Everything as it should be.

Happy Birthday, Duck, I love you.

At exactly 1:47 this afternoon, my oldest child will be 5 years old. My cesarean scar will be 5 years old as well. One is turning into something more beautiful and joyful every single day. The other is fading into a distant memory. Everything as it should be.

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Being the photographers that we are, Brian and I have raised 2 children who would rather play with cameras than cars. Difference being that they are allowed to play with cars, not so much the cameras. Since Duck is now 5, Brian and I thought it would be interesting to see what would come of giving him his own camera. We happened to find a children's digital camera within our price range for him. Now, of course, the quality of the pictures from this camera is slightly less than what you would get if you used a 110 camera that somehow managed to have a head cold, but it's a camera none the less, that does NOT require repeated film purchases or developing fees for pictures of the floor.

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I wonder what Duck will capture with his camera. In my lifetime, I could have captured images of:

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The Death of Elvis (I still grieve every August)

The fall of the Berlin Wall

Highway 63 becoming 70 mph

Republican 1 year, Democrat 4 years, Republican 8 years, Republican 4 years, Democrat 8 years, Idiot - half way through 8 MIND NUMBING years

The rise and fall of Jim and Tammy Fay Bakker (Praise the lord, pass your wallet)

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And, of course, a million and twelve other things. I wonder what Duck will see??

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An ethnic or (gasp!) WOMAN president?

The legalization of midwifery in Missouri?

An end to racial, gender based, sexual orientation based, religious oppression?

The legalization of certain herbs?

The return of Wavy Gravy? (Come on Ben, Come on Jerry, I need my fix!)

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Who knows what he'll see. I hope that I am blessed to be one of the lucky with whom Duck shares his visions. I hope that I live long enough to see him wonder what his children (or dogs, or fish, or parrots, or sofas, or motorcycles, or pet rocks) will see in their life times.

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And, above else, I hope that Duck's photos continue to grow into something more beautiful and joyful every day and that the pain and injustice in the world surrounding him fades into a distant memory. Everything as it should be.