There is something about living in a beach town...

It's summer down here... and the past few weeks have gotten me thinking about the social implications of living in a beach town. Every day as I head out to work, or on my way back, I drive along the coast, and get to see the beaches full of people. The kids are playing and parents are simply relaxing and having a great time. It's quite a privilege that 'regular' cities simply don't have.

In Uruguay, during the first month of summer (January), most high and middle class families tend to leave town and go further east to summer towns. As they do, lower income class families take the busses down to the most affluent neighborhoods along the coast and make good use of the beaches. All along the coast, from Ramirez to Carrasco, people crawl out of overflowing busses to spend a day in the beach. It's great to live in a place that offers let's say a more 'democratic' access to entertainment!

Clara, KC and I have done just that... every afternoon that I can I just go down and play in the water. It also makes for quite unique photo opportunities.

Hard life...

Mammoth mountain it's open, and to me, that marks the start of the winter. The moment in time, when I start to look at the weather forecast and snow reports with consistent devotion. Yet, this year, and I am beginning to wonder if I will even use my season pass. I know, this sounds almost like blasphemy. But I am down south now, and the idea of simply heading north for a couple of weeks feel at time a bit out of place. We'll see how the year develops...

In the meantime, summer is here in Uruguay. The flies, the overwhelming heat are a true testament to it. KC sleeps even longer naps during the day, only to resurrect when the sun starts fading in the west (which happens quite late these days) and the temperature becomes more forgiving.



KC lying in the sun in Punta del Este.

He can really act!

I am not sure if I told you this, but not long before leaving LA, we took KC to a talent agent. Yes I know... but can you blame us for wanting to try the California dream of having a son who all of a sudden is discovered by a famous director or producer and we live happily ever after managing his money? Before you answer this question, take into consideration that he was way over budget at the time.

Just in case you are interested, even though the session went well, KC needed more training for the stellar role we hoped he would get.

In any case, in a much more modest contest, KC proved to be a hell of an actor. With his tilted head and raised eyebrows, he managed to convinced mom (that being Clara, the more strict and disciplinary of his parents) that the cold weather of uruguay demanded for drastic measures... as you can see below, not only Clara has allowed him into the couch, but she has proudly photographed him....

KC's case of insomnia.

I have not had much time to blog about KC since we got to Uruguay. Since the move I have not shot much work, yet I continue to find inspiration (thank God) at home, where I spend a lot of time besides work. As always, a good part of my in house photo work revolves around KC.

Many things have changed for him since we moved. For starters, he has a much bigger garden. Not that he really knows what to do with it; he spends most of his time inside right next to us. Even though in LA we had grown to the point where he was more independent and would go outside on his own, since we got here, he has been very attached. The moment one of us gets up, he does so as well and will follow you to make sure you don't leave him behind.

Another difference for him, has been the fact that we totally changed his diet. Dog food in Uruguay has not come along as much as in the US, where you get kibble that is organic, and with a minimum share of grain, which dogs have a really hard time digesting. The best we found in here, has as the main ingredient corn, which is obviously cheaper than animal based protein. So KC has gone raw! I will post a video some time later about his first uncooked chicken. He was totally puzzled and took quite a while to figure out what to do with it. Now a days he chews and triturates bones like he's eating mash potatoes.

Another thing that has been a big change for him, has been that he is starting to stay alone at home, something I resisted all throughout the year a half that we had him in LA. Clara and I working from home, and having my mom, Bill and their dogs just five minutes away was the perfect excuse for me to not confront leaving him alone. I say 'confront' because I realize that I have a harder time leaving him than he does staying alone, to the point that I have realized what a big learning opportunity it is for me to deal with my abandonment issues...

But one thing has remained constant. As evidenced by the images below, KC continues to have a hard time sleeping. We have not been able to find a way to make him sleep comfortably...

KC is showing clear signs of insomnia!









Oh, by the way. Since he was welcomed-bitten by the doggie gangsters of the neighborhood, in order to compensate for the emotional distress, we allowed him to sleep in the bed for almost 3 weeks. After this period, not only was he feeling much better, but he had also managed to feel comfortable enough to expand his presence from a tiny corner of the bed, to almost half of it, leaving Clara and I in a full size bed curled-up in the top half. You can see him in action below.