Jill's Journal: Afternoon away saves the day
Sometimes, I just need an afternoon out of the office with a camera in hand.
I took that opportunity last Thursday.
That morning, after receiving a phone call from an irate mother about a photo of her child that appeared in that week’s paper, I needed some fresh air to clear my head. The mother wanted to know why I hadn’t asked for parental permission, if I had even asked for parental permission, and what the newspaper industry allows or doesn’t allow in these instances.
I tried my best to explain that the photo was submitted to us for use, and honestly, because of that, I had no reason to question if it was OK to run.
The mother, however, wasn’t buying anything I was telling her. She wouldn’t accept my reasoning that the photo had been submitted, and was adamant about receiving an apology, which I did give, but to be honest, I didn’t believe was fully warranted.
As each mile passed in my short jaunt to Sioux Falls, I did my best to erase the irate mother’s rants from my mind. And once I arrived at my first destination – the state high school boys’ tennis tournament – her demanding voice soon faded away.
With the tournament being played in three location sites, I opted for the afternoon session that day when the boys would be playing doubles at Tomar Park, as opposed to scampering from Tomar Park to McKennan Park to Lincoln High School while they played through their respective singles brackets. Much to my delight, as it turned out, my timing was pretty good. While there was some downtime in between matches, that time afforded me a variety of sideline conversations with moms and dads, the coaches, and some of the players, too.
I had to giggle when one of the boys let out a whistle intended for a teammate just as Coach Cassie Kocer was walking by. It wasn’t the whistle so much that made me laugh, but it was the surprise look on the coach’s face as the boys did their best to explain the ill-timing.
As the sun dotted in and out of the clouds that afternoon and featured just hint of a breeze, it was an ideal South Dakota day to be outside, soaking up the sun and taking in the fresh air that the day presented. And I wasn’t done yet enjoying what turned out to be a warm and sunny day.
So, from the tennis courts, I steered my Buick down the road to McIneaney Field on the campus of O’Gorman High School for the Last Chance track and field meet. I spent hours there, clicking off one picture after another, and before I knew it, I had more than 400 frames of our Brandon Valley athletes in action.
As the afternoon sun began its tilt in the western sky, the irate mother’s deafening words were no longer swirling around in my head. And all it took was an afternoon with a camera in hand and a bit of help from Mother Nature to push away the clouds and let the sun shine in.
