Nine Years Light

"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." — Angela Schwindt It is incredible how fast they grow… It feels like just yesterday my son was taking his very first steps: wobbly, falling over, laughing, and getting right back up. Now, suddenly, he is scrambling up desert mountains on his own (without asking for permission, of course). Watching him up there brings a strange mix of pride, nostalgia, and a bit of terror. To make matters worse, he has already turned into a tough art critic. Looking over my shoulder during post-processing, he told me: "Dad, it looks nice, but you can tell the sky is just a background. You need to add some blur along the mountain edge to make it look real." I actually had to go back and edit it based on his feedback. Nine light-years traveling through the dark. Nine years of watching him grow up on Earth. Just a blonk of cosmic time. Alexander Seleznyov August 13, 2026 - Negev Desert, Israel