July Festivities
Red, Ryan, & Blue
A casual tradition that has become the annual travel to Missouri to celebrate not only the day of our fore fathers but also the aging and "maturing" of Thomas Ryan Cox has been anticipated for us both since the beginning of the summer. Never failing to being enjoyable and relaxing, spending time with the Cox family in the beautiful scenery that is their home, is hands-down quite the treat! Ryan and I are road warriors as we make the 16 hour drive in one day, zooming through Texas, Oklahoma, and finally arriving (usually around 9:30-10:30) at his family's handcrafted log cabin abode. This summer was no different in antiquing excursions, seeing his wonderful family, eating some pretty darn great food, and simply just relaxing at their handsome home.
In cultural response of the fourth of July, we did in fact shoot off some fireworks. Personal pick for the year that ended up being a great crowd-pleaser was entitled Dino Dodo. Main reasons for choosing this one of a kind was simply that it had dinosaurs on it! Truly, you can never go wrong with a good dinosaur inspired promotion and title. Other than fireworks, snakes, smoke bombs and poppers were in the mix of entertainment for the evening. Dani, Ryan's little sister, favors the coloured smoke. In a spontaneous attempt, I told her and her cousin, Lauren, to run majestically through the smoke. Dani was a pro, utilizing all her energies and enthusiasm and danced quite gracefully through the pink and white smoke. I played around with the colouring of the skies and greenery, which for me was fun just experimenting with the mood of the overall image. Lauren's image, she isn't dancing, however, I really love the aftermath spirit and genuine smile that she has, as well as the yellow haze that has been created from the smoke.
Ryan's aunt and uncle live on a wonderful piece of land with a pond favored for fishing, picturesque scenery, and spacious fields perfect for a firework show. As the night fell in, everyone snagged a chair and followed our firework experts to what always ends up being an entertaining show of light and colour. Not only do we have our personal display, but the firework gods have given the family passionate neighbors who have never failed in showmanship. Seeming like there is no firework too big to display, the neighbors tend to overplay our every move. Bittersweet in defeat over the hour or so long battle, the firework presentation never fails to extract OOOHHS and AAHHHS from every admirer. The above image is a long shutter capture of some of Ryan's family gazing with such contagious smiles at the beautiful tri-firework extravaganza that was unfolding before our eyes. The colours reflecting from the fireworks onto their faces just made this image all the more magical. One aspect I indulge in with this photograph is the faint shadow of someone who moved during the capture of this moment. Can you find the silhouette?
On Ryan's birthday, we ventured off to Hannibal, MO for some last-minute antiquing and to stroll along the quaint streets of downtown. No stranger to birthing historical citizens such as Mark Twain, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, voice of Jiminy Cricket, Cliff "Ukelele Ike" Edwards, and Baseball Hall of Famer, Jake Beckley ("Old Eagle Eye"), Hannibal offers engaging sites. We happened upon the Mark Twain Museum which just happened to have some Norman Rockwell works in association to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. We were fortunate enough to see artist proofs along side the final paintings. Ryan, taking in every aspect and detail of each painting and proof, you could see the glimmer of a star-struck inner child loving every moment of observation. Norman Rockwell is a treasured name to Ryan. Probably his favorite artist, it was the perfect experience on his birthday! The two photographs are large sculptures of Mark Twain's head. Enveloped by the size (especially of the first one) and stillness of the pieces, I found them to be intriguing. Another aspect that really drew me in was the plain and simple backdrops provided by the unblemished paint and molding. They became very graphic (in terms of design, no explicit or maturity) seeing nothing bu the bold faces and silhouettes interacting with the colour and line components of the background. I favor the simplicity of them.
In ending Ryan's birthday day on a sunny note, he caught this little guy roaming the fence line while visiting with Charlie and Duke. He called it his "birthday frog". This little gem was energetic and jumping every moment that Ryan gave him a chance. Luckily I was able to snap a quick moment in which he decided to remain still. Adorably sized, we took a few pictures, commented on his cute factor, hoped he didn't give Ryan warts, said our farewells and good lucks, and thanked him for being Ryan's birthday frog to finally release him back to his everyday routine that we had selfishly but un-regrettfully disrupted. Hopefully he enjoyed our company as much as we did his. (Update: no sign of warts have developed on Ryan's hands. Thank goodness!!)
As always, thank you for visiting the blog and looking at my photographs. A pleasure to share these moments with you. Please feel free to visit the other pages on the site to view new and old work! Please feel free to CONTACT me and let me know what you think of the work! I love hearing feedback. Till next time (which should be great!) (CLUE: cruisin')
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