Dave's Visit

A couple of weeks ago my son, David, and Amy came to visit from Australia. He was here for almost 2 weeks and Amy, for the last six days of that. We had a few family dinners en masse, of course, and they managed some more personal time with several of us as well . The day after Amy's arrival, they drove down to San Antonio to visit a couple of days with Ellen's and Michael's families. Back in Austin, Dave checked out the Austin live music scene a couple of evenings with his uncle - also David - and his cousin Paul, and their picture at Stubb's made the Austin American-Statesman's music blog. He surprised me, if no one else, by going off with Stephen one morning to Laguna Gloria to paint. I don't know when the last time he painted was, but he borrowed an easel from Karen and paints from Stephen and jumped right in. The day they left, headed for St. Louis, Atlanta, DC, New York, New Jersey, and Vermont, they took me to lunch on Lake Austin and, on the way to the airport, we drove up to mount Bonnell to take a few pictures. I love the way he adapts to his environment and maximizes his experience in just about any situation. He certainly didn't get that from his father!

Dave's visits, which are too few and far between, left me thinking about him last night after stormy weather blew through, rebooting both the computer and tv cable for me and leaving me in the dark. I thought I'd check for a few pictures of him and make him the subject of this post.

The portrait on the left is the one I was hoping for when I lifted the boy into the bed of my Datsun pickup in the summer of 1982. But whenever I show it, I remember and tell my audience about the other picture, on the right. First of all, it was hot and he was miffed that I was taking so long just to shoot a couple pictures. I suspect he was also pretty tired. Whenever he was tired, he seemed to withdraw from whatever was going on. And when annoyed with someone, he'd line up his right thumb and forefinger with his target and, if I interpreted his stare correctly, very slowly, try to pinch the head off the object of his annoyance. I was thrilled to have caught this on film and just as pleased that he didn't have that particular superpower.

This one always reminded me of the day David learned to ride a bike. I was so proud of his persistence. I cringed with each collision and near miss, and was a nervous wreck by the time he had put it all together. He looks so intent, so capable in this picture - but it wasn't always so.

I thought we had the perfect lot on which to teach a youngster to ride a bike. There was a considerable drop in elevation from the southwestern edge of the lot down to the creek that ran between the house and the northeastern edge. I thought, if he could learn to balance while coasting down the grassy hill, he could then add peddling to his repertoire in short order. I think I underestimated, however, just how intimidated he was by the possibility of flying headlong into the woods at the edge of the lawn. On an early downhill ride, the first that was long enough to plan for running out of grass, I started to tell him to turn right and coast between the house and the woods. That section of lawn was easily 20 feet wide and devoid of obstacles. Unfortunately, as soon as I said the word "turn", he did - and hit the air conditioning compressor dead on. He was thrown over the handlebars and the compressor and landed in a heap between the compressor and the house. We were both ready to give it a rest by that time but Sally, who had grown up riding horses, sent him back out, ordering him to get right back on and keep riding.

He certainly showed doggedness as he slowly got his priorities in order: maintain your balance; miss the a/c compressor; turn before you get to the woods - but not till you pass the corner of the house; start peddling; look out for that pine tree; pedal harder up hill; are there any cars on the road; use your brakes; a bicycle is dynamically stable - when it comes to a stop, it falls over; jump clear.

In March of 2002, David left us in Georgia and emigrated to Australia, where his mother was born and, in September 2003, Gillian made one of her periodic visits Down Under. This is one of my favorites of the pictures I've been sent over the years, though I'm not sure who took it or who sent it to me. It's of David and Amy with Gillian in Manly, and Sydney in the background. If you look closely, you'll see the Opera House to the left of the Harbor Bridge at the water's edge, between Amy and Gillian.

I gave "the treatment" to this picture last night after the thunderstorms had passed, especially for this post. David was with us here in Austin on his birthday in 2006. I took the picture during the evening's celebration at his Aunt Mary's.

I just realized I hadn't posted any pictures from this visit. So, here's Dave with his Grandmother at Karen and Richard's Memorial Day Barbecue, Part Two. The chicken enchiladas were muy bueno. Amy will be back in the area on business this fall and we'll all be glad to see her. And, of course, we'll always welcome Dave's visits whenever he can make them.