Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Flying

There are multitudes of brilliant bloggers out there. I would love to know them all. Like sit down and chat with them. And get to know them.

For a while now I have been considering inviting some of these brilliant people to guest-post on my blog. Because I would love for all of you to know them. And if you are reading this, chances are I am talking about you- the brilliant blogger.

Yesterday I read a post that got to me. Because it spoke to me personally. And because the blogger is my niece. And she was writing about people who I owe my present-day happiness to. They are the ones who raised the husband. And I wanted to share her words with you.

And, since I have been wanting a guest-post- I will start with my brilliant niece. Because I am a firm believer in nepotism. And my family are some of the greatest people in the world.

Meet my niece. And through her words, meet my in-laws:


"Grandpa's hands"

This is my father-in-law building one of his model planes.

photo courtesy of my niece. you can visit her photo blog here.


Aerial photography is my grandpa’s specialty. It’s his life, really. He made model airplanes and took photographs for his career. He does it as a hobby after retirement. He did it in service for his church. It’s really who my grandpa is.

Because of this, he has gained a very large collection of photographs. I was sitting with my grandparents today as they sifted through them. Their goals was to cut down on a lot of them, and my grandma is much more willing to give up on some than my grandpa, but sometimes they both hold to them.

They look at a picture and say, “We ate lunch here. This is where we saw coyotes jumping up and eating pears off a tree. There was a garden here. We ate prickly pear cactus.”

One thing I am impressed with is that my grandma has accompanied my grandfather on a great many trips. She was there while he held the controller and flew the airplanes around, snapping pictures of the ground.

So, even though aerial photography is my grandpa’s thing, it has also become their thing. Their life is contained in that one moment when the airplane flies around, the sun beats down on both of them, and they stand out in the middle of nowhere taking pictures of something that everyone has already forgotten. They are together.

And when they look through those photographs, they can remember.



So, Um, Would you like to guest-post here? Like in the future sometime? Let me know. I can pull some strings...(and FYI, I feel silly {not to mention presumptuous} even asking this. I have typed it and deleted it three times. But, what the heck...) Do you want to?

13 comments:

Loralee and the gang... said...

I feel silly answering and saying I would love to guest post. (I really would). But I can only post something when the mood strikes. I get blocked when I'm under pressure...so you'll probably say "never mind" to my me....you'd want someone more reliable - but I just had to offer anyway!
:~D

Little GrumpyAngel said...

This is poignantly beautiful. I've never met your in-laws, but they seem like such beautiful people the way people with interesting lives and passions are always beautiful. Your niece did a great job capturing a part of their essence.

You're one of the brilliant bloggers you speak of. One of those I missed during my recent extended blog-break. I hope you find guests as brilliant as you.

Anonymous said...

hey
thanks for your comment on my blog! :)

guest posting is THE best way of getting to know the bloggers that you admire. I have just begin doing this myself, not sure why i didnt before because all the bloggers i like are interesting people...which is why i like them!! lol

i would love to guest post for you....if you do it for me too ;) :)

no need to feel silly about asking about it though, its all about networking, making friends and enjoying the whole blogging part of our lives!!:)

Debs

Goob said...

is he the guy that is flying a remote control airplane over the 60 somewhere nearish to ellsworth all the time? I always wonder what happens if that guy crashes his plane.

Wonder Woman said...

You sound like me -- type and delete 3 times before just biting the bullet and posting it.

Love this post. I love the memory she has, and your in-laws have in their photos.

When I read bigger group blogs with guest posters, I'm amazed. They are SO good. They write about deep things, things that matter. And I think, "I could write something like this if I wanted to." But it just doesn't happen on my daily blog. I generally just write whatever's passing through my head, which generally isn't very deep.

But if I knew it was going to be a different kind of post......hmm. You may be onto something!! And because my husband and family read (if rarely comment) on my blog, that limits some of the things I can post.

So I think I'm echoing Loralee in saying I feel silly, too, but I'd love to. When the mood strikes. I think this is a great way to get to know fellow bloggers, too. Good idea!!

Wonder Woman said...

p.s. I don't know what that anonymous commenter was trying to say. Kind of weird and mildly insulting.

Shannon said...

Great story about your in-laws. My dad loves flying, too, but it's just a hobby and to the best of my knowledge he does not take pictures while doing so. He does have a plane and goes flying whenever he can- though not for the next 23 months!

Hey, I'll post something, too, but like Loralee and the Gang, I only can do so when the mood strikes or if I have a topic I can think about for a bit. If that helps, let me know.

Shorty said...

Of course I'd love to be a guest on your blog! Your faith and family life have been inspirational to me, so to have a further connection would be most flattering. And, thanks for asking your readers! Very generous, I think!

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing some of my words!

uniquelynat said...

k- so i do know the in-laws. that was them. and so cute. i can just picture them going through the pics and trying to figure out what to keep and what to get rid of...and not quite being able to. and i got a little teary reading. very beautiful statements.

Nathan said...

That makes me want to take my wife with me to work too.

Unfortunately, I don't think sitting in a cubicle would be as interesting as flying a model airplane and taking pictures.

Jen said...

What a sweet post from your niece! I love stories on heritage because I'm so grateful for my forebearers. I think your guest posting is a great idea!

trublubyu said...

yay, folks, it looks like a few guest-posters are in our future! can't wait!!!