But here in suburbia, ducks seem to get all gangsta anytime my kids and I try to take a nice walk around a city park.

Case in point:

Today was warm, but with a pleasant breeze, and since we’ll be in Houston Summer Hibernation Mode soon enough, I thought I’d take Eli to visit a local “park,” complete with it’s own “lake.” (Yes, the quotes are necessary. It’s my Oregon-based Nature Superiority Complex showing.)

We entered through the gate (this “park” happens to be fully enclosed) and quickly headed across the quaint little “bridge.” (Sorry, I can’t omit the quote marks even if I tried.)

Ohhh, PHOTO OPP!

But while I was fooling with the app on my iPhone for drawing out the best exposure for this photo – a task that took me maybe 45 seconds – we managed to draw some attention. Some unwanted attention.

Oh, Hi! Um…you’re all fairly little, and don’t you look cute with your mussed up just-out-of-the-water feathers? “C’mon, Eli,” I called to my son “let’s just cross the rest of that bridge.”

But our posse followed us.

Ok, a leeeetle too close for comfort!

But when I whipped around, I saw about six more ducks emerging from the water in front of us. My son started running to the nearby gazebo, where three LARGE ducks were waiting.

That’s when my son shrieked a little, and I started getting worried.

But I got really worried when we scooted around our first little gaggle of gangsta ducks, only to find two HUGE ducks stationed in the center of the bridge.

Why are there no pictures of this, you ask? Because my camera was in my pocket while I used both hands to scoop my child up into my arms to keep him from being eaten.

I’m sure I looked like an idiot charging the ducks on the bridge, hollering at them as I passed, but it made them back off enough to get us to the other side.

On the way back out through the gate, my son spotted a large rock with a dedication plaque on it and ran over to it. “What does it say?!” he asked. But to my ABSOLUTE HORROR, when I walked over to read the plaque to him, I spotted a sweet, yellow, fuzzy DEAD duckling just above the plaque on the rock. WHAT THE????!!!!

We got back to our car and it took every rational thought in my head not to lock it once we were inside. Such an entirely creepy experience, and it all transpired in just the space of 5 or 6 minutes.

Before we drove away, my son observed in a worried tone, “Look, Mom, the gate is blowing open” (and indeed, it had – the breeze had picked up). Let’s just hope those ducks didn’t get a good look at my license plate!

Tell me: have you ever had a crazy run-in with aggressive suburban ducks?

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When Suburban Ducks Attack is original, copywritten content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

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If you’re a regular reader, you may have noticed a significant lack of personal posts lately. If you’re a new reader or just stopping by, you’ll have to take my word for it: my blog has been awash in sponsored posts, moreso than usual.

But I’m not here to apologize for that or declare that I am putting the “me” back in my blog.

The same way I feel that a blog doesn’t need to have a niche, I feel a blog doesn’t need to have a static purpose and fill a static need for the blogger or the reader. Maybe that’s bending the laws of blogging physics too far, but I believe a blog is a living, organic thing coming from a living, organic mind – and it’s sometimes going to follow the winding, complicated life path of the blogger.

Lately, my own winding, complicated life path has left me uninterested in sharing a lot of personal stories. If I did, chances are they would sound a lot like this: blahblahblah-alone-blahblahblah-moving-blahblahblah-don’t know where-blahblahblah-graduation-blahblahblah-stress-blah-blah-stress-blah-stress-stress.

My family is on the cusp of not one but MANY significant life changes, and it has me wanting to hunker down instead of chatting it up on my blog. But I don’t want to lose this lifeline altogether, and the product posts are still fun and a great distraction from rocking back and forth, keening in the corner.

A favorite author, Brené Brown, teaches that there is power in vulnerability, and that to live with our whole hearts we need to “talk about the things that get in the way” (like vulnerability, fear, stress, etc). Maybe I should be experimenting more upon her word, and maybe I will. And maybe that will be here on the blog, and maybe it won’t.

I do look forward to the day my life path takes a turn and the road ahead is straighter, clearer. And I’m guessing that when it does, this blog will, too.

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What Was I Saying? is original, copywritten content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

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Maybe I’ll just admire the particular goofiness of men (and near-men). I’m discovering that sometimes it’s fun to just be with the boys!

my guys, trying to look cool

my guys, realizing it's easier to be goofy than cool

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Just the Boys is original, copywritten content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

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See, last night as he was fixing us ham and potato soup for dinner, the pot boiled over and left this mucky mess (now hard-crusted) all over the burner:

I didn’t worry about it at the time because (a) I was grateful he was making dinner, (b) I knew that he was already irritated with himself, and (c) we were celebrating my son’s birthday, and I didn’t need to be distracted from that.

