I don’t always give Geoff enough credit when he has a GENIUS parenting idea, but this one set us up for 1300 miles of relative peace and quiet in the car headed west, which as parents of small children know is no easy task. I also barricaded the space between them so they couldn’t physically harm one another. As we pulled out of North Woodstock, Geoff clipped his Go-Pro camera to the sunroof so that it aimed directly at the kiddos in the back seat. In the photos above, the Go-Pro is wearing an orange life jacket in case he takes a spill in any body of water.
He then told our kids that we were going to film them in the back seat as we wanted to be safe drivers, and that at the end of the trip, he would email the video to God. They looked at each other mulling over this information, and after accepting it was possible for God to receive an email, Greta asked whether a copy would also be sent to Santa. Logical question. Geoff said that God and Santa were teammates and could share all of their information. They also seemed to accept this as truth and quietly settled into their backpacks of activities.
About 1100 miles into our trip, Geoff used the Go Pro to film his dad’s cousin’s 94 year old husband, Bob, dive head first down the slide into his in-ground pool. Impressive indeed. Probably part of the reason Bob has lived into his 90’s is precisely because he still dives off his diving board and slides headfirst with countless neighborhood kids into his pool. We also Go-Pro-ed the barn swing at cousin Wayne’s, also 90, and the convertible ride with cousin Dale, a mere 85 years old, and tubing with almost 76 year old Grandpa Phil. The kids used the camera for underwater flips and tricks and wacky faces. Endless fun. And then the Go-Pro was re-attached to the sunroof as we continued upon our journey north into Michigan. About an hour into the next leg of the trip, Carver says to Geoff, in a declarative statement of fact, confidence and truth, “Daddy, I think God must use a Go-Pro.” To a six year old, the all-knowing, all- seeing, omniscient eye of God comes in the form of a Go-Pro video camera, a God who also uses email according to his father.
Carver will tell you he’s “a professional” and has since he learned the word. Professional of everything if you ask him. Having a dad who is a professional athlete doesn’t help my cause because Daddy is on film a lot! Geoff’s program, Eastern Adaptive Sports, premiered on NH Chronicle this past Friday evening, and the cameraman’s (Thank you, Ryan) footage was phenomenal as he had strapped his Go-Pro to the front of hand-cycles, sit down waterskis, and on the back of jet skis. Watching those films makes the audience feel the wind on their face, water splashing on their knees. In some ways, those Go-Pro cameras really do experience miracles. Cindy, whose son Gary is both blind and autistic, might believe the Go-Pro is indeed viewing the impossible; yet, Gary is a very talented skier who loves being on the water. And the miracle of technology is that a televised program like that speaks to the many hundreds or thousands of people who are at home, sitting on their couch, wondering through that “eye of God” if that guy sitting in a wheelchair can ski like that, maybe I can too. If that young girl is non-verbal and autistic but still skis and smiles, maybe my son or daughter could too.
So while I know God can’t receive emails and does not actually use a Go-Pro, it’s sort of comforting to know that the power of technology does save those moments forever when people don’t last quite as long. I also love that Geoff’s idea to clip the Go-Pro to my sun roof gave us a fairly smooth ride out here all things told. May the ride back east be as easy- we are going via Canada, and we have our passports and a lot of snacks. Good work, Geoff; this is one idea you were spot on with, and I’m grateful. Now, teachers our kids will have in the fall, our apologies if they try to convince you that God and Santa have access to email, Go-Pro cameras, and, well, God only knows what else.
Heather Ehrman Krill 