What a difference a week makes. Last weekend I wore a t-shirt much of the day during our sight seeing blitz, and today it is easily into negative numbers with wind chill and as I write the thermometer outside reads 10.

The river is freezing over and we awoke this morning to a very Zhivago-esque landscape as a heavy dense fog overnight left the trees coated in a delicate blanket of white. It was quite a site, however fleeting.






Aitugan was in a good mood this morning, though her little chest is still congested and her breathing sounds a bit like driving an unpaved road. Saturdays are the crazy days at the Baby House when both groups of adoptive families (morning and afternoon) share the playroom for two hours.

Today we had 6 families, and the inside temperature where we were, over by the windows, was 81. A few days ago we were chastised by the caregivers when it was learned that we had managed to crack open one of the windows, and now none of the windows have handles again.

It seems firmly rooted in their culture that sickness comes from being cold, while we would contend that the lack of fresh air, high heat, and other factors would certainly be more likely culprits, but what are you to do.

In a few weeks, all such decisions will be ours, and we will hopefully see a healthier and happier Aitugan. Until then we are more or less at the mercy of our hosts.

So far we have been able to play with Aitugan, feed her, dress her, and change her diaper. We have yet to see her sleep or bath her, and my guess is we may not do either of those until we are able to take her out of the Baby House in Mid December as our daughter.

It seems a common point of reference to talk of the repetitiveness of the routine here as being similar to the movie Groundhog Day, in which you wake up time and time again to the same day repeating itself. As such it becomes a challenge to blog as if things are all too different one day to the next.

Finding new looks or angles for photos gets more difficult as we are in the same room, with the same toys and same people at the same time of day and with more of less the same quality of light day after day.

As far as the photos go, some have asked about the camera we are using, and I can tell you it is not the sort of set-up that everyone would choose to travel with. To this point we have managed to shoot everything without a flash, as I certainly feel that natural light is far more interesting, however, when working indoors with a mix of florescent lighting and natural North light, maintaining proper white balance and workable shutter speeds is critical.

In the Baby House we shoot with a Nikon D200 and 3 different prime (as opposed to more common zoom) lenses. The advantage to shooting with high end fixed focal length lenses is that they are considerably 'faster' than comparable zoom lenses, allowing me to maintain reasonable shutter speeds in reduced light situations.

My three prime lenses are the Nikon 85mm f1.4, the Nikon 50mm f1.4, and the Sigma 30mm f1.4. For walk around shots outside I also brought two zooms, the Nikon 12-24, and the new and wonderful Nikon 18-200VR. If I were to recommend any one lens to someone looking to shoot digital slr, the 18-200VR would be it.

For the video end of things we brought the Sony HVR A1U. It is a terrific little HDV camera that gives you full control if you want it, and full automation if you don't, though at roughly 1gb per minute, downloading tape to the computer isn't for the faint of heart.

I'll stop myself there for I've surely exceeded any interest one might have had in the subject. Take Care.