pictures

We have a few photos hanging on our walls at home.  In our living room, there's a picture of what looks to be a collegiate rugby team.  Here's a detail shot of a few of the boys.  They're obviously taking this whole thing very seriously.

And in our bathroom--because where else would you hang it?--there's a group portrait of the 42nd Annual Convention of the American Association of Baggage Handlers.  It was taken in Minneapolis, on June 28, 1927.  I can say this with certainty, because it's all written right there, in the lower right-hand corner of the photo.  By my count, there are ninety-four people in the picture.  My favorite ones are the wives in big hats.

I have photographs at work, too, that I've stuck in different places.  I found this in a box of old love letters and birthday cards that mysteriously drifted into the shop.  After shuffling through a few of the letters--some stirring stuff, folks--I've decided that this woman's name is Sue.

And nobody seems to remember where this photo came from.  It was probably tucked into the pages of an old book or lying in the bottom of a cardboard box.  It floated around for awhile before I stuck it up on the wall because I just felt sorry for it, and I thought it deserved some respect.  Oh, and also, because there's a baby.

I don't know why we have all these pictures of people we don't know.  I think it's partially because we're collectors of things.  And because I love stories and my man loves images.  I don't think it's strange that we've kept the photos, but I do think it's a little weird that we don't have any pictures of ourselves or our families hanging anywhere.

Oh, we do have the digital picture frame thing that slide-shows all the time, and it's pretty cool.  In my book, though, it's just not the same as a photo on the wall.  We don't really have that many hard copy pictures of the two of us.  Which is why I'm so happy we've finally booked a photographer for the wedding.

I don't think he'd ever describe himself as a wedding photographer, but Andrew does great work, and we're really excited to have him around.  Having decent pictures of the wedding was one of our highest priorities, and I'm glad we're not gambling on some run-of-the-mill wedding photographer that we found in the yellow pages.  In the end, we'll have a few quality pictures as proof that this whole crazy thing actually happened to us.

And maybe someday, someone we'll never know will find those pictures in a box, or under a floor board, or tucked between the pages of a book.  They'll wonder who those kids in the funny clothes are and why they look so dang happy.

In the meantime, though, we'll have a few more photos to hang on our the walls.  But don't worry.  We certainly won't be getting rid of the ones we already have.