Zenaida

I remember

rain
playing tin-roof songs
and me wearing nothing but tightie-whities,
running circles around our house.
I was three—or four—
and the house, by American standards, was
a concrete shack on some jungle hilltop.
But it was the mansion
my mother bought us with money
sweated and saved,
scrimped and slaved for
in countries other than Home.

You watched me from the front steps,
Kept (mostly) dry by the overhang,
smiling each time I passed.

I laughed: a child at bath time.

Taken in 1995. With my mother, Ana. The Cowbird Tribute [Here]

30 Going On Four

In a few short hours, I will be 31.

With that said, I've been doing some looking back on my life. Boy! Has my life been boring!

Well!—that's somewhat of a lie. It's been MOSTLY boring. Monotonous, to say the least, and for only the past year or so. I'm not complaining. Sometimes, an uneventful life is good in case I ever get background-checked. But I must admit, I am sometimes envious of my little sister and her husband who seem to have time for adventure. I have to remind myself that, although life these past 18 months has been uneventful, years one thru 29 were pretty adventurous.

I've traveled (some). I've experienced some life changing events. Made lots of bad decisions; made a few good ones, too.

I met my wonderful wife-to-be, who has been my constant companion and guiding light these past eight years. We've driven headlong into planning our wedding, which is quickly approaching. I look forward to that leg of our never ending journey.

I've even survived a deer jumping through my driver-side window and head-butting me as I drove 55-mph through a main thoroughfare.

But, like I said, these past 18 months were pretty uneventful and since I feel like I wasted year 30, I am determined to have a better 365 days this time around.

So here's the plan:

To help me on the way, I am taking a page from Jonathan Harris. When Harris turned 30 he took a photograph every day for over a year and posted a story to go with it. So, I will do the same: One photo a day. I will start with one week and as the habit forms and days add up to months, we will see my progress as I try to liven up a year in my life. I really think this will force me to find some adventure since I am certain I live a boring life.

I will post photos with short blurbs at Cowbird (another Jonathan Harris project, coincidentally) for now, since I feel like they are the best place for this project. I will continue to post my usual stuff here at Wibbly-wobbly and I will occasionally syndicate significant events from this project here as well. I hope you all follow me on this little experiment—well! actually—us, since I plan to bring Brooke along for some of it.

I am now accepting recommendations, by the way. Post in the comments field below or on my Facebook page or on Twitter. I need ideas.

So, please, join me. Who knows maybe we'll even bump into each other.

I {heart} Tybee Island

I need a vacation. It is the tail end of MLK weekend: three days of running errands and college homework and time spent with the spousal unit and I need a vacation. The weather is awful here in Georgia. This time last year we were in the grips of “Snowmageddon.” This year the weather has decided to be more bi-polar than I am, alternating between unseasonably frigid and unseasonably hot. Warm or cold, the weather remains seasonably wet however.  On the bright side, Brooke and I accomplished a lot in the way of wedding planning and we actually cooked this weekend—several times. Tomorrow: we go back to work and I need a vacation.

It does not help my mood that Brooke and I looked over our budget. We decided to forgo our annual Tybee trip this year, banking our money and vacation days towards our honeymoon instead. I like to think that we are solidly happy with this decision. Yet, we catch ourselves sneaking glances at the photos of our trip last year.

"Slanted at Tybee"
(c) 2011 Nicole Brooke Rosner
Used with Permission 

Brooke, ever the shutterbug, took hundreds of photos on our old Samsung, utilizing the tips she picked up from her copy of BetterPhoto Basics by Jim Miotke. I’m particularly in love with this photo taken by Spousal Unit on our last morning there. We woke up early to catch the sunrise and spent the morning capturing the memories nature gifted us.

It's become sort of a tradition for Brooke and I to go to a Tybee Island each year as a combined birthday trip, arriving there just before the Memorial Day Holiday and leaving in time to avoid the crowds and the price hikes.

A Little Cowbird Told Me

Happy New Years, Friends and Followers and welcome back! 2011 proved to be an exciting year full of challenges and accomplishments; of possibilities and self-discovery; but most importantly 2011 was a year of growth. My sister married her best friend, a young man I am honored to now call my brother. I published movements and measure, a decision that helped me silence the ghosts of past writings and opened the creative flood gates for new works. I am back in school after years of excuses.

2012 promises not to disappoint.