Hero of the Month: Kanch

It was about the moment when I looked over to see my little niece getting ready to toss him in the air, and finding myself running to catch him...somewhere around the lecture I gave her on kittens being delicate and how she needs to treat him like a little baby and her her saying, "Okay Tami...I'm sorry Tami"...that I realized, this little kitten had definitely earned his place as Hero of the Month.

A little while ago, my sister and brother-in-law's family's cat had 4 kittens;  two gray, 1 black, and 1 white, which they named, Kanch.  Of course, Kanch, being all white, has become their favorite...which also means he gets "loved on" (aka...squeezed, dropped, held, put in bicycle baskets for rides, smothered, and kissed) the most.

I'm definitely more of a "dog lover" than a cat person...but I find myself running to the aid of this little guy on a somewhat daily basis and have developed an odd sense of respect for his patience he's shown towards the kids.

Granted, he's still a kitten, so the PTSD that may come from all the handling he gets now may catch up to him at some point, but it actually seems that he's turning out to be a really laid back little guy.  It's been so fun getting to watch my little nieces and nephews with their little kittens...and so as an aunt who hopes Kanch never meets his psychological breaking point, but instead keeps letting the kids love on him, I couldn't help but name him hero of the month...Oh, to have the patience of Job...or uh, Kanch. :)

Regards from Germany

I have an odd routine every morning.  I wake up and I check the time.  Then I go to Instagram to see what 3 women in Japan had for breakfast.  That's right...I said it was odd.  But their pictures are so cute, they've got me hooked.

I roll out of bed, head to the bathroom, make breakfast, and I sit down to my list of blogs I read.  Blogs and breakfast...the perfect combination.

On that list is Jasmine Star's blog, where I found myself the other morning.  She had posted what was meant to be an inspiring post.  I was feeling inspired...but the next moment, I found myself pouring out my heart to her through a comment.  What am I doing?! What if people think I'm nuts? Oh well...thousands of people read her blog...my comment will just get lost in the feed. I click "submit"...I didn't think it went through.  I click it again.  Woops! I think I just posted that comments twice! As if once wasn't bad enough. Oh well.


I was going throughout my day when I heard my phone chime with the alert of an email.  I looked down to read this:

Hi Tami,
I just want to say, your work is amazing! And I'm so sorry, but my English ist unfortunately not good enough to describe in the right words, why your work tells, what a talented photographer you are! Please don't give up your dreams...


Regards from Germany
S.
(I'm a Jasmine Star blogstalker too...)


My heart filled up with tears.  Is that possible? I just don't know how else to describe it.  All I know is that  this someone...who I now consider my first friend from Germany!...took the time to not only read my crazy comment on someone's blog, but followed it to mine and wrote me a message.  Trust me, their English was perfect in speaking to my heart.  I think I read through that message 10 times.

A little later, that afternoon, my phone chimed again.  This time...


Hi, it's 2AM here in Italy and this is totally out of the blue, but I couldn't help notice your comment on Jasmine Star's blog and wanted to tell you I think you take pretty photos and it would be too bad if you gave that up.
I don't know you and don't know your story...and I'm not even supposed to contact a stranger like this, it's something we don't do over here, you know, blogs are not that big in Italy...but I checked out yours and loved loved loved Devin + Emily's photos and just wanted to let you know. I work full-time like a slave (ever seen "The Devil Wears Prada" movie???), take ugly photos with a 1000D ,and am taking out a loan to upgrade, and have just designed a stupid moodboard for my wordpress blog no one'll ever read...so I'm probably the last person you want to get advice from. But your pictures are just too pretty.


So hang in there!
G.


Yes. My first friend from Italy. :)  I wished I could reach through cyberspace and hug her.  I want to cheer her on and say she can do it.  That I want to see her moodboard and read her blog that she thinks no one will ever read!  But most of all, I wanted to thank her for hearing me.


I'm not posting this so you will all tell me great job and stick to it, 'cause you already say that all the time and I'm not leaving photography anytime soon. :)  But in a world of photography where the competition can be rather cut-throat, people like this or my Share Group really stand out.


I used to do a feature on here where I would celebrate everyday heros...You know, I think I want to bring it back.  I'm not sure when I quit doing that.So today, I'm thinking of my friend S from Germany and G from Italy, and I'm celebrating them as my heroes.  

So cheers from the U.S. to you, my friends!!  

And because I know you think I'm nuts, I just have to ask you, Wouldn't you check to see what the Japanese ladies ate every morning when their pictures are sooooo pretty?! That's right...you can stop laughing at me now. :)