Jobe in the morning.
Jobe at bedtime.
Okay, I am going to try an experiment. I doubt that it will succeed very well, as similar experiments that I have done in the past have not, but I will give it a try, anyway. I prepared 23 images for today's post, but, as you can see, there are only two here - the very first image of the series and the very last. All 23 are in the slideshow, so anyone who wants to see the entire presentation can. I am doing it this way because it is Sunday afternoon, Jobe is still here, his parents are here, his brother Kalib is here, Rex just arrived and Melanie and Charlie are apparently on their way. So, every minute that I spend working on this blog is a minute that I spend away from my family on a Sunday afternoon when all but one of them are here. Anyway, this is the basic story that unfolds in the pictures: Jobe begins the day asleep, but I catch him just as he wakes in the Apache cradleboard - that his grandmother Rose made so lovingly for his Uncle Rex more than three decades ago down in White Mountain Apache country. Of course, Jobe has his own cradle-board, made with equal love by his Aunt LeeAnn just for him, but that board stayed at his home in Anchorage. For the rest of this very sleepy day - for me, anyway, as I was dog-tired - he adores his grandpa and his grandpa adores him. No matter who he is with or what he is doing, the moment he lays his eyes upon his grandpa, he wants to be with his grandpa. This is true whether I have my camera or not. It's just that in the cases that I do have it, I took no pictures and so cannot show you proof. When I leave the room, he cries. I cannot show you this, either, because I am out of the room and therefore cannot photograph what goes on inside. This is what Margie has reported to me and she is honest beyond all reason and logic. At one point, we take a drive. I stop by the Little Su for a self-portrait of Jobe and me - one of three self-portraits of the two of us in the series. In the evening, I catch him and Caleb on the couch. Caleb is playing war games on the internet with friends from all over. Some of them lose control and swear and cuss and we can hear it when they do. Caleb has a picture of an angry Geronimo on his t-shirt and Jobe looks sweet. This, of course, makes me think of what a hard world this sweet baby has been brought into. I wonder what hardships and battles he might face in the future. To Jobe, although he does not yet know it, Geronimo is not just abstract figure to romanticize, Geronimo is a part of his direct heritage. I am not saying that he has any Geronimo blood in him - it is possible, I don't know - but I am certain that his direct ancestors and Geronimo knew each other. Before we moved to Alaska, we lived nine miles from a cave that Geronimo used to hide out from the Army in. The story is much more complicated than just about anyone knows, but m y friend, Dustinn Craig, son of Vincent Craig, is working on a film that will tell that story. It is a big challenge for him and a hard story to tell because it is one where the US managed to pit Apache against Apache and a truthful telling of the story will cause pain to many. All this may have happened 150 years ago, but in the country where it happened and among the people that it happened to, the wounds remain fresh and deep. I believe Dustinn is up to the challenge, though. I am glad that this film is being made by an Apache/Navajo filmmaker, one with both talent, curiosity and integrity. The final three pictures in the series were taken with my iPhone, so that I could text them to Lavina so she and Jake would know that their baby was warm, safe and loved. View of the full 23 image slideshow of my sleepy Saturday spent with Jobe