corner view: evening

Posted on September 18, 2013 by Cole | 6 Comments

Corner view is a weekly Wednesday gathering, originally hosted by Jane, now by Francesca. A topic is given and you can see impressions; be it photographic or writerly in form, from around the world. Come see the world’s corner view via the links on the sidebar!

Our weekday evenings go buy in the blink of an eye and take these children along with them. They are often backlit with the perfect storm of the baby’s witching hour converging with the school to home transition (read: exhaustion & starvation) for the older girls. These coupled with my own tired thoughts from the day and the ongoing recording that plays on a continuous loop sounding off all of the things we didn’t have time for, and our evenings aren’t always as relaxed as I imagine they could be.

Sometimes though, there is a brief moment of perfect joy and light, and that’s what I choose to capture as I silently send up a wish and a prayer that we get try again the next day.

corner view: lunch

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Cole | 6 Comments

My lunch on a daily basis is nothing to write about really. But it is my time. Time for me to take a walk, go to the library, visit my cyber friends, read a book, go shopping, have lunch with Lovey or other friends- and for that I am grateful.

corner view: away

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Cole | 4 Comments

From the crazy amount of photo sharing I’ve been doing on Facebook this summer, I’ve given a mistaken impression that’s we’ve been “away” much more than we actually have. We had one main trip this summer for a week to California to visit with family and friends. Outside of that we were mostly here hanging by ourselves with the exception of a lovely visit from my parents. We managed some time at the park, swimming, berry picking, water fountain splashing and a trip or two up the road into the mountains to escape the humid weather. It’s just that I took *alot* of pictures while we were out west and it took me the better part of the summer to edit them- so I think to others it probably looked like more playtime than it actually was. That said- here was my favorites from our time away. it was a lovely visit with lots of donuts, family, fresh flowers, friends, sand dollars, beach walks & play time, The Huntington Garden in LA, cousin bonding and a reunion of three very special sisters:

corner view: home

Posted on July 3, 2013 by Cole | 8 Comments

There are so many things I can say about home- how it isn’t the four walls, or the location or how many earthly delights you acquire with your good fortune. How home is where your heart and soul are, where the people that fill you with the moments that make up your day. How home is full of the ordinary afters that you eventually notice have woven the crazy quilt of your life around you. But I think my friend Molly has lovingly illustrated our particular home the best.

My gift to myself upon the occasion of my 40th birthday this year, with my love of photography and desire to not just have been behind the camera years from now when my children look back to their childhood, was a photo shoot with my favorite local photographer. Three years ago I met Molly Flanagan and was so incredibly moved by the deep soul and measure that she walks through her life with. Her stills and prose often inspire my own. When we had made it out of the scary winter of our Quail’s first year we wanted to document the light and shadow of our family and Miss Molly came to visit one Saturday morning. She stilled the motion, spirit and energy of these girls, albeit briefly. Over the next few years I kept wanting to bring her back and see our lives through her lens one more time. The arrival of our Sugarplum seemed to be what called us to finally make the arrangements. Molly’s style has definitely found it’s niche with the art of visual storytelling. She introduced our session to us with these words and this image:

“i dreamed of traveling to far off lands to tell stories of exotic tribes and wild beasts. yet life’s plans have kept me close to home. to my surprise, i found that tribes and beasts are found around every corner. exotic beauty and wild love are hidden in every home.”

Lovey and I were instantly grinning. Please go see the collection she put together of our Ordinary afters…as she named it- the “smoke & spice” of our story. To tempt you into an introduction to Miss Molly here are just a few of our home via her heart, her vision, her storytelling… as I told her- “I keep coming back to these and soaking them in Miss Molly. As I said on IG- seeing ourselves/our lives through your heart- is pure magic. I see so much in each shot- in the collection and then I marvel in the simplicity and the small details. I could write an essay- a story with each snap- your pictures of our lives- more than a thousand words- but I will give you a thousand thanks and pearls of gratitude. You know from my blog how important the ordinary afters of our life are to me- those fractions of time- those are the treasures. It’s so funny to have been watching you shoot and trying to see what you might be seeing- so the stills are so very familiar in some- and then in others it is like peering in to another lifetime. What a gift these are- you are. love you- xoox”

Enjoy your summer break friends and I can’t wait to see what you’ve been up to while away come September!

View More: http://mollyflanaganphotography.pass.us/starkey-family-2013

corner view: sites not in the guidebooks…

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Cole | 7 Comments

To be honest, I’m not certain if this place is well described in the guidebooks, but it is our family’s go-to quick vacation and I’m certain it isn’t up there in terms of destination bucket lists as say:The Biltmore Estates or Asheville, NC as a whole. Our go to overnight or quick get away that is so very special to us is found in the Flat Rock/Hendersonville area of North Carolina. There are lovely apple orchards, bakeries- old school and new, stellar BBQ, ice cream, a little children’s museum, a bit of literary history and a sweet little Lodge that has a lake outfitted with boats and an outdoor pool. It’s nothing fancy, but traveling with 3 small ones, what it offers fits the bill- all set in the picturesque foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains! Which if you have ever spent a summer in the US’s southern region- you will appreciate the opportunities this community affords to cool off- and then come fall truck back up for more site-seeing!

corner view: somewhere else

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Cole | 6 Comments

Childhood: that magical ability to be fully here and somewhere else all in the same wonderous moment!

corner view: out & about

Posted on May 29, 2013 by Cole | 5 Comments

Out & About is a pretty good description of our family activity level. We’re not really the sit home and read by the fire sort. We work hard during the week at our respective schools and jobs and come the weekend we play hard in turn. Our girls like to be on the go be it to a friends house, the local park, a birthday party or even just to market and dinner. This past holiday weekend we had a birthday party, a BBQ and a cartrip for fresh strawberries and ice cream and we were all happily exhausted come Monday evening.

corner view: flowers

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Cole | 7 Comments

This is one of those subjects that I could happily document daily. As for now, here is what is popping up around us since we posted on Spring 2 months ago.