Category Archives: Homeschool

Das Fenster

Just outside this window there is a friendly dog–a handsome guy who looks like a black Golden Retriever–and a passel of kids, some of them mine, tossing him a branch-ish stick to retrieve. Down the road there are three horses waiting to be ridden; one of them particularly grateful for her new job, having been recently rescued from the scorching desert heat and someone’s unimaginably cruel neglect. Misery, they named her, a sweet irony to her newly nurturing life and what I could swear looks like a smile on her face.

A toothy llama, Rodeo, stands on the corner–not to be ridden–but to be seen, buck teeth and all. Her gentle, unassuming nature reminds me that in a small town, Julian to be exact, time slows down and pays attention to details missed in larger slices of society. I wonder what I have been missing in my own suburban town – what I might ought to begin to notice.

I nearly walk right past these incredible flowers, blooming freely in a very large pot on the sidewalk next to one of the local apple pie bakeries. It’s the color that stops me in my tracks. Are they blue? Are they purple? I don’t quite decide, I just take the shot and marvel at just how much I like particular shades of blue and purple; how soulful they are.

Later, much later, as I reflect on our impromptu jaunt into Julian, I vow to defect from the rat race and enter into a sort of distracted, nirvana-like existence; to breathe deeply like a nearly-comatose yoga student. Instead, I eat pie…lots and lots of pie, which is the other great way to become comatose. It really is that simple: appreciate what is right in front of your busy nose, eat pie, become comatose, and take a little nap–unless, like me, you still have a mountain to drive back down.

Words and photographs are the creation and property of author/photographer, Britton Minor and The Jaded Lens Photography

Blast Off!

Tobi's Rocket

I love the way, with singular focus, my very energetic 7-year-old draws detailed pictures. For these creative moments, his mind is completely taken up with his task…to draw the image he imagines in his mind. He doesn’t say, “I can’t draw!” Instead it is as if he says, “I can see!”

Isn’t that the way it is when we are bumbling through our insecurities? We tend to say, “I can’t…” and then we don’t. But watching my son draw, and seeing his fearless vision come to life on paper, gives me the inspiration, the gumption, to try. And so, today, as we start a brand new homeschool year, this shall be my motto as teacher, mother, creative being: I CAN SEE! And in this space of learning to crash through any remaining boundaries of doubt and unknowing, I shall open my eyes to the incredible details of the beauty around me.

And then, with every moment I shall, with motherly pencil in hand, draw us a life of exploration, learning, creativity, enthusiasm, understanding, and all the sweet and savory details I can possibly muster. Here’s to you…the precious children who help me see what’s really here, right before my grateful eyes as we blast off into another dimension.