "huh, how odd." When it was blinking "337" I thought it must be highly inaccurate, but no, I just didn't believe it. I didn't know what motive the camera had, but I was pretty sure it was lying.

Nope, I took a lot of pictures, 611 to be exact plus 4 movies. I won't bore you with all 611. Instead, here are a few highlights.

If you aren't wearing mouse ears, then you might as well wear the sorcerer's hat.

From Disney 2011

Children of all ages, love to be at Disney with their mamas.

From Disney 2011

From Disney 2011

From Disney 2011

If you see a giant statue, you must pick it's nose.

From Disney 2011

If you stay in a pirate themed room, you might as well dress like a pirate.

From Disney 2011

Finally:
The chocolate mousse in Canada, really is a moose.

From Disney 2011

A break from the break

There is something about Spring Break which can be exhausting. I think it is us. For some reason, we see Spring Break and Fall Break as opportunities to go out into the world and cram those days with as much activity as possible. These are the vacation breaks where we willingly wake up early and hit the day running only to stop late in the evening with a hard sudden crash. I think there must be something wrong with us.

I'll update you on the break which wasn't after I upload the over 300 pcitures from my camera. In the meantime, here is something which provides the solice and relaxation often missing from my vacations.

From WIPs

It's a sock (shocker, I know) captured in a moment of rest by a camera phone. No, it isn't a masterfully arranged photo, but it also isn't a raw file requiring downloading, tweaking, and converting. It is instead an accurate reflection of the time available and it is a little piece of peace.

My reason for feminism

Today is the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day, and I wasn't going to take note of it nor celebrate it. Then, I read the Yarn Harlot's post. Not only was she eloquent, but she's right. Feminism is and should be the practice of equality of the sexes, both sexes.

In college, I was the one with the "A woman without a man is like a fish without a bicycle" bumper sticker. Not because I thought men were unnecessary, but because I thought the image of a fish riding a bicycle was funny. I didn't believe a woman should need a man. She should be self-reliant and only be with a man because she wants him. As a mother, I tell my son he should never get married because he needs to, but only because he wants to be with someone more than anyone else, because that person brings light and wonder to his world, and he, in turn, is the light of his/her world.

As a feminist, I want my son to face a female competitor as an equal, and not as a girl he has to let win otherwise her self-esteem might be damaged. I shared his frustration when his boys' basketball team was told this weekend that they had to lose the scrimage against the girls' team, not because I felt like he was cheated, but because I felt the girls were cheated out of a fair game. In our house, there's no affirmative action for gender or age. We only let you win if you suck.

As as feminist, I want my son to grow up and do what makes him happy, and I want the world to accept him as he is. I don't want him to be the major breadwinner just because he is the man. I don't want him to shoulder the financial burdens of his household alone. I want him to pick whatever career he wants regardless of whether or not it is a traditionally "feminine" or "masculine" job. I want him to find a partner in life who complements him, the yin to his yang, one who is his equal and a true partner.

As a feminist, I celebrate the strengths and the weaknesses of both sexes and the expansion of opportunities based on who you are and not on your gender.

So, here's my reason for feminism, my son. May his world continue to be expanded as it harnesses what each person has to offer.

From Colorado 2010

(And yes, that is a pink scarf he's wearing. As Little Clover correctly stated, "Real men wear pink." Pink is after all, just a color.)

To be young

There hasn't been as much knitting going on at Clover Field as I would like. I blame the Twilight series. With some luck, the last book will move to my "read" bookshelf tonight and knitting can resume with it's normal voracity. The lack of knitting greatly impacts my Cold Sheeping goal of knitting through 8000 yards this year, which means I'm going to have to either knit faster or convince my family that my time helping out with household chores is really unnecessary and better spent on the sofa with yarn and needles in hand. Since the likelihood of being let of the hook with choirs is low, I better start speed training. Another option is to get on a project with requiring a lot of conference calls. Then, I can use my knitting to tame my need for multitasking while on a call.

Granted, Twilight wasn't the only thing competing for knitting time. The warming weather and chirping birds signals the return of fishing season. We stole way for the weekend and hit the river. Although fishing was a bit slow for me, Smallish Clover manage to have a very good weekend. Not only did he luck out with quantity, but he also hooked and landed a very good quality fish.

From 2011 Fly Fishing February

The children's only stream is a curse and a blessing. Although Italian and I are overjoyed with Smallish Clover's success on the river, we are slightly jealous we can't have the experience ourselves. Clover targeted this beast and we watched as the fly floated towards the whale. Then, with held breath, we watched as the fish opened to take the fly, and Clover set the hook perfectly. As always, we released the fish, exhilarated to see it swim away.

From 2011 Fly Fishing February

It was worth giving up the knitting time to have this moment.