The Chronicles of Janie

The Coyles on Burns Night, January 2011 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P93 I don't know if Mom gets  The Missourian any more. She said that Joe and I were the only ones who actually read it...but that it was handy to always have paper around to start fires. I mostly read the People section, the advice column, and the births, weddings, and obituaries. I'm pretty sure Joe read everything else. It was a good system, because I figured he'd tell me if I missed out on an interesting article in another section. This photo, though not as high-quality as some, does a good job of expressing a certain aspect of my family; in the age of the internet, we read the newspaper. We also celebrate Burns night because somebody, at some point, had goat stomachs that needed to be used up and the natural conclusion to that was 'Haggis! Costumes! Celebrate the birthday of a long-dead Scottish poet!'And so the annual celebration of Burns Night, by people whose Scottishness ...

Baby Lucy, January 2011 Canon EOS 1000D When I jokingly told Candice that I was praying that she'd give birth past her due date so that I could have a niece for my birthday, she said, "Please, don't." But maybe Jesus loves me more...or (more probably) January 12 was just the proper time for Lucy to be born. At any rate, there she was, 4 days past her official due date, bright-eyed and with the most adorable stick-out ears...the best 'birthday present' I ever received. 

I took a stroll back through my photo archives. Oh, the memories! Oh, the cringe-worthy shots that seemed like such a good idea at the time. Oh, the unexpectedly decent shots that I got with surprising frequency even before I had a good camera or 'knew what I was doing'. Funny thing, but I can still remember the tiny details surrounding almost all of my photos...the emotions, the small events of the day on which it was taken, even the smells in the air. Strolling through the archive is more than just a photographic review. It's opening a time capsule into the life of the Janie of the past - what she thought and felt and found important - and to the people that surrounded her and made up her world. Richmond, December 2011 Sony Cyber-shot DSC-P93 We've a long-standing joke, my brother and I. He always said that we'd meet up in a warzone somewhere. He'd be in the military and I'd be there doing hum...