Since 2008, my family has taken a week long vacation each summer to visit either my Mom's side or my Dad's side. This photo is from my Dad's side taken in Pennsylvania. It's not hard to see why I love this photo. But what makes it unique from the many others we have taken are a handful of things.
First, if you look at the guy in the brown and orange shirt right next to me, that's my youngest brother Stephen. With me being the oldest and him the youngest boy, it doesn't take much for him to find an opportunity to try and one-up me. If you look closely, you may notice his feet aren't flat on the ground. He was standing on his tip-toes to try to look taller than me. The extremely goofy grin on his face is because even though it looks like I have a loving hand on his shoulder, I'm actually trying to push him back down to size and it's taking all his effort to prevent that while still trying to take a nice picture.
Second, there are three things in the background that remind me of where I grew up. The first is that little red shed behind us. That's my grandfather's workshop. He spent many many hours in their perfecting his hobby which was wood carving. And if you've read my previous stuff, you'll know he carved an entire life-size carousel horse. I too spent many hours in there watching him work, helping him make things, and the most fun part, burning the scraps in a barrel out back. Any scent of fresh cut wood or sawdust sends me back to those days.
Third, although you really can't see them because of the tree line, the Pigeon Hills are back there. These massive mounds were what I saw every day growing up and they were a natural backdrop. We had to go deep into them once to buy furniture from someone and we did get briefly lost and stuck in a ditch, but the kind folks that lived there helped us out and everything turned out okay. That's one thing I really miss about PA, which is waking up to those hills every day.
And finally, I'm pretty sure this was the last family photo where all of us were in it while my grandfather was still alive. So you could definitely say it means a lot on that alone.
If you're reading this, I hope you are doing well and finding ways to combat the boredom. Until next time.
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