School wrestling has finally come to an end. It has been weeks of 2 hour practices everyday.  Then there are the meets.  You sit for a couple hours waiting for a match that can last anywhere from 15 seconds to 4 1/2 minutes. It can be intense. I sit in the stands reading a magazine, knitting, doing a devotional, or talking with the boys. Then for that quick few seconds or minutes I'm on the edge of the mat with my camera in hand. I view it through the lens. It helps to distance me from the action. I watch for moments of intense emotion in the faces. I look at the muscles and tendons that bulge as they try to take each other down. It is absolutely amazing. I can't watch as a mother but I can as a photographer. It's hard as a mom to watch another boy try to shove your child's face into the mat, pull on their arm as they struggle, or pick them up and drop them onto the mat trying to pin them.



As a mom, all my instincts scream to protect.  As a cheerleader my instincts are to cheer, encourage and shout. As a photographer I wait for the action to unfold and silently pray in my heart. At the end of each match whether it has been 15 seconds or 4 1/2 grueling minutes of placing points on the board, testing strength, working as hard as possible I always tell him good job. It's something I can't do and am amazed that he likes it.  I ask each time, do you still like it?
He always emphatically answers "Yes."

The last meet of the season was an all school meet and he placed 3rd overall! He won two matches by points for the whole season which is better than last year. He had to wrestle his teammate for the last match to determine who placed third and fourth.

John and I pulled into the parking lot at Lake Padden around 9 am.  There were a few others and orange cones were being placed around the building near the playground.  People were starting to stretch and warm up with little runs. The ground was dry and the sun made it warm, so warm that layers were being shed and the turn out that normally was around 100 people was down to about 70+. John walked over to the preregistration table and they pulled out his race number and handed him a safety pin.  Another gentlemen from work showed up and they started talking.  I was soaking up the beautiful day.  At 9:50 they yelled for everyone to line up at the basketball court and to get ready for the race to start.  I stepped away and started taking photos.  The race leader yelled go and the race began.  Originally I was just going to take photos of John but then realized that with so few people I could take photos of everyone.  I walked over to the mid point of the race and waited for maybe 10 minutes or so before the leader ran through.  I tried a few shots there but it was dark and just not the best.  It wasn't until I walked back to the starting/finishing line that I found some beautiful light.  I set up near the finish line and started snapping photos as people came across.  There were a few shots I didn't get as people were in the way however I think out of 70+ I have 68 of them.  I'm hoping to place them on flickr and then people can download their photo.





 You have to love it when he's smiling as he crosses the finish line.  He came in 36 out of 83 people.