Christmas 2015

This is the Christmas I've been looking forward to--seeing Carlene, my kids and spouses, and all four grandchildren in one house!

Carlene and I took two days driving here.  The weather was perfect--unseasonably warm and cloudy--and the traffic light on Christmas Day.  From Greensboro, N.C., we drove Highway 29, our new-favorite route to Falls Church.

Carlene in her kitchen on Christmas Morning

Bonnie and Elena

Day made Superhero capes for the three youngest kids.
Here's Marcus in his

And Nathan in his

Elena, Marcus, Nathan, Jackson
and their grandmother and great-grandmother, Nana

Jackson, our teenager

Day telling a story

Elena

Going for a walk--72 degrees

Nana, Will, Day, Tom, and Bonnie

Carlene and I are staying in a nearby Comfort Inn.  One of the books that has inspired me this Christmas is Humans in New York--aka HONY.

The photographer/author, Brandon Stanton, has walked thousands of miles on a "treasure hunt" on city streets, and the books that have come from his blogs are fascinating mini-stories of the people encountered in New York and other cities.

I'm inspired by the quality of his people-pictures, the diversity of his subjects, and the perspectives captured in his short vignettes and quotations about each person.

http://www.humansofnewyork.com

I love this guy!  He makes me see that if you want to do something, you just figure out a way to do it!  I see photo-worthy stories of faces and places everywhere I go.  So often I want to walk up to the person and ask, "Can I take your picture and talk to you for an hour or so?"  Unlike this bold photographer, however, I'm usually too shy to ask.