October 27

My kids are like most in that they enjoy a good autumnal leaf-tossing session. My 'rules' for such an event are pretty simple: Avoid leaves that are obviously damp, and under no circumstances should anything be thrown at mom. With the guidelines in place, they stopped to toss some of nature's confetti this afternoon during our Sunday walk.

I'd like to say that this was a completely spontaneous bit of glee captured at just the perfect moment. But that would be a lie. This is actually the fifth or sixth take, and it involved me yelling out 'one, two, three, THROW!' over and over again before they all got the timing (more or less) down pat.

But that's okay. They had a good time. It was indeed fun. And despite my inner perfectionist's need to have the ideal shot, the reality is that I'll remember --and value-- the outtakes, too. And since life is full of outtakes, that's a very good thing.