This year's prom photos were taken in the mall.  I've done photos here before and they can look stunning. This was a fun group, some were friends, some where boyfriend- girlfriend, some were exes and going as friends. They was a fun group to shoot. A little shy and reserved, a little giggly but full of smiles for the evening to come. they headed off to Kyotos for dinner and then to the Ferry Terminal for dancing.  They ended up back at our house a little after midnight.  A successful fun evening, even if Job and his date left at different times with different friends.

And so ends another high school season. Yet this one didn't end just for a season but for life. It was his senior year and then there would only be rec soccer.  Competitive, at times but the high school aspect is done.  It is time to move on to other sports, other things, a different life.  It makes me think of the song by Bruce Springsteen, "Glory Days". 
"Glory days, well, they'll pass you by
Glory days, in the wink of a young girl's eye..."

Birdwatching, identifying and watching was the spring break assignment and I was stoked.  He, on the other hand, wasn't as excited. Especially when I said we were waking up early to do this. It was spring break after all but the assignment was 20 birds. 20! I felt like it was hanging over my head. I could feel stress with it. He wasn't worried. I felt this was something that could b done well since I had the camera and equipment for it. So we put on our rainboots, batteries were charged and CF cards were in the camera and we headed out the door to find our backyard PNW birds.
The first morning we visited Vanderyatch Park where they had previously place bird feeders. A heron stalked its prey and came up with a fish. Redwing blackbirds called shrill from the cattails. Robins perched high in the trees, woodpeckers hopped higher and higher as they searched for bugs beneath the bark of the cottonwoods.  Small black-capped chickadees raided the last of the wither red fall berries in the brush. It was a success but it wasn't 20 birds. It meant another day of photographing and walking.
Our next outing was to Tenant Lake where we spied a swallow just as it was taking flight. A morning dove casually made its way along the trail and into the tall grass. Mallard ducks calmly floated in groups while other dabbled and dove in the lake.  Another heron fished along the shore. Success yet still not 20, although getting closer.  We drove to Lake Terrell where upon arriving we were greeted by Canadian geese making their way to the water. Brown sparrows flitted among the bushes. When our feet became wet from an accidental dunking we decided to make our way home. We chose the long way so we could stop at the nest near Axton road.  High in the treetops, we could barely make out the head of the resident Bald Eagle sitting in her nest presumably on her eggs. And yet the elusive 20 birds escaped us.  A seagull and a crow were two more easy ones to include. A visit to a friend's hummingbird feeder, unfortunately, didn't yield any little hummers as I was hoping. The tall cottonwoods near the interstate did have a hawk perched in its branches. At the end of the week, he had 18 birds plus one rubber chicken.  I was extremely satisfied with the outcome of the photos and this assignment. Of course, he still needed to put the finishing touches on the assignment; a powerpoint presentation with facts and information still needed to be done.  I had the easy part of accompanying him on the outings.

This was a year of growth and change. She left her old team, wanting a challenge and that is exactly what she got. From the moment the team was formed she was challenged.  Challenged in the amount of playing time she received. Challenged in the ability to make friends and become part of the team. It wasn't that she was excluded per se but that she found it difficult to connect with the girls. Most of them had played together from a young age and through high school. She was the outsider. She was also one of the oldest and started attending community college as a junior. One of her teammates was just a freshman. There is a distance there. She started work and was juggling more than one schedule. It was difficult. She grew and continues to grow. At the end of the season, she wasn't sure if she was up for another year. It was stressful trying to get a work schedule and a soccer schedule to mix when the soccer schedule came out the week of and the work schedule was done a week before. And yet I saw growth in her ability to work things out. I saw her grow as a player and contribute to the team. She is a passer and does well passing the ball into space and trusting her teammates to be there. I saw more physical toughness against other players but not over the top. I saw her do things that she wanted to do regardless of what her teammates thought. She is her own person. One of the complaints her coach has about her is that she is tough on herself and she is. She is also tough towards others as well.  She doesn't give herself slack and expects the same with her teammates. That will be both an asset and a liability for her. I wonder what her next year will bring.  More soccer? Who knows.

There aren't many activities that we all want to do.  We have a hard time finding movies to watch let alone spend a couple of hours out and about together.  Lona mentioned geocaching and I practically forced everyone to participate.  The app that Lona has not only gives her the place and clues to the geocache with the signal it lets her know if she's close or not. We scoured the first sight before we understood the first clue and we left a trinket attached to the small tube. The second location was just across the road and it was Job's idea to lift the bottom of the light. I would never have thought it was loose or could be lifted.  On to a park that housed at least three different locations. We ran into another couple that was searching for the same thing and apparently there was a get together later that day for geocachers.  They also have names for themselves or their group.  We just used Parks Family when signing the piece of paper in the small plastic tubes.  It was fun and gave us a diversion for the afternoon.