Little Pete, Age 6, Takes The Camera (Photo 1)

Photo by Peter Teachout, Jr., Age 6, "Eco Bricks On Pallet"

I spent most of today at Peter Teachout's house, getting paid to work on a backyard project. It was good to get paid, but the project was also another small, green step toward our vision of an Eco-Village...

When Peter Teachout first purchased his house at 3029 6th St. N., it had an old cobblestone driveway which had sunk into the ground next to the carriage house, which was later converted into a garage. (That's actually pretty common in my neighborhood: carriage houses which have since become garages and utility buildings)

At one point the driveway had been paved, but the tar was wearing thin. To satisfy the city's code compliance people, Peter and his wife had to pull up all the bricks, working against a looming deadline. The bricks remained stacked against their fence behind their small garden...well, except for some which were used to construct a brick grill, which was how we cooked hamburgers and chicken during National Night Out.

Now the bricks are going to be used in a walkway. I call 'em "eco-bricks" because they're being recycled. Peter pointed out to me they might indeed be eco-bricks, from a certain point of view, but being 100 years old they were probably made by child laborers getting paid 5 cents a day.

Myself and another de facto day laborer, Chad A., worked on the bricks as well as organizing the garage; which was all Chad's work detail. The garage was completely...well, revitalized. Peter was delighted to note he could now get his vehicle into his garage...which is really good, considering the way it was lit on fire by crack dealers while parked in the street in front of his house.

But on to "Little" Peter Teachout, age 6, and his camera skills! More or less to keep Little Pete occupied, I handed him my digital camera, taught him the bare minimum stuff he needed, and encouraged him to take pictures galore while we kept working. I could see him all over the yard, taking pictures, and periodically coming back with questions about...well, you name it. He was basically exploring the camera functions, from A to Zoom.

When I downloaded Pete's pictures, I was a little surprised (only a little) to see the kid has raw talent. I should have realized it from his intense interest in the camera and his very sensible questions as he explored its various functions.

Yes, he made mistakes all novice photographers make, but he also produced some interesting and expressive stuff. More of the last one than the first one, it seemed to me.

Above is Little Pete's photo of the reasonably neat and orderly pallet of "eco-bricks" produced after 9 hours or so of tearing through the messy pile of driveway bricks piled haphazardly near the fence, chipping off concrete and tar residue with chisels and claw hammers. (Safety classes, kids!)

Good times, actually. Me and Peter chatted about a variety of topics, including potato washing monkeys and what life was like on the military psych ward where I used to work right after Don't Ask, Don't Tell was implemented. (More interesting, that's for sure) Peter said being able to work and socialize was almost like taking a break on Saturday but still getting something done.

Peter's wife, Joy, baked fresh coffee cake for our 15-minute break and then, for lunch, we had vegetable beef stew with yellow squash and zucchini.

I commented the colorful soup was pretty. Sister Rose didn't think a heavily-tomato based vegetable beef soup could be pretty at all, but Little Pete said, "It *is* pretty. It's like the blood of Jesus."

Later, looking at Little Pete's photos and thinking about his remark, I realized the kid has the eye of an artist.