Tío en Los Angeles

I've been too busy with the start of school to properly post about everything that's going on, but my uncle from Costa Rica came to visit a while back and we had a great time with him. He'd never been outside of C.R., and he certainly never dreamed he'd be with us in the US, but it turns out that his job gave him an all expenses paid trip to Atlanta. So, we pooled the rest of the resources necessary to fly him across the country to visit us for a while.

We took him to the LA Science Center and Body Worlds, Disneyland, and a few other places. Here are some highlights from his visit.

My uncle loves animals. He's a really gentle soul, and he's always had cats in his own home. So, he got along swimmingly with our little penguin, Gizmo. The mutual joy here is so warm.

This shot was taken in the Los Angeles Cathedral ("The most modern in the world"). I fell in love with this tapestry. It appealed to my minimalist aesthetic, and I thought the image was beautifully done. It inspires humility & devotion.

One of the things I love about having good gear is that you don't have to care when people tell you, "No flash photography." This is a shot I got while on Pirates of the Carribean at Disneyland. I like the color and the motion blur; it gives it an ethereal quality. I'm thinking of blowing this one up and using it in my classroom since it goes with the whole Pirate Captain theme I've got going in my room.

You might have guessed from my first post on this blog that I love fireworks. I always have. There is something about beautiful light disappearing into space that really moves me. For most of my teen years (and well into my twenties), I would cry every time I saw a good fireworks show... out of sheer joy. And Disneyland definitely knows how to put on a good show! I snapped these after Fantasmic. I think this one looks like a flower.

I think this one is the "Tie-Fighter" firework. Pretty incredible that they're able to create this look.