6am....girlscout house ..... Newport Beach. I am the only one awake. Bodies surround me and I can hear at least a half dozen breaths around me breathing steadily in and out in rhythmic waves. However, what I would love more than anything is to be one block away, at the beach, listening to the 'actual' waves. It is almost torturous that I have been here for over twelve hours and my feet haven't hit the sand.
But I am not here for me. I am here for my daughter.
This year we made a change. As our old troop disbanded, we are now with a new troop. A really great troop. And today is our first 'jumping over' event.
Though we are friends (and great friends at that) with the new troop; there is still something different about this event for us. We are outsiders coming in.
It's like a neighborhood dog being introduced to a new pack.
This troop that we are joining has history together, that we were not involved in. So, though we are all friends, and very comfortable together, it is a new paradigm to be involved in....and it feels a little awkward. Not bad in any way....more a reminder that we haven't always been here and we are now seeing how things are done here.
As a person I am one way, but as a photographer, I am someone else. My job is defined, I snap to task, I am focused and stern because I am there for a purpose and I must achieve my task.
This is kind of like that.
We are having a great time. Within minutes of being here, I have melded onto the couch with one ofthe leaders and we are talking like schoolgirl friends. Aspen abandoned me as we hit the door. This will be an easy switch.
We had dinner and then the girls did a couple of skits for us. Then we all hunkered down for a movie. It was great. The projector would start freezing up and it would take a minute to reboot. So we took advantage of that time asking the girls questions and chatting in between.
It took about 3 hours to get through one movie. It was actually quite funny.
As we set up for bed, Aspen asked if she could sleep next to me. I am not sure if she was feeling unsure of herself, or didn't want me to be alone...but I gladly accepted her request.
I was offered earplugs to sleep from one of the leaders..... I am sleeping in one big echo-y room with a bunch of girls and I don't sleep well. I'm not stupid...I took 'em.
They sure helped me sleep, but not til 8 like I was hoping. I am sitting in the hall all by myself, on the floor to write this, using my phone. I am feeling a bit like an anomaly.
Today we are heading over to the beach. From where I sit, I see it is an overcast morning. I am sure the cloud cover will burn away... But until then, I will hunker back into my cot, next to my daughter, and wait for the rest of the bodies to wake.
Happy Wednesday!
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