"In this sticky web that we're all in, behaving decently is no small task." -- Novelist Stacey D'Erasmo

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Vacation Photos, and the Most Beautiful Daughter

     I've always thought it was pretty self-indulgent for bloggers to post pictures of their grandchildren, or their vacations, on their blogs. I mean, it's an old joke, thrusting pictures of your grandchildren into people's faces and importuning them to tell you just how cute they are*, or herding your friends into your living room to see an excruciatingly boring slide show of every little thing you did on vacation.

     But ... what the hell. I'm going to be self-indulgent. But I'll try to be brief about it. I'll limit it to the Top Ten.

Looking toward Laguna Beach from Dana Point
The overlay, and Catalina Island beyond

That's someone else surfing, not B and me
San Diego sunset -- from Pacific Beach, showing Crystal pier
I'm looking out from Razor Point, Torrey Pines Natural Reserve
This is where I replaced my camera battery, in Uptown Sedona
We visited one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World
But this seems like an unnecessary warning, doesn't it?
Sunset in Sedona, AZ
On the front porch of the cliff dwellers (I picked up that sheriff's badge in Tombstone for $5.)
Overlooking Phoenix from Camelback Mt. -- my not-so-tall brother-in-law, dwarfed by a Saguaro

*  P. S. I don't yet have any grandchildren. But I vividly recall the day my daughter was born. I went over to the viewing area, where the dads and other relatives could look through the window into the nursery. Eight or ten babies were lying in their cribs, wiggling their feet and gumming their little fists, and then my eyes alighted on the most beautiful baby there -- my daughter.

     I gawked at her for a  few minutes. Then I wiped my eyes and went to find my wife, lying in her hospital bed. I told her, "I know every dad says it's their kid who's the most beautiful baby in the nursery. But you know what? Of all those dads, one of them is right. Well, I just looked in the nursery, and I can say the most beautiful baby in there is our daughter. And ... I'm the dad who is right."

     Later, I sent a photo of my baby daughter to my sister. She called me on the phone to congratulate me, but then she hesitated. "What?" I wanted to know. "Well," she hemmed and hawed. "What?" I prompted. "Well, the thing is," she said, "she kind of looks like Uncle Johnny." And that's when I realized maybe I was looking at my little darling through rose-colored glasses.

     But, not to worry. She has grown up to be a beautiful, smart, accomplished, independent 20-something. And that's the truth. You can take it from her dad.

12 comments:

Kay Dennison said...

Well said, Daddy!!! :)

Rubye Jack said...

I'm not much of one for other people's pictures but I did enjoy these. They make me wonder why I no longer live in California. I used to work at UCSD in La Jolla and we would often go down to the beach at lunch. Some staff even went surfing on their breaks. It is so beautiful there!

And Sedona, another amazingly beautiful place. Then of course, there is that baby nursery where all are beautiful!

Olga said...

When my son was born I was convinced, as a sat in my hospital bed reading a magazine, that the piercing howling coming from the nursery was not my child. And being slow to learn, I thought the same thing again when my daughter was born.

#1Nana said...

Great pictures. The spouse and I look foreard to visiting the Grand Canyon when he finally retires next year. My dad tells the same story about my birth...and then years later he looked at pictures. The love of a parent really is unconditional, isn't it?

stephen Hayes said...

Your pictures remind me of how beautiful Sedona is. I think all babies are beautiful. If 'm lucky maybe I'll have a grandchild some day.

Lucie said...

Wonderful pictures and thanks for sharing..it's a dream for me to go to AZ one day. As for our children, we had the privilege of raising them, we have the right to brag about them.

Bob Lowry said...

If you can't post pictures on your own blog, then where can you?

We have a long weekend in Sedona planned for late April. I'm ready to go after your photos.

Knatolee said...

Great photos! I would love to visit Sedona. We were in Arizona last year and I fell in love with the Sonoran desert. I really want to go back to AZ.

Knatolee said...

Great photos! I would love to visit Sedona. We were in Arizona last year and I fell in love with the Sonoran desert. I really want to go back to AZ.

Robert the Skeptic said...

My daughter will send me a link to the latest pictures of the grand kids she has uploaded to Shutterfly. I go and look and there are 400 photos!! Well, it's the digital camera age, I guess.

Wanting to see them all, I end up skimming. Seems to me a smaller number of well composed photos beats a plethora of camera dump. We used to have to be judicious back when we paid for film and developing.

Gabbygeezer said...

Bloggers must have something in common. All their children are above average.

(Did someone else use that line?)

schmidleysscribblins,wordpress.com said...

Strange how we are drawn to some babies and not others. Love the photos, my favorite is the sunset in Sedona. I think I might travel out that way later this year...to CA that is. Dianne