I’m loving how this colour photo project is making me see things. I think any photography project makes you look at things a bit differently around you.

You know when you’re on the lookout for something, you all of a sudden see lots of them? Say if you’re researching a type of car to buy, you all of a sudden see heaps of them on the road, where you never noticed them before.

I wonder if I would have looked twice at the graffiti below if it wasn’t mostly orange?

I wonder if I would have seen that lone brick on the beach if it wasn’t mostly orange?

Check out last month’s colour red.

© Jen for Semantically driven, 2013. | Permalink | 3 comments

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Before I had a child I’m not really sure what I did with my time. I worked full-time but when I came home I didn’t really have that much to do unless I had plans for the evening. And of course it was easier to go out but I usually saved that for the weekend anyway.

I remember answering some questions for a phone survey and they asked if I did volunteer work and other questions around community work and I left that interview feeling quite slack because I didn’t really contribute to the community much at all.

I got a dog nearly two years before I had my son so I had to walk her and she occupied some more of my time.

Then I had a baby and my life completely changed as babies tend to do for you.

I look back at those childfree days and feel really very lazy and sometimes I miss them. Sometimes I would rather sleep in on a Saturday morning or lay in bed and read my book rather than get up and drive around town and watch my son play sport. Sometimes I’d like to make plans on a Friday night when my son has scouts and I have to drop him off and pick him up at certain times. But I’m not bored.

I remember a girlfriend telling me I’d never be bored once my child came along and she was right. Mind you, I have been bored in completely different ways. I got bored of changing nappies. I got bored of tantrums in public, and I’m talking about my son’s tantrums. I had mine in private. I got bored of staying at home when he was a baby before I went back to work. I was never a baby person. I couldn’t wait for him to start talking but now I’m bored of him talking so much. Well that’s not quite true. We do have a really good laugh sometimes. I’m much more into the age he is now than the baby age and that baby boredom has lifted – thank goodness. I like other people’s babies because I can hand them back and I know that I won’t be up at an ungodly hour feeding them.

And as well as the time that having a child takes up, and working nearly full-time I seem to be doing lots of other things that I never did before. I’ve developed an interest in photography and then sharing those photos on social networks. And there’s all the other online stuff that uses up my time. I go to pilates once a week. I’ve dabbled with salsa classes. I recently started singing lessons again so I’m doing some things for myself so that my whole life doesn’t revolve around my child. I’m conscious that he’s growing up really quickly and one day my time won’t revolve around him so much. I’m sure I will really miss that.

And how can I be bored of this devil-child?

© Jen for Semantically driven, 2013. | Permalink | 2 comments

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My son is part of his local scout group and every year they get the opportunity to take part in the Anzac Day march. JJ wasn’t going to do it but then decided that he would. I’m so glad he did.

We got hold of his great-great uncle’s medals so he could wear them on the day. Uncle Alf was in the army in Papua New Guinea in World War II and JJ got to hold a banner for the 2nd/14th Australian Field Regiment, also part of World War II. I don’t know what unit Uncle Alf was in.

We had to get there at 8am, so we didn’t go to the dawn service this year like we did last year as we had plans for afterwards and it would have made a very long day.

After a while they line up in the order they’re going to march in. As his scout group was holding the 2nd World War signs, they were towards the front of the march. Unfortunately there were no soldiers left from their regiments to march with them. Uncle Alf died about 14 years ago and he was in his early 80s, and when you consider that the 2nd World War ended nearly 70 years ago, there wouldn’t be too many of them left.

Finally at around 9.30 they started marching. It’s about a 1.5km march – not too long for young legs, or the older ones. I walked more or less alongside so I could take photos.

I got a real buzz from being there and watching my son march. I could tell that he was really getting into it and I was really proud of him. The ladies below caught my eye and I couldn’t resist taking a photo of them.

As I’d never been to a march before it was great to see so many people go along and support the participants and clap as people walked past. I think this helped JJ feel a large amount of pride at participating.

Then before we knew it, his part of the march was over and the SES volunteers collected their signs.

Then he plopped down on the ground as though he’d run a marathon.

Here’s a close-up of the medals. As far as I can tell they’re service medals. They’re pretty heavy and they didn’t fall off. I was so worried that he’d somehow lose them.

The smile on his face sums up how he felt about the whole experience.

We walked back towards the start and the march was still going so we got to see more recent soldiers from Vietnam, Afghanistan, East Timor etc before we ducked across the road to head home.

© Jen for Semantically driven, 2013. | Permalink | 2 comments

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