The Girls Cut Loose

Bryce Leif Philippoff, my youngest grandchild became five-years-old on Saturday. I was invited for 3:33 P.M., by the little boy. When I arrived as promptly as possible, Bryce was greeting a little girl with a delighted hug. (I wish I had had my camera out).

I proceeded to do my grandmother thing: much greeting and hugging and being gracious to strangers. There were many strangers: parents of the many children attending the party. My attempts at photographing birthday landmarks (the glowing face of my grandson above the lighted candles, etc.) were thwarted repeatedly, mostly by adult elbows etc. I shot several in hopes...as the rainbow cake was enjoyed along with two kinds of ice cream.

Then Bryce and the other boys escaped to his bedroom to play with toys, and I followed the girls as they ran down the hill to the trampoline. Here, I shot with pleasure the antics and exhilaration that comes of girls cutting loose. Not easy with bright sun bouncing off of the mesh...and the frequent pile ups and confusion of moving bodies, especially as more girls joined the fray. But this was play in earnest: misunderstandings and little hurts along with pure joyous movement released.

Downloading later, the Bryce shots were only salvaged by drastic cropping and too much noise on the dear little face. So I turned to the shots of the girls (Julia is the one on the left with the light obscuring). Imperfect, but the energy is there...the release is happening. Happy Birthday!