Our third born came home from uni for reading break last week. Over the course of the week we had more than a few occasions to hang out, one on one, he and I. Not the norm when he's home for a visit at this time of year and the local ski slopes and friends beckon. But conditions and circumstances were different this year, and in my opinion thankfully so.
We used to frequently refer to him as 'the boy', given he followed two girls. But, truth be told, he is hardly a boy anymore. At 6'2", 215 lbs, and now 20 years old (all of which completely confounds me I'll be honest), we now refer to him as 'the man-child'.
This one is my most reluctant subject when the camera comes out and so I opted to honour that by keeping my camera proper, for the most part, tucked away. I've become all too familiar with how few and fleeting these one-on-one times are, and I know they're well worth being totally present for, and that sometimes, for me, means not recording them. (Key words here are 'for the most part' and 'sometimes'...as you'll see.)
One particular day after a slew of appointments in the city and before catching our ferry home, we found ourselves with some unanticipated spare time. We opted to find a beach on which we could let the dog run free. Turns out it wasn't just the dog who had a need to frolic and play. The man-child is still very much a boy at heart who loves to throw sticks for our old pup, scramble up boulders, and swing his legs out over the water. Together we watched kayaks paddle by, listened to the waves roll in, and wondered aloud about whether, should he ever have to choose between the two, he would choose a life in the mountains or a life on the water. All in all, it was a wonderful afternoon's interlude. And, clearly I found it irresistible to not play around some myself. I had my mobile phone after all, and it has a camera...and you get where this is going. With an explanation of my #5minuteproject given and his permission granted, I was off to the {5 minute} races.
Otherwise, well, it was about a boy.
