From Child Labor to Child's Play

"We worry about what a child will become tomorrow, yet we forget that he is someone today." ~Stacia Tauscher

The evolution of the child in America has has been drastic, but arguably for the better. Today, I highlight the famous photographer Lewis Hine who captured the hearts and minds of children through his portraits of their hard work in the early 1900s. Never smiling and often dirty, these kids put most modern laborers to shame when you consider the long hours and little (if any) pay they received.

Laws were passed as early as the 1830s prohibiting child labor, but they were often ignored, especially on private farms and mills. Today, if an eight year old child climbs up on a tractor or machine, an adult is surely behind to snatch him off for fear he may hurt himself. But then, Lewis Hine snapped many photos of children climbing all over dangerous equipment, often without shoes as they were too expensive.

While a good work ethic is to be respected, you won't find eight year olds in factories in the United States. No matter what you believe about the education system in our country, the kids are where they belong--in text books. The high school graduation rate in 1900 was 5%. It has skyrocketed today to over 70%. It was at its highest in 1980 at 80%. Children are now being trained to use their minds before they use their bodies. May the future bring even better American children, while we learn from our past, and never forget who they are today.

NL

Have you Discovered Your Purpose?

"It's not about you" is the famous first sentence in the book The Purpose Driven Life written by Rick Warren. Regardless of what you believe about the conclusions and theology of his book, the statement runs true deep into our hearts. We can't survive on our own. We need each other and our focus should be on others.

In an extreme example of our interdependency, Harry Harlow did a scientific study in the 1960s with monkeys where he isolated them from social interaction, some for up to 24 months! It took a mere 6 months to cause permanent damage to their emotional well-being and only 12 months to completely obliterate the monkey's social skills as they displayed "a state of emotional shock, characterized by ... autistic self-clutching and rocking" (Harlow HF, Dodsworth RO, Harlow MK. "Total social isolation in monkeys," Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1965.). More modern (and considerably more ethical) studies have been done to show that adults require the same level of social interaction to prevent detachment.

Additionally, I think we require a purpose to reach a level of satisfaction in life. It's the level of connection with our world that goes beyond participation. It's inclusion. We all have a desire to make a difference. For me, it took me 28 years to discover photography is that difference. Now, what I do with it is what I need to discover. Photography can be beautiful, but it's meaningful and significant when it's not all about me.

NL

“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.” --Ralph Waldo Emerson

I'd love to learn about your purpose. Drop a comment and share with others.

Mommy Love

There's something about a relationship between a baby and a mother that is beyond scientific explanation. No matter how much I try to be an attention-seeking daddy, when Mom walks out of the room, baby Dane's world falls apart. It's as if she's leaving for good!

As some of you know, I'm interested in Autism research. A study by French researchers from the Center of Cognitive Neuroscience in Lyon have been able to show that administering Oxytocin, which is a hormone released by mom and baby to develop bonding at birth and not to be confused with the pain killer Oxycotin, administered to adults and young children with autism have actually increased their social skills! (ref: http://tiny.cc/kxly4)

This is the same drug/hormone released into the body during orgasm. Yeah baby! It's also the same drug released during breastfeeding. Go baby! So with further research, we may be able to explain why my son goes nuts when mom leaves the room.

So Dads, you can relax and chalk it up to science. We get to pass off the fussy baby this time.

NL

We brought our newborn son to the pediatrician for his first checkup. As he finished, the doctor told us, "You have a cute baby." By smiling, I said, "I bet you say that to all new parents."

"No," he replied, "just to those whose babies really are good-looking."

"So what do you say to the others?" I asked. "He looks just like you!"

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	Clean a crusty dirty high chair
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Best of Both Worlds

Lately, I love to exercise. Yesterday, my wife had a body mass index profile so we decided to see what category we might be in: healthy (not so bad but unlikely), overweight, or the dreaded obese. I don't recall what number I am now, but I'm still "overweight." BLAH! Yeah, I could lose another 15-20 pounds before I'm as skinny as I can get. Six months ago I was "obese." I weighed in at a whoppin 225. I don't think I would have considered myself obese since I was so active--but maybe that's just denial. Anyways, I'll get to how the photo relates to what I'm talking about. I'm happy to report that my wife is "healthy," which is great.

So in the last 6 months, I've lost 30 pounds. Yey! I feel much better. My blood pressure is now normal where it was once so high that my face would get hot a lot. My "program" has been eating better and over-exercising--an hour a day. I go to a gym and use a Precor Underwater Runner--at least that's what I call it. It's actually called an Adaptive Motion Trainer. I'd skip the gym membership and put one of these in my house but it runs a whoppin $8,000.

There's no better description for how it feels to work out on this machine other than running under water.

Yesterday I was about to head out to the gym and decided to grab my camera with my new lens mounted, a Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8, and head in the opposite direction. I went up to Badger Mountain and decided to jog to the top and take some photos of the sunset.

While I didn't jog the whole way, I did break a nice sweat and taxed my body well for over-eating last weekend. But the trip was worth it. I was blown away by how amazing the sunset was. What you see in the picture is exactly what it looked like from the top of Badger Mountain. You're looking at Rattlesnake Mountain in Hanford, WA. It's completely off limits to hikers and trespassers in general. It's owned by the Federal Gov't and is known to have missile silos on it. I wish I could go to the top and get some shots of the sunrise but I don't want to get caught. It's probably the best vantage point in the area for a sunrise, though.

Jogging back down the hill, I was extra careful not to trip on rocks since I couldn't see very well. I did trip on one and almost "biffed" it. But at the end of the night, about 9:30pm, I made it home safely with the Best of Both Worlds: a good hour of exercise and photographs that make me appreciate the beauty God has created for us to enjoy.

NL