But while I absolutely appreciated my husband’s apology this morning, it also made me laugh. This past weekend was a busy one: son’s sleepover, Senior Prom, tons of birthday festivities, church, an important church-related appointment for my husband, daughter and I yesterday. While on Friday my house was totally clean, this morning it looks like this:

And that’s just the downstairs!!! And doesn’t even include ALL the areas of the downstairs (there’s also a bedroom, bathroom, laundry, and toy nook)!!!!

Again, I appreciate my husband’s concern over me having to clean up his mess on the stove, but honestly – it’s just one little drop in the bucket for me this week.

Please tell me I’m not the only one with a family who can destroy a living space in such a short amount of time!

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Missed a Spot is original, copywritten content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

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I explained that I’m not much of anything – a cook, a crafter, a graphic designer. But I am a collector of knowledge and like to hoard skills, if you will. Those skills may never bloom into full talents, but I absolutely enjoy the process of learning something new and trying my hand at it.

Lately I’ve been intrigued by the movement of amateur and professional photographers alike towards iPhoneography. All agree that iPhoneography starts with taking a photo with an iPhone, but some opinions differ on whether or not the term also strictly refers to editing and publishing within the iPhone as well. (purists say that the moment you upload a photo to your computer for editing, it is now just plain ol’ photography)

The same way “write what you know” has become a standard for Writing 101, “the best camera is the one you have with you” has become standard for Photography 101. For me, my iPhone is the only camera I ever have with me.

I’m participating in a year-long #instagram366 project wherein I post a photo via my iPhone and Instagram every day. These pictures have by no means been of “professional” quality, but some have turned out pretty great. That, coupled with my sudden need to get Senior Pictures done for my daughter (hello: procrastination!), has led to my interest in iPhoneography.

some of my #instagram366 pictures from March

The first thing I discovered is that there are a ton of resources online to learn more about iPhoneography.  iPhoneography.com (and kudos to him for grabbing that domain so ahead of the curve!) offers great reviews of iPhone photo apps, related accessories, books, gives inspiration via reader-submitted iPhone photos, and has a series of posts called “What’s in My Camera Bag” that I find particularly intriguing. TheBeginnersLens.com has a great section on iPhoneography which includes interviews and reviews on apps and resources as well, but has the additional elements of ebooks and online classes readers can choose for more guided instruction.

In fact, there are a lot of online workshops and on-location classes offered across the country and around the world. Right now, I prefer to learn via websites and ebooks, especially since so many are available for free. Just today I downloaded 2 free ebooks called “How Did I Do That” (the 2011 and 2012 editions) that give step-by-step, graphic tutorials on how to achieve different photos and effects with the iPhone.

Aside from the many websites, forums, classes, and ebooks I found dedicated to iPhoneography, I was totally surprised to learn just how many apps there are for taking and editing pictures on the iPhone! I mean, dozens and dozens. And many of the features overlap each other, some do things I don’t understand at all, some are just plain silly. Google “essential photo apps for iPhone,” and you’ll get more than 24 million (!) results, many linking to enthusiastic lists put together by serious photographers. My mind reels at the choices! While wading through the results the other night, I did find one post on BagCheck.com that gave a great rundown of a handful of photo apps – it’s as good a place to start as any.

Finally, I’m amazed by the types accessories available for the iPhone-as-camera. Right now I’m coveting the 3-in-1 lens system (fisheye, wide-angle, and macro) from Olloclip and would love to get a Glif tripod mount and tripod.

photo credit: olloclip.com

Just yesterday I took my daughter out to take pictures for her Senior Graduation announcements. Again…all I had was my iPhone. I played around for quite a while with the camera and different apps, had her pose here and there in different lighting situations. While we got some “cute” pictures, there were few I felt were good enough to publish. Also, I didn’t have great success using only the iPhone app to edit, so I did pull them into Photoshop for some touch-ups. Of the *coughcough* dozens of photos I took, we got one we both liked. I took it from here:

iPhone only

to here:

after Photoshop

Well…I still have a lot to learn. Not just about how to use the iPhone for photography (and Photoshop, if I continue to be a “non-purist” and use it for editing – that is a beast of a program!), but about photography in general. Because it won’t matter if I have a $2,000 camera or just my iPhone if I don’t understand more about the fundamentals of composition, lighting, and more. I think my knowledge-collecting, skill-hoarding brain is up for the challenge, though.

What about you? Do you use your iPhone for photography? Have you picked up any tips and tricks you can share? Or have any favorite apps we should consider “essential?”

iPhone + Photography = iPhoneography {My Newest Hobby} is original, copywritten content (unless otherwise indicated) by Stacey Nerdin for her blog Tree, Root, and Twig. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

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