My first born

The joy of being a father. How proud I am to have such a talented,  loving, thoughtful person for a son. during his baby days, which flew by far to quickly to savor, I worried so much about his adolescence. so many sweet kids seem to self destruct after puberty. Not my Ethan.       

We've lived in California for a little over nine years now. Ethan just turned 18. and we couldn't feel more at home. I worried about my decision to uproot and move a thousand miles away from home. I worried how Ethan would develop, what kid of person he would grow into. I should never have worried.  My boys. The pride, the joy of my life. How fortunate our little James is to have such a wonderful big brother.
This is what it's all about!

What children leave behind

I love the central coast, from Montana De Oro just south of loss Osos,  up to Cambria and San Simeon.  I always find the most curious things that children leave behind after their visits to the beach. 

From flotsam left by the tide,

To forts constructed of Drift wood. I love to explore what they've left behind and think what wonderful adventures they must have had.
It's a marvelous thing to see how they explore nature. I hope they feel the awe the I do every time I come here.
I often look for the things I've found when I return to this place, but the old is always replaced by the new, and I marvel all over again at what another child has done.    
Do they know I've come to admire there work? Do they leave them realizing how much I appreciate it? I know they are children because only children have the patience to play so closely with nature. It's no wonder that as an artist, I long to regain, to keep alive that little boy in me who loves to leave what's left behind on the sand.     

Leave it to Lemurs

I guess it is inevitable that our characters reflect aspects of our own personality, and that of those who are close to us. And so it is with Yafti, the main character of Ouwangalaymah. Part me, part my son James. 

       

If A.D.D. had been recognized when I was young, I'm sure that's what I would have been labeled. Actually I hate Labels, but we all seem to navigate through life in spite them. For myself, and my son James, Mom is the stabilizer in our lives.    

Mothers are a force of Nature. They have to be. What with the prevailing winds of the world and all. And the imperfections that make each of us what we are. I see utter exhaustion in my wife's eyes after a long day with our son, but that undying strength that is Mommieness shines in them too.
Yep! That's My inspiration alright! I just hope that I can craft a story that can help young ones like myself, like my son James, who though being well meaning, sometimes do and say things they probably  shouldn't.    
Leave it to the Lemurs of our lives to inspire us, to encourage us to create.   

In the beginning...

     There is a first time for everything and this would be my time to blog.

 If you find yourself offended by the funny, the encouraging, the wonderful things children say and do and love, then please move along. You will find nothing of use to you here. But if you Love to make children laugh, if you delight in there wrapped  attention to a storyteller, I hope you'll stay awhile. And so to begin with, an example of just what I mean.