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Christmas Memory #8

Posted on December 8, 2008 by auburnchick

I’m sure we all have certain presents that stick out in our minds…those favorites that we received on Christmas morning.

One of my most memorable was the Christmas before I turned 16.

I don’t remember much of opening presents that year.  I’m sure I got an assortment.  My very last present, though, was a small box.

Inside of the box was a key ring with a single key on it.

It took me a few seconds to understand what the key meant.  I blame the blonde hair.  I’ve always been a bit daffy.

My sister, however, understood a little quicker than I did, and she jumped up and ran out of the room.  I ran after her, a second behind her in my understanding.  She went out one door, and I went out another…very big house…lots of doors.

I chose wisest.  My door was unlocked.  Her’s was not.  My parents had planned for the locked door to be my means of escape.  I fooled them.

I reached the garage first.

Lo and behold, there was a car inside!  Now, I’ve tried really hard to remember what kind of car it was.  Racked my brain half the night to remember, and for the life of me, the name just won’t come.  Oh wait…I JUST remembered as I was typing this.  It was a Chevy Cavalier.  At least I’m pretty sure that’s what it was.  I tried googling for a picture, but I can’t find one that looks similar to what I had.  I did find this commercial though:

Yeah, I know I wasn’t 16 yet, but living in a small town allowed kids to drive way earlier than was legal to do so.  My sister, three years younger, and I jumped right in the car and drove to the next town over to visit a few friends of mine.  One of my friends jumped in the car, and we went to another friend’s house.  She jumped in the car, and we all went for a little ride.  Then we went back home.

I would totally ground Soccer Chick if she ever did that.  Thank goodness my mom didn’t.

What a great Christmas, though!

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Life Through a Camera Lens

Posted on December 8, 2008 by auburnchick

Lately I have become quite the photography queen.

I don’t know if you remember when I purchased a new camera this past summer.  It is the Nikon Coolpix P80, and it’s a great camera for the novice photographer.  I talked about my new camera in this post.

With both of my children playing high school soccer, I’m giving the camera quite the workout, averaging over 1,000 pictures per game (if it doesn’t rain).  I use the Sports mode, which allows me to take at least 16 frames every time I hold down the shutter button.

Now, I have watched A LOT of soccer during Soccer Chick’s nearly ten years of playing.  I know how the game is supposed to be played.  However, watching the game through the camera lens is giving me a totally different perspective.  There’s a lot more that happens on the field than appears to the untrained casual observer.

After I transfer the pictures to my computer, I meticulously go through them, shot by shot, to weed out the blurry or random pictures…in the search for THE picture.  The one that captures the moment to a “T.”  Looking at the pictures is almost like watching the game in slow motion…an advantage the spectators do not have because there is no instant replay in soccer.

I am truly in awe at the athleticism of the players.  The height that some of the ladies get on their jumps as they go up for headers reminds me of Michael Jordan.  Folks, most of these girls are not over 5’5″.  My own Chicky stands at a mere 5’2″ and she sometimes gets to the tops of other players shoulders.

Wow!

And the faces the kids make as they prepare themselves to make contact with the ball…scrunching up their faces…squinting their eyes.  They are far braver than I am.  I would be turning tail and running away.

Some of my favorite pictures are the ones of the kids making the extra stretch to tap the ball out from under the feet of other players.  Graceful motion is what it is.

Here’s what I’m talking about.  No, this is not Soccer Chick, but it is a picture from her game.

How can you not love this game and admire those who play it!

Sometimes I wonder what I would see if I took a camera lens to my daily life.  I doubt I would like many of the pictures I would see…the little nuances that I think I’m slipping by everyone.

Hmm…food for thought…

Filed under: soccer | Tagged: , , | 1 Comment »