New Years day began dim, gray, dreary and gloomy; the trains came out, old pictures tumbled from a folder, the day turned light and warm

The first day of 2013 began warm, overcast and dreary in Wasilla. The residue of exploded fire crackers littered the streets. I took a walk and shot a few pictures illustrating this and I figured I would post two of them, make a very short entry and devote my time to other things. Reasoning that young adults might like their own space on New Year's, we had made no plans for a family get together. On December 31, I got a good start at cleaning and organizing the shambles I call my office. I wanted to finish it New Year's Day.

As I have been doing every day for awhile, I also wanted to devote some good time to my Rosetta Stone Iñupiaq lessons and I wanted to do some work on a personal story dealing with airplanes, death and growing up Mormon that I am all but certain no one in this world will publish.

I will just have to publish it myself one day.

I got a phone call fairly early in the day. I read "Lavina" on my screen but when I said hello, Kalib shrieked out about how excited he was we had found the green train engine. This made me think he might show up before the day was over. 

We had a ham cooking, just in case.

About two hours later, my office door swung open and in burst Kalib and Jobe. They wanted the green steam engine, right now. It's Jobe's engine, so here he is, playing with it. Kalib's got his own engine, plus a mix of his cars, Jobe's and mine - but he's still pretty interested in that green steam engine.

Then Jobe found part of my metal plane collection and forgot about trains for just a bit.

He and my parrot fish then found each other. The parrot is the last of my original fish and is at least 12 years old. I don't know how much longer he will last. I will really miss him when he goes.

He is a very smart fish - one of the smartest I have ever known.

I have known some pretty smart fish, too.

Then we all went into the house, ostensibly to visit Melanie and Charlie, who had brought them out. The boys launched a noisy romp on the boxes Mo gave Kalib his Christmas present in but only got sorted out a day ago. "Boy, you guys!" I mock-scolded. "Twenty minutes ago, it was calm and peaceful here and then you two show up and now everything is noise chaos!"

Jobe looked up at me from under one of the boxes.

"It's a house again!" he stated.

Where does one of so few years, who has only been speaking for a few months, acquire such insight and wisdom?

Melanie and Charlie had come out to stack the wood that still needed stacking. Thanks to this damned volleyball-sized belly hernia that was never supposed to happen but my surgery complications left me with and also to the titanium shoulder my 2008 fall gave me, I can't do wood like I like to.

Jobe can, though.

He did!

I did stack some wood, but not much. 

Lynx showed up a bit later with his mom and dad. Life gets a little more dangerous when a baby learns to walk. A couple of days ago Lynx stumbled and hit his head on the edge of Jobe's bed stand.

Before Mom died, she divided her picture album into sections and then gave it to her children. My section contained a few pictures of me when I was growing up and a few more that I took of my family as they were growing up. I showed the album to Margie and then stuck it aside and aside it stayed for many years until I caused a folder to fall to the floor as I cleaned my office. All the pictures in the album tumbled out. I gathered them up and placed them on a shelf.

As Kalib, Jobe, and I were playing with a 15-year old, battery operated, Anastasia train I had bought for myself at Burger King in 1997, Jacob came in. He found the pictures, accused me of hiding them all this time and then took them out for everybody to see.

That's Jacob looking at a horned toad  photographed him with in front of our house in Whiteriver, Arizona, on the White Mountain Apache reservation.

We always called them, "horny toads," but I figured I should keep it to "horned toads" in the blog.

They do have little horns on their head and back. Hence the name. They must get horny sometimes, too, or else they wouldn't be here.

I wonder what it's like, to be a toad and be horned and horny at the same time?

"Do you know who this is?" Lavina asked Jobe as she showed him a picture I took when Margie and I still lived in Provo, not long before we moved to the reservation. "It's your dad!"

"No!" Jobe said. "It's Little Little!"

"Little Little" is a pet name for Lynxton.

Please note the train design on little Jacob's sweater. Margie says she still has that sweater. We must try it out on Lynxton before he gets any bigger. Heck. He's too big for it already.

Jacob points out the train design to Kalib. Kalib is pretty interested.

Then he turns his attention right back to the Anastasia train which had sat in the package box for the past 15 years until New Year afternoon, when Kalib spotted the box sitting in a bigger holding box I had put it in while I cleaned my office.

Melanie teased me with this picture from my first trip to Alaska in the summer of 1973. I had come with a group of journalism and photojournalism students from BYU. We spent a lot of time in bear country and someone had to carry at gun. I was the only student comfortable and competent with a gun, so I became gun bearer. I lugged this 30.06 and my cameras everywhere we went.

We came upon a few grizzlies, too - and I did shoot them: with my camera. I don't know where the pictures are now. They aren't that great, anyway. It would probably embarrass me to show them to you.

Grandma adores her oldest grandchild as he adores the Anastasia train. "It's my blue train now, Grandpa," he told me. "Sorry, Grandpa."

It didn't work this time. 

I'm keeping the train for myself.

I will let him play with it.

I looked the trains up on ebay and elsewhere on line. I don't remember what I paid for this one, but they are now worth about $12.50. I did find one for $9.50. Maybe I will buy one for Kalib, Jobe and Lynxton, too.

Those boys just don't have enough trains.

As usual, Melanie and Charlie were the last to leave. Jacob and Lavina left Lynx with us so I would not have to drive Margie into town so early in the morning. I can get her there anytime I want - morning, noon, afternoon or even evening.

This gave Charlie the opportunity to pick Lynx up and hand him to Melanie. Wait! It was Kalib who handed him over. Charlie did have the opportunity, though.

Melanie and Charlie found new snow falling on the car. I'm not sure why, but it took Charlie some time to get his key to work. Melanie looked on as Charlie worked out the problem.

Then they left. Now, one full day of 2013 has already fallen into the past.

Soon it will be the year 201,320,132,013 AD and none of us will even be a memory.

Comments

[grannyj]

This series of photographs are absolutely beautiful. i love watching children play and you capture the feeling of their play in such a way that i feel I am right there watching.

[Ann S.]

what a wonderful New Years day--The boys are getting so big--Thanks for your blog!

[Mrs Gunka]

What wonderful pictures! The intense focus of family looking at old family pictures. Almost like they are hypnotized! Kind of like the boys playing with their trains! How fortunate you know how to capture this with your cameras. Yes, it does look like Little Little!

[Nancy]

Thanks once again for sharing. I'm sitting here with my first huge smile of the day. Those three boys always make me smile, as does your writing about just about anything. I'm waiting for your book! I love your photos -- but I love your way with words set out in a playful manner even better..... Every day I feel like I've had coffee and a visit with a dear friend who makes me smile and the world looks like a better place.