Picture This

Picture This

          We went through a phase with Addie where she did not want to smile at the camera, and if someone pointed one at her, she looked away or tried to hide. We’re over that. Now, if she sees a camera whether it is pointed at her or not, she smiles and says, “Cheese! Che—ee--ese! Che-ee—ee--ese!” I look at these and laugh, knowing that she will not love all of these “cheesy” pictures when she’s older, but they tell a story to me and bring back my memories of her at this age.

          That’s what happens when I come across old photos. I had forgotten about the many hiking trips we had gone on as a family, but coming across a photo, I remember the fun!

          With four kids, I imagine it was sometimes a challenge to keep everybody entertained and too busy to pick on the other three. We were up early on these Saturdays, much earlier than the 10:30 mandatory wakeup by my dad. There wasn’t a whole lot of conversation because most of us didn’t really wake up until after 10:30. Footwear was always an ordeal for me… I looked at my tennis shoes and knew that was the wise, sensible choice, but I saw my flip flops and knew they were what I really wanted to wear. I also knew, however, that if I chose the sandals, I would have to change them before we left because experience had told my parents not to take a child hiking in flip flops.

          We drove for what seemed like forever, and with each twist and turn in the road, my stomach felt a little less in my stomach and a little higher in my throat. If I took Dramamine before leaving the house, chances were I’d fall asleep before reaching the hiking destination. My parents dealt with this problem by often letting me have the front seat in the van, but the drive from Arvada to the outskirts of Boulder still felt long.

          We piled out of the car, my dad readjusted his backpack to make sure we had enough snacks, and then we distributed the canteens. We all liked the army green canteen even though it was the bulkiest to carry.

          The six of us started up the mountain. At first, I remained alongside my brothers, just to show that I could keep up with the boys, but when their conversations focused on boy-topics and teasing me, I sped up to analyze boulder location and lichen or found my way back to Becky and Mom. We admired trees and plants, and every now and then found a beautiful rock that would look great in a collection! The collections, of course, stayed at the top of the mountain so as not to remove them from nature where everyone could enjoy them.

          My dad waited at various scenic locations to get photos of us coming up over a hill, or posing in front of a bench with a beautiful mountain view behind. I recently found a photo in which the boys are styling and could have been in the Thomson TCAP video, and my mom, sister, and I are all looking at the camera with a Fire Ball in our cheeks like it was a completely insane time to snap a photo!

          We spent a lot of weekend days hiking, and I remember some of the more recent trips, but these trips from the 80s would be long forgotten if not for photographic evidence. These memories renewed by photos make me want to start hiking now, while I have only one child to keep track of so I will be prepared for more later on.

          So this is my plea to all of those camera-shy people out there! Don’t turn away from a camera because you don’t like how you’ll look to you… smile and think, “Cheese!!” for those who love you.