Snapshots from the turn of the decade

Just after Christmas, I took the picture above. My red phone, which would soon be replaced with an iPhone (see below). Second-hand guitar books my dad bought my mom. His reading glasses, my keys, lens cap and sparkling black shoes. Julian's plastic snake.


That day, we went out to Uncle Tom's house for a bonfire, but nothing warms my heart like seeing three of the most important people in my life making music together. My mom, at 55, has become serious about her guitar practice. Every day, like meditation, she plays. She and my dad play well-known songs that marked the early days of their marriage, but when they are with Ian, they just jam. Feeling the song instead of reading it from sheets of paper.

Maybe they should start a band. The Bonfire Bandits?

I love the cedars at Tom's house. Live oaks are generally considered the superior Central Texas tree (I've been hearing about "those invasive cedars" since I was a kid visiting his house.), but the cedars at his house have been thinned so that are now taller and more like trees instead of large bushes. But he still has to thin them out every few years. Last summer, he and Scott did a bunch of work on the yard, leaving beautifully shaped stumps like this behind.

(P.S. I uploaded about 25 more Christmas photos to the holiday gallery. Over on Relish Austin, I posted this blog post about all the food-related fun we had in December, including a New Year's paella party.)

Fast forward to the first few weeks of the new year and the new decade. Now I have this miniature computer — thanks to Ian and his mom — on which I can look up recipes, directions, weather, news, Twitter, Facebook and take and share photos. (I hope to use it in the future to update this blog. My apologies ahead of time for the decreased quality in photography for posts on the run.)

Already 2010 is off to a roaring start. It's going to be a big year in so many ways.