Simultaneous snap

I was given a camera as a boy, and have been taking pictures ever since. So it was a delight to be reminded of my roots when I encountered this 5-year-old boy last summer. While thousands of folks waited for the Tall Ships to parade into Boston Harbor, Christopher McMahon and I shared a joyous moment as we snapped pictures of each other.

My first camera was a Kodak Brownie, deep brown and bland compared with Christopher's bright Pokemon design. I still sometimes feel like a kid when I crouch slightly at the knees, scrunch my shoulders up to steady my camera, and then snap the shutter, capturing a slice of life that has beckoned me.

I hope that Christopher will experience the same satisfaction the craft has brought me for nearly four decades. And I wonder, too - what does his picture of me look like?

(c) Copyright 2001. The Christian Science Publishing Society